X Ads Pre-Authorization: Which Ads Need It and How to Apply

It's an approval X gives an advertiser for one restricted category, in named countries, before any campaign in that category goes live. X's policy pages block automated reads, so we quote the Internet Archive's copies, each with its date. The forms on ads.x.com we read live on 7 November 2026. X's advertising policies page, as archived on 22 October 2026, sorts ads into three groups.

The line that matters is this one: "Pre-Authorizations must be approved before launching X Ads campaigns."

It also sits on top of normal review. X writes that once you promote content, your account and content "become subject to an approval process", and nothing on the page says pre-authorization replaces that.

X lists eight restricted categories, and the pre-authorization form has one route for each, plus a ninth for news publishers who want an exemption from the political policy.

Mentioning politics isn't the same as political campaigning. X's political FAQs say ads that mention political content but don't advocate for or against a candidate or party, or appeal for votes or money, don't need certification in the countries where political content ads are permitted.

Two categories you might expect aren't on the form. Weapons are prohibited globally, so there's nothing to apply for. Cause-based ads used to have their own certification, but X's policy update log says that policy was removed in January 2023, and the form doesn't list it. An old cause-based page still describes the certification in a copy archived in May 2026, so if you land on it, go by the log and the form.

Almost always. For gambling, finance, cannabis and political ads, the category page lists the countries where the category can run at all, and inside those it says where X's authorization is needed. Outside the list the ad is prohibited and no form changes that. Alcohol works the other way round, with a list of countries where it's banned, and healthcare goes product by product.

X's gambling page, as archived on 22 September 2026, opens with "X prohibits the promotion of gambling content, except for campaigns targeting specified countries". Then each country entry has its own terms.

We go through all of X's gambling entries on our X gambling page, with the licence each one names.

Finance works the same way, with a country list and then a licence per country, which our X agency ad account guide sums up for the UK, the US and Germany. The finance page, as archived on 14 June 2026, also says Belgium, Greece, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia and Ukraine are closed to crypto and DeFi. If you want the regulator side of crypto in Europe, our piece on crypto ads, certification and MiCA covers it.

Some things are prohibited everywhere. On X's finance page that includes binary options, penny stocks, financial spread betting, ICOs, IEOs and crypto mining. No authorization opens those.

The pre-authorization page lists three things to have ready.

• Proof of authorization. Licences, permits or certifications for the product in each country. X says they must be "valid and current as of the application date".
• The URLs you'll advertise. They must be active, match what you're advertising and comply with X's policies.
• Your target countries. You declare every country where the ads will show.

The category forms ask for more. Across the gambling, crypto and financial forms we read, the fields include your email, your @handle, the name of an X sales representative "if applicable", your organization's legal name, the organization type, the product or service type, up to five URLs, and an upload for the licence. Each form ends with a box confirming you accept X's advertising policies and that category's terms or addendum.

If your business doesn't need a licence in a country, the gambling, finance, crypto, healthcare and tobacco forms take a legal memo instead. The gambling and finance forms describe it as "a memorandum from a qualified law firm providing a legal opinion with an analysis of applicable laws, and affidavits as necessary, attesting that no licenses or permits are legally required and that your advertising is otherwise lawful".

Some countries add their own fields. The gambling form asks an Australian advertiser to confirm it's incorporated under Australian law, for example. The healthcare form asks Japanese clinics for their medical institute code.

1. Read the category page for each country. Confirm the product is allowed there, and note the licence X names. If the country isn't listed, stop.
2. Collect the documents. One licence per country and per product, or a law firm memo where no licence applies. Check the expiry dates.
3. Fix the landing page first. The URLs go into the application, and X wants them to reflect what you'll advertise. Where X or the country asks for it, the licence number and the warnings go on the page now. X names it for Japanese dating sites (licence number on the page), South African crypto ads (the FSP number in the ad) and French gambling landers (a warning against excessive gambling).
4. Sign in to x.com with the right account. The form says applications "require you are signed in". It also makes you pick an ads account, and if it can't find one it tells you to make sure "you are logged into the correct X account". On an agency ad account, ask your provider who files before you start.
5. Open the form and pick the category. Go to ads.x.com/en/help/ads-pre-authorization, choose the category, then the product where the form asks for one, such as crypto, CFDs or blockchain games under finance.
6. Fill in the fields and upload. Organization name exactly as on the licence, countries, product type, URLs, then the licence or memo.
7. Accept the terms and submit. Read the addendum before you tick the box. The crypto terms in particular carry obligations, covered below.

Apply separately for each category. X's finance page says "a new certification request should be submitted for advertising different categories", and gives the example that an NFT approval doesn't extend to crypto.

X's pre-authorization page says to "allow up to one business day for us to review your application. In more complex situations, the process may take longer." You're told the result by email.

An older page gives a different number for political ads. X's political content FAQs, as archived on 16 July 2026, say the response time for political campaigning certification is "roughly 1-3 business days". Plan around the longer one, and don't book a launch for the morning after you apply.

You can appeal. The pre-authorization page says that if you aren't approved "you'll have the opportunity to appeal", and that you "may submit additional documentation or information to confirm your requested pre-authorization status".

The forms say what X checks. The licence must be valid and current on the day you apply, the URLs must accurately reflect what you advertise, and on the gambling form the licence must cover every gambling type on the URLs in each country you target. Find which of those failed, fix it and send the missing proof. If you're not sure what X wanted, the page tells you to DM @AdsSupport with questions during the process.

If the answer is that your product isn't allowed in that country, an appeal won't change it. For political ads, X's FAQs say that when it decides to offboard an advertiser, it looks at how many times the advertiser broke a policy, which policies and over what period.

Every form ends with a box that accepts X's advertising policies and, for most categories, an addendum. The Cryptocurrency Terms and Conditions, as archived on 29 April 2026, are worth reading before you tick it.

• Disclaimers. Every crypto ad must carry "all required disclaimers" under the laws of each country you target.
• Your licence. The ads must stay within your licence, and you send X a copy if it asks.
• No licence. If you run in a country without a licence, you warrant that you aren't legally required to hold one.
• Investigations. You must tell X "immediately" if a regulator opens an investigation that may be relevant to the ads.
• Removal. X can remove a crypto ad on a formal request from a competent authority, with no obligation to compensate you or return funds.
• Timing. No binding agreement exists until X tells you the application was accepted.
• Indemnity. You cover X's losses, legal fees and any regulator's fines that come from your crypto ads, and X can recover them without going to court.
• Third-party licence. If you advertise under someone else's licence, you warrant that the law lets you, and you cover X if it doesn't.

Some countries add an attestation. For India, exchanges and hot wallets confirm KYC and AML procedures, compliance with the ASCI guidelines for virtual digital assets, and ads that don't promise returns, profits or gains and carry risk disclaimers. Italy, Nigeria and South Africa have similar lists. Indonesia goes further. Every ad has to be approved by Bappebti, and you send X that approval before the ad runs.

Not entirely.

So the account team sentence and the form sit on the same pages, and the newest pages point only to the form, which doesn't require an account team. If you have an X rep, put their name in the field. If you don't, apply anyway. The policy pages are still the place to read what's allowed in each country.

To a new product, no. X's finance page says a new request is needed for each category, and the forms split finance into separate products.

To another ad account, X doesn't say. The form ties each application to an ads account you pick from the signed-in X account, and we found no X page saying an approval moves with you when the account changes. Treat a new ad account as a new application until X tells you otherwise, and keep your licence files ready to send again.

Pre-authorization is about the advertiser, its licence and its landing page, and an agency account doesn't hold one for you. Our X page puts it plainly: "Regulated is our price band. Permission is a separate step with X."

X's form asks for your @handle, the sales rep's name "if applicable" and an ads account the signed-in X account can see. On an agency account, ask your provider who files and from which login.

We check your vertical against your country before you top up, because on X the same offer can be fine in one country and closed in the next. On our side, gambling, healthcare, finance and alcohol sit in Regulated, and crypto in Complex. Standard is eCommerce, lead generation, apps, B2B, content and media. Your rate depends on vertical and volume, and comes in chat before your first deposit.

Once you're live, you run the campaigns yourself in X Ads. Requests and top ups on X run in the Adtucon Platform, like on every other platform we run. Your manager has a name and a Telegram, and is there when X asks for something. If an account is banned, you hear it from a person, with what the platform told us. We read why it happened, fix what can be fixed and resubmit with you. If the account can’t come back and the platform’s rules allow a new one, you get it at no charge.

For how agency accounts on X work in general, read our X agency ad account guide. For gambling licences across platforms, iGaming ads on Google and Meta covers the other two big ones. When your country and licence are clear, ask for an account.