In this fourth part of our wine and spirits series, we’ll look at rules and regulations—both legal and platform-level.
For wine and spirits merchants, compliance is not a side topic. Legal restrictions and channel policies can shape where and how you advertise. Ignoring them can lead to product disapprovals or full account suspensions.
1. Shipping Rules and Geography
Start with where you are legally allowed to sell.
Fundamentals:
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Do not advertise in states or counties where you cannot legally ship or sell.
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Pay attention to “dry” counties and other local restrictions.
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Ensure your shipping policies, feed data, and campaign settings all match.
Use the most granular geo tools the platform offers:
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On Google, take advantage of ZIP-code and county-level targeting where appropriate.
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On less mature platforms that only allow state-level settings, err on the side of caution.
From a feed perspective, this often means:
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Encoding shipping eligibility and regional availability into attributes.
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Excluding products or locations from specific feeds when you cannot sell into them.
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Keeping internal lists of allowed regions up to date and reflected in both feed rules and campaign settings.
2. Channel-Specific Alcohol Policies
Each major platform has its own alcohol advertising rules (Google, Meta, Microsoft, etc.). You are expected to comply with both local law and platform policy.
Common areas to watch:
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Ad copy
Make sure any headlines, descriptions, or extensions don’t promote alcohol in ways that violate local regulations (for example, targeting minors or implying irresponsible use). -
Landing pages
Ensure that:-
Pricing and key product details are clearly shown
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Any required age-gate or disclaimers are implemented correctly
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The business is licensed to sell in the locations shown
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Audience and placement controls
Some platforms have additional requirements or restrictions around who you can target and where ads may appear.
A disciplined setup reduces the chances of disapprovals and keeps accounts stable over time.
(This is not legal advice; merchants should still consult their own counsel. Feed management is one part of a broader compliance picture.)
3. Protecting Account Health with the Feed
Many account problems start with the feed:
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Products submitted for regions where you cannot ship
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Incomplete or inaccurate attributes
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Placeholder images used too broadly
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Mismatches between feed data and the landing page
To keep accounts healthy, we typically:
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Align feed-level availability and shipping data with actual legal and operational reality.
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Minimize the use of placeholders and resolve them first for high-impact products.
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Monitor disapproval and warning rates across channels and adjust feed rules accordingly.
A clean, accurate feed is usually the fastest way to prevent repeated policy issues.
Bringing It All Together
Across this series, we’ve covered:
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Protecting ad spend by cutting low-intent traffic and excluding the wrong products
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Structuring titles and images so buyers and algorithms understand what you’re selling
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Choosing channels that make sense for wine merchants, from Google and Microsoft to specialty platforms and LIA
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Staying within legal and platform rules so your accounts remain stable
Managing all of this in-house is demanding, especially for merchants with multiple locations and large catalogs. A strong feed partner doesn’t replace your marketing team, but it does give them the tools and data structure to run smarter campaigns.
If your shop:
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Spends at least $50,000 USD per month on online advertising, and
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Operates two or more physical locations,
we’re happy to discuss how VersaFeed can support your wine and spirits program.
You can reach us here: https://www.versafeed.com/contact/