Take your pick

Based on "advertiser feedback […] received over the years," Google AdWords now permits clients to produce search ads for hard alcohol and liqueurs.

Last month Google retracted its ban on beer ads in AdWords, albeit with certain conditions: beer ads are granted Non-FamilySafe status.

Hard alcohol and liqueur advertisers face steeper regulations. Unlike with beer ads, "ads that directly promote the sale of hard alcohol and liqueurs are still not permissible" — instead, less direct branding efforts are encouraged.

The Googleblog illustrates the difference between the beer and hard alcohol/liqueur policy thus:

Under the hard alcohol and liqueurs policy, you might market to individuals searching for helpful and relevant alcohol-related information by promoting holiday cocktail ideas or the caloric content of popular spiked beverages. Under the beer policy, you might state a specific sales promotion for a great winter ale.

These regulations currently only apply to the US. The updated alcohol policy will go live, based on local regulations, in other countries as the weeks progress.

Concerns about plummeting ad spend rates through 2009 have driven Google to avail a number of new opportunities to AdWords advertisers. Shortly after permitting beer ads on AdWords, for example, it began selling ad space on its finance pages.

But it isn't the only one. In the same period, Facebook lifted restrictions on apps that "promote, facilitate, or reference" the sale of alcoholic beverages.