Google Ads policies

Welcome to the Google Advertising Policies Center

We strive to support a healthy digital advertising ecosystem—one that's trustworthy and transparent, and works for users, advertisers, and publishers. The purpose of this help center is to help you build Google Ads campaigns that align with our advertising policies listed below.

These policies are designed to ensure a safe and positive experience for our users and abide by applicable laws. This means that our policies prohibit content that is harmful to users and the overall advertising ecosystem.

Our advertising policies cover 4 broad areas:

	Prohibited content: Content you can't advertise on the Google Network
	Prohibited practices: Things you can't do if you want to advertise with us
	Restricted content and features: Content you can advertise, but with limitations
	Editorial and technical: Quality standards for your ads, websites, and apps

Click through the policies below for policy definitions, examples, and troubleshooting steps.

We use a combination of Google AI and human evaluation to ensure that ads comply with these policies. Our enforcement technologies use Google AI, modeled on human reviewers’ decisions, to help protect our users and keep our ad platforms safe. More complex, nuanced or severe cases are often reviewed and evaluated by our specially-trained experts.

We take action on content that violates our policies. This may include disapproving violating ads so they don’t serve, as well as suspending accounts for repeat or egregious violations. We take repeat violations of our policies seriously and continue to expand a strike system for repeat offenders.

We will provide you with information on our decision for any policy violation enforcement actions we take. If one of your ads is disapproved, you can fix that ad or appeal the decision (or here for DV360 ads). You can also appeal an account suspension decision (or here for DV360 appeals). For these links to work, you’ll need to be signed into your Google Ads account.

Prohibited content

Counterfeit goods

Google Ads prohibits the sale or promotion for sale of counterfeit goods. Counterfeit goods contain a trademark or logo that is identical to or substantially indistinguishable from the trademark of another. They mimic the brand features of the product in an attempt to pass themselves off as a genuine product of the brand owner. This policy applies to the content of your ad and your website or app. 

Dangerous products or services

We want to help keep people safe both online and offline, so we don't allow the promotion of some products or services that cause damage, harm, or injury.

Examples of dangerous content: Recreational drugs (chemical or herbal); psychoactive substances; equipment to facilitate drug use; weapons, ammunition, explosive materials and fireworks; instructions for making explosives or other harmful products; tobacco products

Enabling dishonest behavior

We value honesty and fairness, so we don't allow the promotion of products or services that are designed to enable dishonest behavior.

Examples of products or services that enable dishonest behavior: Hacking software or instructions; services designed to artificially inflate ad or website traffic; fake documents; academic cheating services

Inappropriate content

We value diversity and respect for others, and we strive to avoid offending users, so we don’t allow ads or destinations that display shocking content or promote hatred, intolerance, discrimination, or violence.

Examples of inappropriate or offensive content: bullying or intimidation of an individual or group, racial discrimination, hate group paraphernalia, graphic crime scene or accident images, cruelty to animals, murder, self-harm, extortion or blackmail, sale or trade of endangered species, ads using profane language

Prohibited practices

Abusing the ad network

We want ads across the Google Network to be useful, varied, relevant, and safe for users. We don’t allow advertisers to run ads, content, or destinations that attempt to trick or circumvent our ad review processes.

Examples of abuse of the ad network: promoting content that contains malware; "cloaking" or using other techniques to hide the true destination that users are directed to; "arbitrage" or promoting destinations for the sole or primary purpose of showing ads; promoting "bridge" or "gateway" destinations that are solely designed to send users elsewhere; advertising with the sole or primary intent of gaining public social network endorsements from the user; "gaming" or manipulating settings in an attempt to circumvent our policy review systems

Data collection and use

We want users to trust that information about them will be respected and handled with appropriate care. As such, our advertising partners should not misuse this information, nor collect it for unclear purposes or without appropriate disclosures or security measures.

Note that additional policies apply when using personalized advertising, which includes remarketing and custom audiences. If you use personalized advertising targeting features, be sure to review the personalized ads data collection and use policies.

Examples of user information that should be handled with care: full name; email address; mailing address; phone number; national identity, pension, social security, tax ID, health care, or driver's license number; birth date or mother's maiden name in addition to any of the above information; financial status; political affiliation; sexual orientation; race or ethnicity; religion

Examples of irresponsible data collection & use: obtaining credit card information over a non-secure server, promotions that claim to know a user's sexual orientation or financial status, violations of our policies that apply to interest-based advertising and remarketing

Misrepresentation

We want users to trust the ads on our platform, so we strive to ensure ads are clear and honest, and provide the information that users need to make informed decisions. We don’t allow ads or destinations that deceive users by excluding relevant product information or providing misleading information about products, services, or businesses.

Examples of misrepresentation: omitting or obscuring billing details such as how, what, and when users will be charged; omitting or obscuring charges associated with financial services such as interest rates, fees, and penalties; failing to display tax or licence numbers, contact information, or physical address where relevant; making offers that aren't actually available; making misleading or unrealistic claims regarding weight loss or financial gain; collecting donations under false pretenses; "phishing" or falsely purporting to be a reputable company in order to get users to part with valuable personal or financial information

Restricted content and features

The policies below cover content that is sometimes legally or culturally sensitive. Online advertising can be a powerful way to reach customers, but in sensitive areas, we also work hard to avoid showing these ads when and where they might be inappropriate.

For that reason, we allow the promotion of the content below, but on a limited basis. These promotions may not show to every user in every location, and advertisers may need to meet additional requirements before their ads are eligible to run. Note that not all ad products, features, or networks are able to support this restricted content. Further details can be found in the Policy Center.

Default Ads Treatment

Google is committed to delivering a safe and trustworthy ad experience for all users. That’s why we limit serving certain types of ad categories for users that aren't signed in or users that our systems indicate are under 18.

Sexual content

Ads should respect user preferences and comply with legal regulations, so we don't allow certain kinds of sexual content in ads and destinations.  Some kinds of sexual content in ads and destinations are allowed only if they comply with the policies below and don't target minors, but they will only show in limited scenarios based on user search queries, user age, and local laws where the ad is being served. 

Learn about what happens if you violate our policies.

Examples of restricted sexual content: Visible genitalia and female breasts, hook-up dating, sex toys, strip clubs, sexually suggestive live chat, and models in sexualized poses.

Alcohol

We abide by local alcohol laws and industry standards, so we don’t allow certain kinds of alcohol-related advertising, both for alcohol and drinks that resemble alcohol. Some types of alcohol-related ads are allowed if they meet the policies below, don’t target minors, and target only countries that are explicitly allowed to show alcohol ads.

Examples of restricted alcoholic beverages: beer, wine, sake, spirits or hard alcohol, Champagne, fortified wine, non-alcoholic beer, non-alcoholic wine, and non-alcoholic distilled spirits

Copyrights

We abide by local copyright laws and protect the rights of copyright holders, so we don’t allow ads that are unauthorized to use copyrighted content. If you are legally authorized to use copyrighted content, apply for certification (or here for DV360) to advertise. If you see unauthorized content, submit a copyright-related complaint.

Gambling and games

We support responsible gambling advertising and abide by local gambling laws and industry standards, so we don’t allow certain kinds of gambling-related advertising. Gambling-related ads are allowed if they comply with the policies below and the advertiser has received the proper Google Ads certification. Gambling ads must target approved countries, have a landing page that displays information about responsible gambling, and never target minors. Check local regulations for the areas you want to target.

Examples of restricted gambling-related content: physical casinos; sites where users can bet on poker, bingo, roulette, or sports events; national or private lotteries; sports odds aggregator sites; sites offering bonus codes or promotional offers for gambling sites; online educational materials for casino-based games; sites offering "poker-for-fun" games; non-casino-based cash game sites

Healthcare and medicines

We are dedicated to following advertising regulations for healthcare and medicine, so we expect that ads and destinations follow appropriate laws and industry standards. Some healthcare-related content can’t be advertised at all, while others can only be advertised if the advertiser is certified with Google and targets only approved countries. Check local regulations for the areas you want to target.

Political content

We support responsible political advertising and expect all political ads and destinations to comply with local campaign and election laws for any areas they target. This policy includes legally mandated election “silence periods.”  

Examples of political content: promotion of political parties or candidates, political issue advocacy

Financial services

We want users to have adequate information to make informed financial decisions. Our policies are designed to give users information to weigh the costs associated with financial products and services, and to protect users from harmful or deceitful practices. For the purposes of this policy, we consider financial products and services to be those related to the management or investment of money and cryptocurrencies, including personalized advice.

When promoting financial products and services, you must comply with state and local regulations for any location that your ads target — for example, include specific disclosures required by local law. Advertisers are expected to do their own research on the local regulations for any location their ads target.

Trademarks

There are multiple factors that determine when trademarks can be used in ads. Along with the factors described in our Policy Center, these policies apply only when a trademark owner has submitted a valid complaint to Google.

Legal requirements

You’re always responsible for ensuring that you comply with all applicable laws and regulations, in addition to Google's advertising policies, for all of the locations where your ads are showing.

Other restricted businesses

We restrict certain kinds of businesses from advertising with us to prevent users from being exploited, even if individual businesses appear to comply with our other policies. Based on our own continuous reviews, and feedback from users, regulators, and consumer protection authorities, we occasionally identify products or services that are prone to abuse. If we feel that certain kinds of businesses pose an unreasonable risk to user safety or user experience, then we may limit or stop related ads from running.

Restricted ad formats and features

There are multiple factors that determine access to advanced ad formats and features on Google Ads. Certain ad formats are not available for all advertisers until they meet our specific requirements or complete the certification process.

Requirements for made for kids content

Advertisers may not run personalized ads on content set as made for kids. See here for categories restricted for advertising on made for kids content.

Ad-serving protections for children and teens

It’s important that our advertising experience on Google products is useful, informative, and above all, safe for all our users, and that includes children and teens, too. Google’s child ads policy and teen ads policy implement safeguards to help protect users under age 18, including disabling ads personalization and restricting sensitive ad categories.

Limited ad serving

To protect the integrity of our Google Ads ecosystem, we limit impressions of ads that have a higher potential of causing abuse or a poor experience for our users. In these specific instances, only qualified advertisers will be able to serve ads without impression limits. Learn more about when limited ad serving applies and who is a qualified advertiser.

Editorial & technical requirements

We want to deliver ads that are engaging for users without being annoying or difficult to interact with, so we've developed editorial requirements to help keep your ads appealing to users. We've also specified technical requirements to help users and advertisers get the most out of the variety of ad formats we offer.

Editorial

In order to provide a quality user experience, Google requires that all ads, assets, and destinations meet high professional and editorial standards. We only allow ads that are clear, professional in appearance, and that lead users to content that is relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.

Examples of promotions that don't meet these editorial and professional requirements:

• overly generic ads that contain vague phrases such as "Buy products here"
• gimmicky use of words, numbers, letters, punctuation, or symbols such as FREE, f-r-e-e, and F₹€€!!

Destination requirements

We want consumers to have a good experience when they click on an ad, so ad destinations must offer unique value to users and be functional, useful, and easy to navigate.

Examples of promotions that don't meet destination requirements:

• a display URL that does not accurately reflect the URL of the landing page, such as "google.com" taking users to "gmail.com"
• sites or apps that are under construction, parked domains, or are just not working
• sites that are not viewable in commonly used browsers
• sites that have disabled the browser's back button

Technical requirements

To help us keep ads clear and functional, advertisers must meet our technical requirements.

Ad format requirements

In order to help you provide a quality user experience and deliver attractive, professional-looking ads, we only allow ads that comply with specific requirements for each ad format. Review the requirements for all ad formats that you're using.

Note that we don't allow Non-family safe ads in image ads, video ads, and other non-text ad formats. Read more about our Adult content policy.

Advertisers participating in beta programs of new ad formats should reach out to their Google Ads representatives or Google Ads customer support to learn about format-specific policy requirements.

Examples of ad format requirements: character limits for the ad headline or body, image size requirements, file size limits, video length limits, aspect ratios

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About our policies

Google Ads enables businesses of all sizes, from around the world, to promote a wide variety of products, services, applications, and websites on Google and across our network. We want to help you reach existing and potential customers and audiences. However, to help create a safe and positive experience for users, we listen to their feedback and concerns about the types of ads they see. We also regularly review changes in online trends and practices, industry norms, and regulations. And finally, in crafting our policies, we also think about our values and culture as a company, as well as operational, technical, and business considerations. As a result, we have created a set of policies that apply to all promotions on the Google Network.

Google requires that advertisers comply with all applicable laws and regulations and the Google policies described above. It's important that you familiarize yourself with and keep up to date on these requirements for the places where your business operates, as well as any other places your ads are showing. When we find content that violates these requirements, we may block it from appearing, and in cases of repeated or egregious violations, we may stop you from advertising with us.

Advertisers have a responsibility not to promote content or engage in behavior that risks harm to our users, employees, or the Ads ecosystem. If we see such content or behavior, we may take action, including but not limited to restricting or blocking your ads or suspending your account.

Need help?

If you have questions about our policies, let us know: Contact Google Ads Support

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