Google Ads policy guide; disapproval reasons

Policy reference

Description

Suggested actions

Image Quality

Ads should fill the entire space of the image size and not be sideways, blurry, strobing, flashing, or otherwise distracting.

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Legal Requirements

All advertisers must comply with local laws for all areas their ads target, in addition to standard Google Ads policies.

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Misrepresentation

Ads or destinations that intend to deceive users by excluding relevant information or give misleading information about products, services, or businesses aren't allowed.

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Prescription Drug Sale

Ads relating to the sale of prescription drugs are restricted in some countries

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Restricted Drug Terms

Prescription drug terms in ad text or landing pages (including source code) in most parts of the world (except for a few countries) isn't allowed.

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Restricted Medical Content

Offline prescription drug treatments, services, or information related to prescription drugs is allowed with country-specific restrictions.

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Legal Russia

You must comply with local laws. In Russia, for example, product information without an age rating isn't allowed to be advertised.

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Destination Not Working

If the URL you entered isn't working, check to make sure it's correct, then resubmit your ad for review. If resubmission doesn't work, contact your webmaster.

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Destination Mismatch

The domains of the Display URL, Final URL, Mobile URL, and URL that users end up on after any re-directs must be the same.

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Trademarks In Ad Text

Request authorization from the trademark owner to use their trademark without restrictions.

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Malicious Software

Ads, content, or destinations that are malicious or attempt to trick or circumvent our ad review processes aren't allowed.

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Malicious Or Unwanted Software

Ads, content, or destinations that are malicious or attempt to trick or circumvent our ad review processes aren't allowed.

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Unclear Relevance

Ad text that isn't relevant to the landing page isn't allowed.

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Symbols

Remove any nonstandard or repetitive punctuation or symbols (like multiple exclamation points) from your ad text. Remove exclamation points from headlines if applicable.

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Phone Number In Ad Text

Remove any phone number in the ad text. If you want customers to call you, consider using call extensions or call-only ads

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Capitalization

Capitalization that is not used correctly or for its intended purpose

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Alcohol sale

We consider ads to be promoting the sale of alcoholic beverages when one or more alcoholic beverages are featured in the ad, and alcohol can be purchased on the destination site or app.

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Alcohol information

Branding and informational ads include promotions which focus on alcoholic beverages, or spread awareness of alcoholic beverages, but which do not offer them for online sale.

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Misleading content

The following is not allowed:

  • Making false statements about your identity or qualifications

  • Using false claims or claims that entice the user with an improbable result (even if this result is possible) as the likely outcome that a user can expect, or making claims that are demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process

  • Manipulating media to deceive, defraud, or mislead others

  • Falsely implying affiliation with, or endorsement by, another individual, organization, product, or service

  • Ads that mislead or trick the user into interacting with them

  • Providing a business name that is anything other than the domain, the recognized name of the advertiser, or the promoted downloadable app

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Abortion

Google doesn't allow ads related to abortion in the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Korea (South), Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territory, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saint Barthelemy, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen

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Prescription opioid painkillers

Google does not allow ads for prescription opioid painkillers except for those that are intended for use as medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder and meet all other requirements pertaining to prescription drugs listed on this page.

In limited cases, and where permitted by local law, Google allows exceptions to this policy for (a) public health and safety awareness campaigns from governmental or well-established non-profit health advocacy organizations, (b) ads for non-opioid pharmaceuticals that only refer to prescription opioids in their safety information, and (c) certified addiction treatment providers in the United States.

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Style and spelling

  • Ads or extensions that do not use commonly accepted spelling or grammar

  • Ads or extensions that are incomprehensible or don’t make sense

  • Ads or extensions that exceed character limits for double-width character languages

  • Ads or extensions that are inconsistent with the clear and informational presentation style of the Google Search results

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Destination experience

  • Destinations or content that are unnecessarily difficult or frustrating to navigate

  • Links that initiate a direct download from the ad or that lead to an email address or a file

  • Destinations that contain abusive experiences

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Housing in personalized ads

Homes for sale or rental, where a home is defined as a place a person would reside. This includes products or services enabling the sale or rental of homes.

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Adult content

Ads should respect user preferences and comply with legal regulations, so we don’t allow certain kinds of adult content in ads and destinations. Some kinds of adult-oriented ads and destinations are allowed 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.

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Addiction services

Google restricts advertising for recovery-oriented drug and alcohol addiction services.

Examples of recovery-oriented addiction services: Clinical addiction treatment providers, recovery support services like sober living environments and mutual help organizations, lead generators or referral agencies for addiction services, crisis hotlines for drug and alcohol addiction

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Misleading ad design

Ads that make it difficult for the user to understand they are interacting with an ad

Examples (non-exhaustive): Ads that resemble system or site warnings/error messages; ads that simulate messages, dialog boxes, menus, or request notifications; hosted ads that are indistinguishable from other content; ads depicting features that do not work, such as close buttons, text input boxes, multiple choice options; download/install buttons or icons in image ads; ads with a transparent background; images that are segmented; an image that contains multiple copies of itself within the ad; images that appear to be more than one ad; moving and clicking arrows; ads that use surreptitious techniques to disguise their nature

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Clickbait Ads

  • Ads that use clickbait tactics or sensationalist text or imagery to drive traffic

  • Ads that use negative life events such as death, accidents, illness, arrests or bankruptcy to induce fear, guilt or other strong negative emotions to pressure the viewer to take immediate action.

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Unapproved substances

Google doesn't allow the promotion of the following content, irrespective of any claims of legality:

  • All items on this non-exhaustive list of prohibited pharmaceuticals and supplements

  • Products that contain ephedra

  • Products containing human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in relation to weight loss or weight control, or when promoted in conjunction with anabolic steroids

  • Herbal and dietary supplements with active pharmaceutical or dangerous ingredients

  • Products that imply they are as effective as prescription drugs or controlled substances

  • Non-government approved products that are marketed in a way that implies that they're safe or effective for use in preventing, curing, or treating a particular disease or ailment

  • Products that have been subject to any government or regulatory action or warning

  • Products with names that are confusingly similar to an unapproved pharmaceutical or supplement or controlled substance

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US Election Google Ads Policy Updates

Since January 6, we have enacted a limited Sensitive events policy, per our standard policies, given the violent events in Washington DC.

Starting on Thursday, January 14, we will be expanding our Sensitive events enforcement to US election-related content, including ads which reference the candidates, the election, its outcome, the upcoming presidential inauguration, the ongoing presidential impeachment process, violence at the US Capitol, or future planned protests on these topics. There will not be any carve outs or appeals for this policy.

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Birth control

Google doesn't allow ads related to birth control or fertility products in the following countries: Bahrain, China, Djibouti, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

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Free desktop software

Ads for free desktop software must include the name of the specific software being advertised and lead to the authoritative online distribution source for the software.

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Shocking content

Promotions containing violent language, gruesome or disgusting imagery, or graphic images or accounts of physical trauma. Promotions containing gratuitous portrayals of bodily fluids or waste. Promotions containing obscene or profane language. Promotions that are likely to shock or scare

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Employment in personalized ads

Employment opportunities or hiring a person for a job.

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Local legal requirements in Japan

Local legal requirements in Japan

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Negative financial status in personalized advertising

Personal financial distress, difficulties, or deprivation

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Past violations

Google continuously re-reviews ads to ensure they conform with our policies. During the standard re-review process, our system may identify disapproved ads that no longer violate our policies. If your ad was disapproved for an extended period of time and our enforcement system later decides that the policy no longer applies, we may keep the ad disapproved and classify the ad as “Past Violation”. We do this to prevent you from unintentionally exhausting spend on old ads

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Circumventing systems

Engaging in practices that circumvent or interfere with Google's advertising systems and processes, or attempts to do so.

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Speculative and experimental medical treatment, cell therapies, and gene therapies

The following is not allowed:

  • Promotion of speculative and/or experimental medical treatments.

  • Promotion of cell or gene therapies, regardless of regulatory approval status.

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Trademarks

Google abides by local trademark laws and requires that Google Ads ads don’t infringe third party trademarks. We recognize that third parties may properly use trademarks in certain situations, such as by resellers to describe products.

If a trademark owner submits a complaint to Google about the use of their trademark in Google Ads ads, we will review it and may enforce certain restrictions on use of the trademark.

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