Demand Gen campaign assets must meet very high standards of quality, as the campaign type serves ads on very visual, entertainment-focused surfaces, such as Discover and YouTube.
Here are asset quality and policy requirements for Demand Gen campaign video and image ads.
Frequent and widespread violations of these guidelines may lead to a suspension from serving ads on Discovery and Demand Gen surfaces. We will regularly review new ads that you upload and if the number of ad violations reduces, you may be eligible to serve again.
Important update to the Demand Gen campaign asset quality and policy requirements
Key changes
- Deprecation of Demand Gen campaign asset quality and policy requirements: We are retiring the Demand Gen requirements and policies in this article, which govern Discover and YouTube surfaces. Advertisers running Demand Gen or Performance Max campaigns will be impacted.
- Migration to ad requirements for YouTube and Discover feed: All image, text and video policies will be integrated into the existing ad requirements for YouTube. This consolidation ensures a consistent and unified set of standards across YouTube and the Discover feed surfaces. Additionally, all Demand Gen surfaces, YouTube, Discover feed and Gmail will continue to follow the standards across Google Ads and personalised ads policies.
What this means for you
- Unified standards: You will have a single, comprehensive source for all ad quality guidelines related to image, text and video content.
- Simplified compliance: Aligning with a single set of policies will streamline your efforts to ensure that your ads meet our requirements.
Resources and support
To help you navigate these changes, we provide the following resources:
We encourage you to review the updated policies and familiarise yourself with the changes before they take effect in January 2025. We are committed to supporting you through this transition and ensure a smooth experience.
Video ad requirements
While all ads must comply with our advertising policies, this article outlines the additional requirements your ad assets must meet in order for your campaigns to serve on YouTube.
If your asset is restricted or suspended, you can find more information about how to fix a disapproved ad. If you disagree with our decision or have fixed your asset, you can appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account (if available). Alternatively, you can dispute policy decisions using the Disapproved ads and policy questions form.
Appeals may not be available in all circumstances (e.g. certain court-ordered removals). You should receive more information about your appeals options in the notification we send to you about your content or account.
Automated content policy decision
To ensure a good experience for the user, we may conduct automated reviews of your campaign content. This preliminary review may trigger restriction or suspension of the assets. If necessary, Google may further analyse the assets for a final decision.
Quality checks
Examples:
- Assets that lack clarity, correct spelling and use of capitalisation or symbols
- Blurred, distorted or poorly cropped images
YouTube Ads must meet the Google Ads editorial standards.
Sensitive applications
- Social applications with adult content where the app contains nudity or sexual topics
- Social applications whose primary purpose is meeting new people
- Social applications whose primary purpose is facilitating dating and relationships
Ads for sensitive application may be allowed if the following requirements are met:
- The application does not have live stream features
- The application is not a live chat with stranger application
- The application or ad does not have racy or suggestive content
Application ads must meet the Google Ads app ads policy.
Prohibited categories
Exaggerated or inaccurate claims
- False claims related to money or overnight success (for example, ads that tell people how to get rich in a short time frame)
Examples:
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- False or exaggerated claims related to curing diseases
Example:
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Negative events and imagery
Examples:
- Dangerous actions that could potentially result in bodily harm or encourage imitation of the action, such as dangerous challenges
- Dramatised or animated content that is excessively gory or realistic
- Funerals that show people weeping, mourning or screaming
- Videos designed to scare you intentionally or that contain footage of distressing accidents or natural disasters (enforcement applies to simulated or real content)
- If an ad features content containing professional media – such as films, TV shows, and video games — the above guidelines will be evaluated according to different criteria. Any ads containing professional media should clearly indicate the source of the media so the viewer understands what they’re watching.
Improper content
Examples:
- Medical or dental surgery procedures that show blood, guts, gore, bodily fluids or tooth decay
- Emphasising body parts (for example, zooming in on belly fat)
- Showing bodily symptoms (for example, fluids or rashes)
Examples:
- Adult content promotions where the majority of the ad is focused on nudity or sexual topics
- Ads that promote dating using sexually-explicit imagery or language
Examples:
- Ads for weight loss, hair loss, skin conditions or other health conditions are allowed as long as the imagery isn’t disturbing
- Promotion of products like swimwear or spa treatments are permitted as long as the content is not overtly sexualised
Examples:
- Assets containing obscene or offensive language, which may offend users
- Derogatory language that incites hatred against, promotes discrimination of or disparages an individual or group that is associated with systemic discrimination
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YouTube Masthead content requirements
YouTube Masthead ads are the ads that YouTube users see at the top of the YouTube homepage. This type of ad is the most prominent Google advertising placement available to advertisers. To ensure that we provide a high-quality consumer ad experience, YouTube Masthead ads must comply with all Google Ads policies, the Ad requirements for YouTube listed on this page and the Masthead format requirements.
We will review each YouTube Masthead ad asset for compliance with the Masthead format requirements, which apply in addition to the Google Ads policies and the Ad requirements for YouTube. Please review the Masthead format requirements for the additional requirements your ad assets must meet in order for your campaigns to serve as YouTube Masthead ads. The Masthead format requirements may be more restrictive than the ad requirements for other platforms and surfaces, meaning disapproved YouTube Masthead ad assets may continue to run on Google’s other owned and operated properties.
Image and Text ads requirements
Prohibited categories
Regulated goods
Assets that depict or reference regulated goods or substances, including (but not limited to) recreational drugs and tobacco.
- Assets that depict alcohol are able to serve in Demand Gen campaigns
Assets that depict or reference images of weapons or criminality, including (but not limited to) guns, firearms, ammunition, explosives, the sale of fireworks, knives, prison, criminals or arrests.
Example:
- Assets that depict or reference the above prohibited categories in a scene from a fictional work of entertainment (video game, TV-show, film and others).
- Assets that depict or reference the above prohibited categories but not in a violent or criminal context, including (but not limited to) kitchen and utility knives, historical artefacts or halloween costumes
Assets that depict cash sweepstakes or cash giveaways, including (but not limited to):
Cash rewards without legitimate user action
Paid surveys and questionnaires
- Cash sweepstakes or cash giveaways
Improper content
Assets that depict or reference racy or adult content including (but not limited to):
- Sexually suggestive content
- Unnecessarily focus on body parts
- Sexual merchandise and entertainment
Assets that depict invasive medical procedures
Example:
Assets that depict content that could cause discomfort, including (but not limited to) bodily fluids and waste
Negative events
Assets that depict negative life events including (but not limited to):
- Divorce, breakups or family separation, home foreclosures, financial difficulties, accidents and personal injuries (non-exhaustive examples include sport, professional/work, medical and general accidents and injuries), or damage to objects or properties (non-exhaustive examples include vandalism or destroyed personal property)
Assets that depict or reference natural or man-made crises.
Assets that depict or reference behavioural addiction recovery including, rehabilitation facilities and products that aid in addiction recovery.
Assets that depict death or death-related content including but not limited to:
- A dead person or animal
- A funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, mausoleum
Assets that depict trauma or pain including (but not limited to) a person grieving or crying.
Assets that depict content that is presented in a way that is likely to trigger a negative reaction.
Assets that depict discrimination or encouragement of discrimination, against people based on their personal attributes.
Assets that promote actions that violate other platforms’ Terms and Conditions.
Examples:
- Assets that reference services including (but not limited to) funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, mausoleum, memorial services companies, family and divorce services (lawyer/law offices/counselling), insurance or event support services as long as they are neutrally and positively framed
- Assets that depict or reference the negative events listed above in a scene from a fictional work of entertainment (video game, TV-show, movie, etc.)
Dating-related prohibitions: users’ personal attributes
Assets that depict or reference dating services or matchmakers by asserting or implying user’s personal attributes, including (but not limited to) race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, age or sexual orientation.
Implied interactivity
Assets that feature visual elements that depict nonexistent functionality (such as a 'play' button that cannot be clicked).
Assets that tease the user into clicking the advertisement with sensational language, misleading claims or intentionally withholding necessary information.
Example:
Assets that promote an advertorial and tease the user into clicking the advertisement, making it unclear who the advertiser is.
Assets referring to personal identifiable information including (but not limited to) insurance cards, driving licences, cheques and credit cards with no context or business offer.
Assets that illustrate that someone is trying to contact or has matched with the user while advertising a dating site.
Example:
Unclear image
Blurred Images that are blurry or unclear.
Examples:
Images that are visually oddly skewed or shaped, morphed, upside-down, distastefully out of focus, colour-inverted, excessively filtered, distorted or contain watermarks.
Example:
Images that are critically cropped or contain even minimally cropped text overlay.
Example:
