Google doesn't allow sites to use Hotel ads or free booking links where behaviour is deceiving, confusing, unsafe, unlawful or abusive to users. We use a combination of automated and human evaluation to detect this type of behaviour, and all potential violations are reviewed by our policy team. If our policy team finds that an account is in violation of this policy, they'll contact the account owners directly with more details. Violations can result in price accuracy penalties and could lead to a minimum account suspension of five working days if issues aren't resolved during a specified warning period. Subsequent violations will incur longer suspensions (up to permanent suspension for repeat offenders). Egregious violations can result in immediate account suspension. The following are examples of the kinds of content that are prohibited by the service and could lead to account suspension or termination.
Abuse of the network
- Malicious content, specifically content that may harm or grant unauthorised access to a computer, device or network
- Examples: Computer viruses, ransomware, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, keyloggers, diallers, spyware, rogue security software and other malicious programs
- Attempts to bypass data quality and/or policy review processes, including price accuracy scoring
- Examples: Cloaking, the use of dynamic DNS to switch page or product, manipulating product data or site content to bypass our automated system checks, restricting crawler access to your landing pages
- Consistently incorrect landing page redirects
Irresponsible data collection and use
- Examples of user information that should only be collected when necessary and must be handled with care include: full name, email address, postal address, phone number, national identity, pension, national insurance, tax ID, healthcare or driving licence 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, and religion.
- The final and total booking rate must be displayed before any user information is requested.
- Examples of irresponsible data collection and use:
- Getting the following data over non-secure SSL (https://) server connections:
- Username or email in combination with passwords
- Credit and debit card numbers
- Bank and investment account numbers
- Other account numbers
- Bank transfer numbers
- National identity, pension, national insurance ID, tax ID, healthcare or driving licence number
- Reselling users' contact information or using images of users in ads or free booking links without their consent
- Unnecessary data collection
- Using user information deceptively or without specific consent
- Sending users spam
- Getting the following data over non-secure SSL (https://) server connections:
Learn more about data collection and use.
Misrepresentation
- Prompting users to initiate a purchase, download or other commitment without first providing all relevant information and getting the user's explicit consent
- Representing yourself, your company or your offers in a way that is not accurate, realistic and truthful
- Frequently providing incorrect pricing, not otherwise reflected in the price accuracy score
- Destination URL (landing page) repeatedly being unavailable
- Users being unable to complete checkout
- Displaying offers that cannot be reliably booked
- Taxes and fees charged for Google users should not be computed differently than they are for non-Google users
Partner display names must be free from click bait, emoji or other terms that misrepresent your business to users. If your display name is misleading or is deemed inappropriate or offensive, then Google may, at its discretion, show your website URL instead of your display name in the booking module or next to your link.
Ask Google to reconsider a suspension decision
If you disagree with a suspension decision and want us to reconsider our position, you may submit an appeal within six months of the date of the suspension. An appeal form will be provided within the suspension notification email. Note that after the end of this six-month period, you will no longer be allowed to ask us to reconsider our decision.
Only one appeal can be submitted per suspension decision. Refrain from the repeated submission of unfounded appeals. Before submitting an appeal, ensure that you understand Google policies. At the time of submitting an appeal, make sure that you include clear and convincing evidence as to why Google should reconsider our decision. Failure to do so might prevent you from being allowed to submit an appeal in the future.
After an appeal has been submitted, your request will be promptly reviewed and Google will get back to you with a decision. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you will be required to resolve any policy violations to be in compliance with Google's policies in order for the suspension to be lifted.
For EU users covered by the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA)
Review the European Union Digital Services Act resolution options for additional appeal options.