We strive to support a healthy user contribution ecosystem that's trustworthy and transparent, and works for users. The purpose of this Help Centre is to help you understand Google's policies for your use of Google Maps.
These policies are designed to create a safe and positive experience for our users and abide by applicable laws. Expand a policy or Help Centre below to learn more about what it covers.
- How to use Google Maps: These pages provide information on how you get where you need to go, use the map and other map services, and customise or edit your Maps experience.
- Changing settings and preferences: These pages provide information on how you can access maps in different languages, improve your location’s accuracy, protect your privacy and manage your data.
- Map and Search results and recommendations: These pages provide information related to how results are presented based on your settings and the controls available to personalise your experience.
- How your content may appear on Maps: These pages help you understand how and where your contributions such as reviews, photos and videos may be published on Maps. We additionally provide guidelines for content additions to Maps.
- Prohibited and restricted content: These pages provide information about contributions that aren't allowed on Maps or if certain places have posting restrictions. Additionally, we provide guidance on how to flag potential prohibited or restricted content on Maps for removal.
- Privacy and Settings: How Maps protects the privacy of its users and how you can adjust your personal preferences on Maps.
Google Business Profile Help Centre
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google: These pages give you information around managing your business profile, supported regions, as well as our policies and guidelines.
- Using Google Maps for your business account: These pages provide insight on how you can use Google Maps for your business needs. Topics that you can expect to find here are our product approval requirements, how you can protect against fraudulent calls, working with third parties, and information around our photo and video requirements with regard to your business.
- All Business Profile policies and terms of service: This page gives you information about additional terms of services, covering areas such as settling disputes and access to your content. We also provide information on how you can contribute to the positive experience on Maps through your business profile.
- Personal map creation and prohibited content: These pages cover creating your personal map experience with Google My Maps and the 11 types of content that are prohibited when using this feature on Maps.
Google Local Listings Help Centre
-
About local listings and updating information: Provides information around how up to date information about places (including businesses), such as name, phone number and address is sourced, and how changes and removals can be made to local listings.
Google-contributed Street View imagery policy
- Acceptable content: How we treat inappropriate content and the criteria that we use for publishing Street View imagery to Google Maps.
Google Maps platform acceptable use policy
- Acceptable use: This page covers the types of violations which may result in a change in the use of Google Maps services for third parties.
Google Maps & Google Earth additional terms of service
- Licensing and use: How you can use Google Maps and Google Earth and specific things that you’re permitted to do. Additionally, we address how actual conditions may differ from the map results and content.
- Prohibited conduct: What actions are not allowed when using Google Maps and Google Earth.
- Uploaded content: How we may use content that you provide and upload to Google Maps and Google Earth.
Understand policy enforcement
We use a combination of automated and human evaluation to moderate content that violates these policies. Our enforcement technologies use algorithms and machine learning, modelled on human reviewers’ decisions, to help protect our users and keep our Map 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 and take repeated violations of our policies seriously. This may include rejecting content or suspending accounts for repeat or egregious violations. We take repeated violations of our policies seriously and have a strike system for repeat offenders.
We will provide you with information on our decision for any policy violation enforcement actions that we take. If your post is rejected, you can fix that post or appeal the decision. You can also appeal an account suspension decision. However, to perform an appeal, you must be signed in to your Google Account.