Shopping ads policies

Welcome to the Shopping ads Policy Center

Overview of our Shopping ads policies and how we enforce them

We strive to support a healthy digital advertising ecosystem – one that’s trustworthy and transparent, and works for customers, advertisers, and publishers. The purpose of this Policy Center is to help you build Shopping ads and local inventory ads campaigns that align with both our ads policies and the Shopping ads policies listed below.

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

Our Shopping ads policies cover four broad areas:

Prohibited content: Content you're not allowed to promote on the Google Network

Prohibited practices: Things you can't do if you want to advertise with us

Restricted content: Content you can advertise, but with limitations

Editorial and technical: Quality standards for your ads and website

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 Shopping ads comply with these policies. Our enforcement technologies use Google AI, modeled on human reviewers’ decisions, to help protect our customers 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 Shopping ads so they don’t serve, temporarily capping ad impressions for some accounts flagged by Google AI, and suspending accounts for repeat or egregious violations.

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

Counterfeit goods

Google prohibits the sale or promotion for sale of counterfeit products. Counterfeit goods contain a trademark or logo that is identical to or substantially indistinguishable from the trademark or logo 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 Shopping ads and your website.

Dangerous products

Google wants to help keep people safe both online and offline, so we don’t allow the promotion of some products 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.

Products that enable dishonest behavior

Google values honesty and fairness, so we don’t allow the promotion of products that are designed to enable dishonest behavior.

Examples of products that enable dishonest behavior: Hacking software or instructions; fake documents; academic cheating products.

Inappropriate content

Google values 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.

Unsupported Shopping ads content

Google aims to enable businesses to promote a wide variety of products, but some Google products and platforms may not be optimized to appropriately support all content types.

For this reason, Shopping ads and free product listings don't allow the promotion of certain content where we don't offer an optimal user experience.

Note that because these limitations are specific to Shopping ads and free listings, they do not impact policies on other Google products or platforms, where functionality differs or additional support mechanisms are in place.

Abuse of the ad network

Google wants Shopping ads to be useful, varied, relevant, and safe for users, so we don’t allow any of the following:

• Malicious content
• Sites that offer little unique value to users and are focused on traffic generation
• Retailers who try to gain an unfair advantage in Shopping campaigns
• Retailers who try to bypass our review processes

Irresponsible data collection & use

Google wants 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 security measures.

Examples of user information that must 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 and use: Obtaining 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
• Checking account numbers
• Wire transfer numbers
• National identity, pension, social security, tax ID, health care, or driver's license number

Misrepresentation

Google doesn't want users to feel misled by the content promoted in Shopping ads, and that means being upfront, honest, and providing them with the information that they need to make informed decisions. For this reason we don’t allow the following:

• Promotions that prompt users to initiate a purchase, download, or other commitment without first providing all relevant information and obtaining the user’s explicit consent
• Promotions that represent you or your products in a way that is not accurate, realistic, and truthful

The policies below cover content that is sometimes legally or culturally sensitive. Online promotion 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 promotion of the content below, but on a limited basis. These promotions may not show to every user in every location, and merchants may need to meet additional requirements before their ads are eligible to run. Note that not all products, features, or networks are able to support this restricted content.

Adult-oriented content

Google restricts promotion of the following types of adult-oriented content:

• Adult merchandise
• Sexually suggestive content
• Images containing exposed skin and nudity

When promoting adult content you may not do any of the following:

• Violate applicable laws or regulations for any location that you target
• Target minors
• Promote sexually explicit content
• Promote content with underage or non-consensual sexual themes, including child sexual abuse content
• Promote content that may be interpreted as providing sexual acts in exchange for compensation

Examples of restricted adult content: sex toys; adult magazines; sexual enhancement products; sexually suggestive lingerie promotions.

Alcoholic beverages

Google restricts the promotion of alcoholic beverages and drinks that resemble alcoholic beverages.

When promoting alcoholic beverages, you may not do any of the following:

• Violate applicable laws and industry standards for any location that you target
• Target individuals below the legal drinking age
• Imply that drinking alcohol can improve social, sexual, professional, intellectual, or athletic standing
• Imply that drinking alcohol provides health or therapeutic benefits
• Portray excessive drinking in a positive light or feature binge or competition drinking
• Show alcohol being consumed in conjunction with the operation of a vehicle of any kind, the operation of machinery, or the performance of any task requiring alertness or dexterity

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.

Copyrighted content

Google restricts the promotion of copyrighted content. If you would like to promote copyrighted content and believe you are legally authorized to do so, you can contact us. To learn more about how we handle copyright-related issues or to submit a copyright-related complaint, use the Report content on Google form.

Gambling-related content

Google restricts the promotion of gambling-related content.

Examples of restricted gambling-related content: national or private lotteries; sites offering bonus codes or promotional offers for gambling sites

Healthcare-related content

Google restricts the promotion of healthcare-related content such as the following:

• Over-the-counter medication
• Prescription drugs
• Unapproved pharmaceuticals and supplements
• Pregnancy and fertility-related products

The restrictions that apply to this content may vary depending on the product you're promoting and the countries that you're targeting. Some content, such as unapproved pharmaceutical supplements, may not be promoted anywhere.

Depending on the content you’re promoting and the countries where your ads appear, you may need to apply for preauthorization with Google before advertising healthcare-related content.

Political content

When you promote political content, you must comply with the following requirements:

• Applicable laws and industry standards for any location that you target
• Any applicable election "silence periods"

Examples of political content: promotion of political parties/candidates, political issue advocacy.

Trademarks

Shopping ads don’t restrict use of trademarks by merchants in the title or description of an ad when it’s for a trademarked product or a product compatible with the trademarked product. Merchants need to reference trademarks to be able to communicate to users what they're offering, and users need that information as it's relevant to their searches. We’ll review claims by trademark owners that use of their trademark is likely to cause consumer confusion about the origin of a product. To submit a trademark-related complaint if you’re an owner of the trademark, use the Report a legal issue in Shopping ads form.

High Fat Sugar Salt Food and Beverage

We support responsible advertising of food and beverages. High Fat Sugar Salt (HFSS) Food & Beverage (F&B) Shopping ads are allowed if they comply with our policies. We consider ads to be promoting the sale of HFSS products when one or more HFSS food item, beverage, or meal is promoted in the ad (text, imagery, audio and/or video) or destination site. Specifically, Shopping ads that contain HFSS foods and beverages are now prohibited from targeting minors.

The information reflected in this policy is not intended to be legal advice and we expect all merchants and partners to comply with the local laws for any region their ads target, including local requirements that may differ from this HFSS Food & Beverage policy.

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 & professional requirements

To provide a quality customer experience, Google requires that all Shopping ads meet high professional and editorial standards. We only allow promotions that are clear and professional in appearance. These ads should lead customers to products and landing pages that are relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.

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

• a display URL that does not accurately reflect the URL of the landing page, such as "google.com" taking users to "gmail.com"
• gimmicky use of words, numbers, letters, punctuation, or symbols such as FREE, f-r-e-e, and F₹€€!!
• sites that are under construction, parked domains, or are just not working
• sites that have disabled the browser's back button
• sites that are not viewable in commonly used browsers

About our policies

Shopping ads enable businesses of all sizes, from around the world, to promote a wide variety of products 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 view. 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, and 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, and any other places your ads are showing. When we find content that violates these requirements, we may block it from appearing. In cases of repeated or egregious violations, we may stop you from advertising with us.

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