Ad policy overview

In this article, you’ll learn about the policies all advertisers must follow and how we review ads.

Our policies

To place ads on YouTube, you’ll have to comply with:

Google Ad Policies
YouTube-specific ad policies
- Ad formats & features
- Targeting & serving
- If you place ads on YouTube Kids, check out our YouTube Kids advertising policies for more specific guidance.
YouTube Community Guidelines
Technical Guidelines

Policy guidelines

Below you’ll find more detailed info about our policy guidelines:

Prohibited content

Content you can't advertise on the Google Network

Prohibited practices

What you can't do when advertising with us

Restricted content

Content you can advertise, but with limitations

Editorial and technical

Quality standards for your ads, websites, and apps

Other important policies

Ads are particularly visible when they appear on YouTube. The links below include other policies that are applied to any ad running on our platform:

Where policies apply

Our policies apply to all portions of your content, including:

Text in ad
Creative elements in ad
Content of your site or the content of your channel or video

Once your ad is created, it will automatically be reviewed. Learn more about our ad review process below.

How we review ads

After you create or edit an ad or extension, the review process begins automatically.

Ad review details

What we review

Headline
Description
Keywords
Destination
Images
Video.

What reviewers consider

Since video is such a unique format we have specific considerations when evaluating your ad, such as:

The focal point of the video
Camera angle and fleeting scenes
Clarity of the images shown to our users

What you can do

Context is key and adding it in helps us make the correct decision. Our systems don’t always get it right. If our systems mark your ads as “Disapproved”, you can take steps to fix this status by following the instructions here. Our human reviewers will assess your content and context to make a final decision.

Learn more about our ad approval process.

About our policies

YouTube is committed to providing an advertising service with fair and consistent policies that benefit our users, advertisers, and partners. To achieve this goal, we maintain high standards for ads accepted on our site. These also include ones embodied by our technical, community, and advertising guidelines and policies.

Ads policies details

We reserve the right to change our advertising policies at any time without prior notice. We encourage you to check back often to read the latest updates. Partners participating in the Partner Sold program must abide by our ad policies and billing terms. Sometimes ads may be limited to ones sold or given by YouTube due to technical or policy limitations.

These policies may be applied based on the text or other creative elements in your ad. The policies may also be applied based on the content of your site, content of your channel or video. Implementing our policies will always involve an element of discretion and we reserve the right to reject or approve any ad. We also may suspend or disable any promotional campaign, for violation of these policies. We also reserve the right to remove any ad from the site that we deem intrusive or inappropriate. Note that it is your responsibility to make sure that your ads comply with these guidelines. Refunds will not be issued for promotions where the related ads or videos are disabled, suspended, or age-restricted as a result of policy violations.

YouTube advertising and content policies complement our Terms of Use. These policies also cover DoubleClick products and services, including homepage and display ads, custom engagement programs, and mobile ads.

You represent and warrant by your use of YouTube or its advertising programs that your website, videos, or advertisements comply with all relevant laws and regulations. These laws and regulations include any relevant self-regulatory or industry guidelines.

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