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Brand safety

Block general categories in AdSense

Use controls to block ads from general categories #blockingcontrols #generalcategories

You can block ads from general categories such as Apparel, Internet, Real Estate, and Vehicles. General category blocking is available for ads in a limited set of languages, regardless of the language of your site.

Our system classifies ads automatically, and we don't rely solely on advertiser-provided categorization. Our technology makes its best attempt to filter ads from the possible categories; however, we don't guarantee that it will block every related ad.

You can block a maximum of 200 general categories. You might find that some general categories overlap with some sensitive categories.

Block general categories on a site

  1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
  2. Click Brand safety.
  3. Click your product. For example, click Content for AdSense for Content ads.
  4. Click Blocking controls.
  5. Enter the name of the site that you want to set the block on and click Search.
  6. Click the name of the site in the "Search sites" dialog.
    Tip: If your site is not listed, you can add it using the site management feature.
  7. Click Manage General categories.
  8. On the "General categories" page, use the controls to allow or block categories. Changes are automatically saved on selection.

Block general categories on all sites

  1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
  2. Click Brand safety.
  3. Click your product. For example, click Content for AdSense for Content ads.
  4. Click Blocking controls.
  5. Click Manage General categories.
  6. On the "General categories" page, use the controls to allow or block categories. Changes are automatically saved on selection.
Note: The total percentage of ad impressions shown on your "General categories" page might be greater than or less than 100% as ads may be classified in multiple categories, or not classified in any category at all.

Supported languages for general category blocking

General category blocking is only available in the languages listed below. When you block a general category, ads in that category will be blocked if they're in any of the supported languages.

For some languages, specific categories are not included or additional categories are available for blocking. Check the table below for more details:

Supported language Except for:
Chinese (Simplified) N/A
Dutch N/A
English N/A
French
  • Weight Loss Supplements
  • 401(K)s
  • Interest Only Mortgages
German
  • Payday & Emergency Loans
Italian
  • Unsecured Credit & Lending
  • 401(K)s
Japanese
  • Guns & Firearms
Polish N/A
Portuguese
  • Debit & Check Cards
  • Spread Betting
  • 401(K)s
  • Home Refinancing Loans
Russian N/A
Spanish
  • Title Loans
Turkish N/A

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