AdSense policy FAQs

AdSense is a family-safe network. Our policy regarding adult or mature content may include any material that is not appropriate for all audiences. While this obviously includes full nudity or sexual activity, it may also include textually explicit sexual content, image or video content containing lewd or provocative poses, strategically covered nudity, see-through or sheer clothing, and close-ups of anatomy that would be inappropriate if shown nude. Additionally, topics such as sexual health and sex tips may be held to a higher standard of professionalism than content that isn't bordering on mature. Even if there's no adult content hosted on your page, links to adult pages or displaying adult ads from a third party will also be considered as adult content. When in doubt about whether an image or text might be construed as adult content, our general guideline is this: if you wouldn’t want a child to see the content, or if you would be embarrassed to view the page in front of colleagues, then it’s probably not family-safe and you shouldn’t place AdSense ad code on it.

Images or video content containing lewd or provocative poses, or close-ups of breasts, butts, or crotches are considered as sexually gratifying content as per our policies. Therefore if the bikini pictures in question are lewd or suggestive in nature then they would be considered adult content.

Yes. We don't allow ads to be displayed on pages with links or ads that drive traffic to adult or mature content. This includes but is not limited to:

• Links to adult sites
• Displaying adult ads from a third party network

If there are no valid search results then you shouldn't be displaying ads on no-content pages as per our policies. When you receive a notification email, our suggestions for you are:

1. Remove the ads from the example page or remove that page right away.
2. Set your ads not to be displayed when there’s no search result.
3. Set adult keywords filters.

While we're unable to provide you with a list of adult keywords, we recommend that you try searching for terms such as "keyword filtering" or "content filtering" on Google.com.

Yes. Publishers should not place ads on content that they do not have permission to monetize or distribute. In addition, pages do not have to host the content themselves, it’s enough to link to sources that clearly infringe our copyrighted material policy.

If the software you provide is cracked software that isn't authorized by the software owner, that will be considered as copyright material. Providing the serial number without the owner's permission is also another way to crack the software.

There are two policies that you need to consider if you wish to do this. Firstly, you need to consider whether you might be breaking copyright by distributing these videos and monetizing them. Remember you can only monetize content that you own or have permission to do so. Secondly, you need to consider the value you are providing to users. It’s important for a page displaying AdSense ads to offer significant value to the user by providing unique and relevant content, and not to place ads on pages with little to no original content.

Simply using a free host template would not be enough alone to be considered a violation. We would look at the quality and uniqueness of the content that you are providing on that template. Your site should offer significant value to the user by providing useful and information-rich content. If you create lots of similar sites with similar or duplicate content, we will consider them as template sites.

Yes, publishers are responsible for all the content on which they’ve placed their ad code, regardless of whether they own or have produced the content. If there’s a lot of user-generated content on your page(s), we suggest that you take some measures to avoid displaying ads on the pages with violating content. For example, you can set filters to avoid ads showing on pages with adult content. You can also check your page(s) regularly with Google site search to remove the violating content. For more tips on maintaining user-generated content, please refer to our guide to user-generated content.

Displaying ads above the fold is not a violation as long as there is enough content above the fold for the users to read. We don't allow page layouts that push all content below the fold so that the only visible content is ads. Implementations like this make it hard for users to distinguish between content and Google ads.

When you implement ads, please always think about your users and consider whether if you were a user coming to the page for the first time, would you be able to distinguish the ads from content. You can choose the appropriate ad size, color, and background to match with the design of your page, but never try to format the ads in such a way that makes them indistinguishable from the other content on the page where they appear. And please always keep a proper distance between ads and content to avoid accruing accidental clicks.

These ads are referred to as "sticky ads" and they are restricted to approved publishers. We will take action when we come across this kind of implementation if not properly approved.

We don't allow publishers to mislead users in any way. The only labels we allow to be put above ads are "sponsored links" or "advertisements".

Putting ads around a "download" button may mislead users into thinking that the ads are the download links. So please always keep your ads far away from "download" links and make “download” buttons readily seen.

Yes, it does violate our policies. Firstly, you’re not allowed to place ads in a frame within another page. Exceptions to our policies are permitted only with authorization from Google for the valid use of iframes. Secondly, you’re not allowed to put ads in your software, e.g., if you control both a page with ads and an app that loads that page, we will take action against it.

Please don't use AdSense on apps since it is a clear violation. Also please be sure not to violate the following policies when using AdMob. The following policies should be considered for apps that work as browsers, or apps that try to frame external pages: AdMob and AdSense ads can't be shown on the same screen. Publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on pages that frame content from other pages without permission from the owners of those pages. For more details about AdMob policy, refer to the AdMob Help Center.

It’s likely that while you removed the violation from the example page we provided, similar violations are still existent throughout your site. Note that the URL we provide in the notification email is just an example and the same violations may exist on other pages of this site. We recommend that you take the time to review the rest of your site to ensure that it’s in compliance with our policies. After you fix all the violations on your site, you can request a review via the Policy center in your AdSense account or the Help Center.

You can use the Can’t see my ads troubleshooter to help you troubleshoot common issues on your page or site.

You don't need to contact us if you’ve received a warning. You should take action on the warning ensuring that you remove all violations throughout your site. If ads have been disabled on your page or site then you can contact us through a review request form. Before you reach out to us, please fix the problem first. We strongly recommend that you read the related policies in our Help Center to help you understand the current violation. To request a review, please use the Request a review for a violation troubleshooter, and then go through the steps to find the right review request form.

For more info about requesting a review, refer to our Policy refresher blog post.

As you may know, Google takes issues regarding program policy compliance very seriously. Our program policies are in place to help ensure a positive experience for our publishers, their page visitors, and our advertisers. As such, our decisions are typically final.

If you feel that this decision was made in error, and if you can maintain in good faith that the policy violations accrued were not due to the actions or negligence of you or those for whom you are responsible, you may appeal the disabling of your account. To do so, please contact us only through our Policy violation appeal—account disabled form.

We will review your request as soon as one of our specialists is available. However, please keep in mind that we reserve the right to disable an account for violations of program policies, and there is no guarantee that your account will be reinstated.

Please note that you may submit only one appeal for your account. Any additional submissions will not be reviewed.

We strive to maintain the quality and reputation of AdSense by holding all of our publishers to our program policies. We appreciate your help in upholding these standards. If you find any page or site that may contain the policy violations, please report it to us by clicking the "Ads by Google" or "Ad choice" label on the ads. Our specialists will review it and take action accordingly.

You can report this behavior through our Unauthorized ad code has been placed on my site form. We’ll investigate this matter and take the appropriate actions. Please be aware that these ads were placed on your website without our knowledge. If you haven't already done so, you can remove the ads from your site by deleting the ad code from your site's source. In addition, we suggest that you review your site’s security to ensure that unauthorized individuals aren't able to access your website's source code.

We strongly recommend that you use the "site authorization" feature. Site authorization is an optional feature that allows you to identify only specific sites that are permitted to use your Google ad code. If a site or URL is not in your authorized sites list, then a violation from the site won't negatively affect your account in any way.

Learn how to add a site or URL to the list of sites that can display your ad code.