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Personalized advertising is a powerful tool that improves advertising relevance for users and increases ROI for advertisers. Because it works by employing online user data to target users with more relevant advertising content, it can provide an improved experience for users and advertisers alike.
When employing user behavior or interest data to provide more relevant ad content it’s important to handle that information appropriately. We recognize that certain interests are sensitive and that targeting based on them could negatively impact user experience.
With this in mind and based on the sensitivities associated with user ad targeting, we’ve identified policy standards for all personalized advertising targeting features. For the purposes of this article, targeting means both positive and negative targeting. These standards do not replace our other advertising policies (for example, for Google Ads or Shopping) and advertisers are still responsible for complying with all applicable advertising policies, in addition to Personalized advertising policies. Advertisers are also required to comply with our policies for European Union user consent, where applicable.
Google's privacy policy applies to all Google features and dictates how Google collects, uses, and protects user data. Learn about what happens if you violate our policies.
In this article
- Personalized advertising content policy principles
- Restrictions based on personalized advertising targeting feature
- Sensitive interest categories
- Legal restrictions: restricted drug terms, clinical trial recruitment, alcohol, gambling, location-based gambling
- Personal hardships: health, negative financial status, relationship hardships, commission of a crime, abuse and trauma, imposing negativity
- Identity and belief: sexual orientation, political affiliation, political content, trade union membership, race and ethnicity, religious belief, marginalized groups, transgender identification
- Sexual interests: birth control, sexual content
- Limited Personalization
- Access to opportunities (US/CA): housing, employment, consumer finance
- Options to fix: Access to opportunities
- Personalized advertising data collection and use policies
- Options to fix ad violations
Personalized advertising content policy principles
Sensitive interest categories are restricted in personalized ads. We define sensitive interest categories in terms of the following content policy principles:
- Legal restrictions: Ads must comply with the law.
- Personal hardships: Ads shouldn’t target users in ways that exploit their difficulties or struggles.
- Identity and belief: Ads shouldn’t target users based on categories prone to systemic discrimination or unfair stigmas.
- Sexual interests: Ads shouldn’t target users based on inherently private sexual interests or experiences.
- Access to opportunities: Ads shouldn’t limit access to opportunities by leveraging unfair societal biases when targeting users with specific content categories.
Restrictions based on personalized advertising targeting feature
For purposes of this policy, personalized ads policies may apply differently depending on the targeting feature used. For all targeting features, there are two components:
- Targeting users, which refers to the groups of users you've chosen to see your ads or exclude from seeing your ads. Targeting, both positive and negative, includes all aspects of creating or selecting those groups.
- Promoting products and services, which refers to the specific content in your ad or on your landing page.
The type of personalization available depends, in part, on whether the products and services you are promoting are sensitive.
- For all personalized ads targeting features, we don’t allow targeting users based on sensitive interest categories.
- For advertiser-curated audiences, where advertisers can customize, curate, or upload their own audiences, advertisers are also not allowed to promote products and services from sensitive interest categories.
- For pre-defined Google audiences, where Google manages the development and curation of policy-compliant audiences based on information across Google properties, advertisers are allowed to promote products and services from sensitive interest categories.
Effect of the policy: Audiences for personalized ads
Advertisers promoting products and services that fall within sensitive interest categories are unable to use advertiser-curated audiences. This helps ensure that sensitive interest categories aren’t inadvertently used for targeting audiences. Because predefined Google audiences are expressly configured without sensitive user signals, all advertisers are allowed to use them, even if they promote sensitive interest categories.
See the following non-exhaustive list of targeting features and how personalized ads policies apply.
Advertiser-curated audiences
If you’re an advertiser that promotes products and services in sensitive interest categories you cannot use the following targeting features.
Predefined Google audiences
Advertisers are able to use the following targeting features, including advertisers that promote products and services in sensitive interest categories.
Customer Match
In-market Segment
1: Certain demographics (age, gender, marital status, parental status) may not be used to target Housing, Employment, and Consumer Finance Ads in the United States and Canada.
2: ZIP code location targeting can not be used for Housing, Employment, and Consumer Finance Ads in the United States and Canada.
3: Users under the age of 18 are not eligible for personalized advertising of any kind, including serving based on Predefined Google Audiences. Advertisers using advertiser-curated audiences are prohibited from uploading customer information from viewers of child-directed content.
Sensitive interest categories
Legal restrictions
Ads must comply with all applicable laws and regulations for all of the locations where your ads are showing.
We don’t allow targeting users based on legally restricted content, as defined in the following sensitive interest categories. Depending on the targeting feature used, you also may not be allowed to promote products and services in the following sensitive interest categories.
You are responsible for ensuring your ads comply with policy where required. See below for specific examples of what we don't allow.
Restricted drug terms in personalized advertising
Clinical trial recruitment in personalized advertising
Alcohol in personalized advertising
Gambling in personalized advertising
Location-based gambling in personalized advertising
Personal hardships
We understand that users don’t want to see ads that exploit their personal struggles, difficulties, and hardships, so we don’t allow personalized advertising based on these hardships. Such personal hardships include health conditions, treatments, procedures, personal failings, struggles, or traumatic personal experiences. You also can’t impose negativity on the user.
We don’t allow targeting users based on personal hardships, as defined in the following sensitive interest categories. Depending on the targeting feature used, you also may not be allowed to promote products and services in the following sensitive interest categories.
You are responsible for ensuring your ads comply with policy where required. See below for specific examples of what we don't allow.
Health in personalized advertising
- Physical or mental health conditions, including diseases, sexual health, and chronic health conditions, which are health conditions that require long-term care or management
- Products, services, or procedures to treat or manage chronic health conditions, which includes over-the-counter medications and medical devices
- Any health issues associated with intimate body parts or functions, which includes genital, bowel, or urinary health
- Invasive medical procedures, which includes cosmetic surgery, surgical procedures, or injections
- Disabilities, even when content is oriented toward the user’s primary caretaker
Examples (non-exhaustive): Treatments for chronic health conditions like diabetes or arthritis, treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, counseling services for mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and addiction, medical devices for sleep apnea like CPAP machines, over-the-counter medications for yeast infections, treatments for pregnancy and infertility, information about how to support your autistic child
Negative financial status in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): bankruptcy services, welfare services, homeless shelters, unemployment resources, predatory lending products and services, debt-focused products and support
Relationship hardships in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): divorce services, books about coping with divorce, bereavement products or services, family or relationship counseling services
Commission of a crime in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): bail bonds services, criminal defense lawyers
Abuse and trauma in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): domestic abuse shelters, victim advocate services
Imposing negativity in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): body shaming, negativity related to physical attributes or social interactions, suggesting negative outcomes for users if they don’t take specific actions
Learn more about how to Fix ads with policy violations.
Identity and belief
We consider identity and belief systems to be deeply personal and complex. They’re highly dependent on diversity of cultural norms, geography, history, and personal life experiences. We also understand that how one identifies or what one believes can be used to segment users based on judgments or stigmas.
We want ads to provide a positive experience and to be informed by users’ interests rather than by who they’re perceived to be as a person, so we don’t allow personalized advertising based on a user’s fundamental or intrinsic self-identity or their belief systems. Such identities and beliefs can include inherently private classifications of one’s self; classifications susceptible to stigmas, discrimination, or harassment; membership within groups that are susceptible to stigmas, discrimination, or prejudices; and personally held belief systems.
We don’t allow targeting users based on identity and belief, as outlined in the following sensitive interest categories. Depending on the targeting feature used, you also may not be allowed to promote products and services in the following sensitive interest categories.
You are responsible for ensuring your ads comply with policy where required. See below for specific examples of what we don't allow.
Sexual orientation in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): information about revealing your homosexuality, gay dating, gay travel, information about bisexuality
Political affiliation in personalized advertising
This Personalized advertising policy applies to all targeting features.
Examples (non-exhaustive): political ideologies, political opinions, political parties, political organizations, political campaigns, engagement in political discourse
Political content in personalized advertising
This Personalized advertising policy applies to all targeting features.
Examples (non-exhaustive): Examples: political ideologies, political opinions, political parties, political organizations, political campaigns, engagement in political discourse
Trade union membership in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): trade union sites, information oriented toward members of trade unions, trade union blogs, and trade union support for work disputes
Race and ethnicity in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): racially or ethnically oriented publications, racially or ethnically oriented universities, racial or ethnic dating
Religious belief in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): places of worship, religious guidance, religious education or universities, religious products or topics
Marginalized groups in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): products oriented toward users based on social caste, services for immigrants, legal services for refugees
Learn more about how to Fix ads with policy violations.Transgender identification in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): information about gender transitioning, transgender discrimination lawyers
Sexual interests
We understand that sexual interests are inherently private and, depending on cultural norms, not often candidly discussed. We believe in maintaining the privacy of a user’s sexual interests, so we don’t allow personalized advertising that targets users based on their personal sexual interests, experiences, activities, or preferences. Such interests include sexual behaviors, activities, or products used when having sex. Additionally, we don’t allow categories that are sexually suggestive or intended to sexually arouse.
We don’t allow targeting users based on sexual interests, as outlined in the following sensitive interest categories. Depending on the targeting feature used, you also may not be allowed to promote products and services in the following sensitive interest categories.
You are responsible for ensuring your ads comply with policy where required. See below for specific examples of what we don't allow.
Birth control in personalized advertising
Examples (non-exhaustive): condoms, oral contraceptive pill, contraceptive sponge
Sexual content
If the Sexual content policy and the Personalized advertising sexual interests policy differ on how each treats a category, the Personalized advertising sexual interests policy takes precedence over the Sexual content policy with respect to how the category can be used for targeting and personalized ads.
Learn more about how to Fix ads with policy violations.
Limited personalization
Access to opportunities
We believe access to social and economic opportunities is fundamental for individual well-being, social status and quality of life. We also recognize that historic discrimination and societal biases have resulted in some segments of society having unequal access to these opportunities.
Therefore, in an effort to improve inclusivity for users disproportionately affected by society’s biases, we don’t allow some categories of products or services to be targeted to specific audiences. This is in addition to existing ads policies that prohibit discrimination and personalized ads policies that prohibit use of Identity and Belief categories. See below for specific examples of what we don't allow.
Countries: United States, Canada
The following criteria may not be used to target Housing, Employment, and Consumer Finance Ads in the United States and Canada:
Housing in personalized ads
Examples (non-exhaustive): Housing listing sites, real estate services, individual houses for sale or rental (all types of housing including apartments, mobile homes, house boats, retirement residential communities etc.)
Employment in personalized ads
Examples (non-exhaustive): Ads for jobs, job recruitment sites, job listing sites.
* A subset of predetermined U.S. government advertisers may use personalized ads targeting that would otherwise be restricted under Access to Opportunities, in order to promote employment. So long as the targeting is based on a bona fide occupational qualification for a government job, which is defined under U.S. law as a qualification that is reasonably necessary for normal function of the job.
Consumer finance in personalized ads
Examples (non-exhaustive): Credit cards and loans, banking and checking accounts, debt management products.
Options to fix: Access to opportunities
If this policy is affecting your ad, review your options to fix below.
Ensure that your ads, site, or app comply with Access to opportunities Personalized advertising policies to serve ads in the United States and Canada. Note that even if ads are not targeted using sensitive categories, some types of ad content are still prohibited.
After reviewing all of the policies and ensuring your targeting complies with policy, there are 3 options to become compliant with the policy:
Edit your ad text and site or app to comply with this policy
- Remove content from your site or app that would bring you in scope of the Access to Opportunities policy. You'll then need to request a review of your ads directly from your Google Ads account before moving on to the next step of checking your targeting countries and targeting methods.
- Remove that content from your ad. If your ad content brings you in scope of the Access to Opportunities policy, remove it.
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
.
- Click the Campaigns drop down in the section menu.
- Click Ads.
- Hover over the ad or asset and click Edit.
- Edit the ad or asset so that it complies with the policy.
- Click Save. Your ad will be automatically reviewed again. Check the ad’s status in the “Ads & assets” page for updates.
Edit your ad targeting to comply with this policy
If your ads target the United States and/or Canada, confirm that your ad does not use the following restricted targeting criteria for Housing, Employment, and Consumer Finance Ads: ZIP code targeting, gender, age, parental status, marital status, or demographic targeting.
If any of the restricted targeting criteria are used, edit the targeting to comply with policy by setting all demographics to “Enable” and removing ZIP code targeting.
After the non-compliant targeting methods are removed or edited to comply, appeal the policy decision on your ads directly from your Google Ads account to request a new review.
Appeal policy decision
If you've fixed your destination or believe that we've made an error, appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account to request a review. After we confirm that the destination is compliant, we can approve your ads. If you aren't able to fix these violations or choose not to, remove your ad to help prevent your account from becoming suspended in the future for repeated policy violations.
Personalized advertising data collection and use policies
These policies define requirements for data collection and use in personalized ads. They apply in addition to the Google ads policies for data collection and use.
You aren't allowed to do the following:
Examples (non-exhaustive): Collecting email addresses, telephone numbers, or credit card numbers within the ad itself
For Remarketing
- You can choose to disable the collection of remarketing data for users who do not wish to view personalized ads by using the parameter: allow_ad_personalization_signals. Learn more about how to modify the global site tag to Disable the collection of personalized advertising data for specific users.
- When using remarketing, re-engagement, or similar segments features, you're required to include specific information in your privacy policy.
- Google may include in-ad notice labels to disclose personalized advertising to our users, and we may display to users which remarketing lists they're on, along with the corresponding domain name. You must not modify or obscure these notices. If you want to implement your own in-ad notice, it must only be done in compliance with relevant industry standards.
- Google won't allow another advertiser to use your remarketing lists or similar segments lists without your consent.
Options to fix ad violations
If this policy is affecting your ad, review your options to fix below.
Ensure that your ads, site, or app comply with Personalized advertising policies. Note that even if ads are not targeted using sensitive categories, some types of ad content are still prohibited.
After reviewing all of the policies and ensuring your ads comply with policy, there are 3 options to become compliant with the policy:
Edit your ad text and site or app to comply with this policy
- Remove that content from your site or app. If your site or app has content that we don't allow personalization on, remove all content that doesn’t comply with the personalized ads policy. You'll then need to request a review of your ads directly from your Google Ads account before moving on to the next step of checking your audience lists.
- Remove that content from your ad. If your ad violates the personalized ads policy, edit it to make it comply.
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
- Click the Campaigns drop down in the section menu.
- Click Ads.
- Hover over the ad or asset and click Edit.
- Edit the ad or asset so that it complies with the policy.
- Click Save. Your ad will be automatically reviewed again. Check the ad’s status in the “Ads & assets” page for updates.
Once you edit and save your ad, it's sent for review. Most ads are reviewed within 1 business day, though some can take longer if they need a more complex review. If you've removed the unacceptable content from your ad and its destination, you can request a review of your ad.
Edit your ad targeting to comply with this policy
Disassociate or remove ad groups that target advertiser-curated audiences or remarketing lists. Ensure that the ads using these targeting audiences or lists comply with Personalized advertising policies. If the ads do not comply with Personalized advertising policies, please remove the ad groups or targeting that uses the audience or remarketing lists.
After the non-compliant targeting methods are removed or amended to comply, appeal the policy decision on your ads directly from your Google Ads account to request a new review.
Appeal policy decision
If you've fixed your destination or believe that we've made an error, appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account to request a review. After we confirm that the destination is compliant, we can approve your ads. If you aren't able to fix these violations or choose not to, remove your ad to help prevent your account from becoming suspended in the future for repeated policy violations.