Google provides translated versions of our Help Centre, although they are not meant to change the content of our policies. The English version is the official language that we use to enforce our policies. To view this article in a different language, use the language drop-down at the bottom of the page.
To ensure a safe and positive experience for users, Google requires that advertisers comply with all applicable laws and regulations in addition to the Google Ads policies. Ads, assets, destinations, and other content that violate these policies can be blocked on the Google Ads platform and associated networks.
How does Google Ads detect policy violations?
We use a combination of Google's AI and human evaluation to detect and remove ads and accounts which violate our policies and are harmful to users and the overall Google Ads ecosystem. Our enforcement technologies use Google's AI, modeled on human reviewers’ decisions, to help protect our users and keep our ad platforms safe. The policy-violating content is either blocked from serving by our automated models or, where a more nuanced determination is required, it is flagged for further review by trained operators and analysts who conduct content evaluations that might be difficult for algorithms to perform alone, for example because an understanding of the context of the ad and account is required. The results of these manual reviews are then used to help build training data to further improve our machine learning models.
In determining whether an advertiser or destination is violating our policies, we review information from a variety of sources, including ads, accounts, websites, content, user complaints, consumer reviews, regulatory warnings and rulings, and other third-party sources.
Below is a list of various ways we enforce policies and laws.
Ad or asset disapproval
Ads and assets that don't follow Google Ads policies will be disapproved. A disapproved ad won't be able to run until the policy violation is fixed and the ad is reviewed. In Google Ads, this will be noted in the 'Status' column. Learn how to fix a disapproved ad
Ad serving eligibility
An ad will be marked 'Eligible (limited all locations)' when Google Ads policies (common examples include Alcohol, Copyrights, Gambling, Healthcare and Trademarks) prevent certain types of ads from showing in your targeted locations. Depending on the policy topic, available certification and verification programmes and target country, the ads can serve on a limited basis. Learn more about ad serving eligibility.
Account suspension
Accounts may be suspended if we find violations of our policies or the Terms and Conditions.
If we detect an egregious violation, your account will be suspended immediately and without prior warning. An egregious violation of the Google Ads policies is a violation so serious that it is unlawful or poses significant harm to our users or our digital advertising ecosystem. Egregious violations often reflect that the advertiser's overall business does not adhere to Google Ads policies or that one violation is so severe that we cannot risk future exposure to our users. Given that egregious violations will result in immediate account suspension, upon detection and without prior warning, we limit these to cases when such action is the only effective method to adequately prevent illegal activity and/or significant user harm.
For other violations that lead to account suspension, we will send you a warning to outline the nature of the policy violation and any remedial action that can be taken, in order to comply. This notification will be sent at least seven days prior to suspension action.
For repeat violations of a policy, we issue strikes to your Google Ads account and penalties progressively increase with each subsequent strike leading up to account suspension. You'll receive a maximum of three strikes per policy on your Google Ads account. Find out more about enforcement procedures for repeat violations.
If we suspend your account, all ads in the suspended account will stop running, and we will no longer accept advertising from you, unless successfully appealed. Any related accounts (for example, accounts using the same payment method) will also be suspended, and any new accounts that you create will be automatically suspended. Find out more about suspended accounts.