Demand Gen ads format requirements

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Demand Gen campaigns combine audience targeting features and visually engaging formats to help you better personalize your ads within Google's feeds to inspire customer action. This article outlines the requirements your Demand Gen ad assets (headline, description, or image) must meet in order for your Demand Gen campaigns to serve.

Users visit the YouTube Home and Watch Next feeds, Discover, and the Gmail Promotions and Social tabs to browse and explore new content that aligns with their interests. To ensure that we provide a high-quality consumer ad experience on Google’s personalized feeds, Demand Gen ads must comply with all Google Ads and personalization policies. In addition, we will review each Demand Gen ad asset for compliance with the ads requirements listed below, which will take priority in the event there is conflict with the Google Ads and personalization policies. Demand Gen ads requirements are more restrictive than the ads requirements for other platforms and surfaces, meaning disapproved Demand Gen ad assets may continue to run on Google’s other properties.

Frequent and widespread violations of these guidelines may lead to a suspension from serving ads on Demand Gen surfaces. We will regularly review new ads you upload and if the number of ad violations reduces you may be eligible to serve again.

Demand Gen ads requirements

You can view any asset-level disapprovals in your Demand Gen campaign asset report.

Prohibited categories

Regulated goods

Not allowed Assets that depict or reference regulated goods or substances, including (but not limited to) recreational drugs, and tobacco.

Allowed with limitations Allowed

  • Assets that depict alcohol are able to serve in Demand Gen campaigns
Weapons or criminality

Not allowed Assets that depict or reference images of weapons or criminality, including (but not limited to) guns, firearms, ammunition, explosives, the sale of fireworks, knives, prison, criminals, or arrests.

Example:

Asset depicting criminality

Allowed with limitations Allowed with limitations

  • Assets that depict or reference the above prohibited categories in a scene from a fictional work of entertainment (video game, TV-show, movie, and others). 
  • Assets that depict or reference the above prohibited categories but not in a violent or criminal context, including (but not limited to) kitchen and utility knives, historical artifacts, or halloween costumes
Cash giveaways content

Not allowed Assets that depict cash sweepstakes or cash giveaways, including (but not limited to):

  • Cash rewards without legitimate user action

  • Paid surveys and questionnaires

  • Cash sweepstakes or cash giveaways

Improper content

Not allowed Assets that depict or reference racy or adult content including (but not limited to):

  • Sexually suggestive content
  • Unnecessarily focus on body parts
  • Sexual merchandise and entertainment

 

Not allowed Assets that depict invasive medical procedures

Example:

Asset depicting an invasive medical procedure

 

Not allowed Assets that depict content that could cause discomfort, including (but not limited to) bodily fluids and waste

Negative events

Not allowed Assets that depict negative life events including (but not limited to):

  • Divorce, breakups or family separation, home foreclosures, financial difficulties, accidents and personal injuries (non exhaustive examples include sport, professional/work, medical and general accidents and injuries), or damage to objects or properties (non exhaustive examples include vandalism or destroyed personal property)

Not allowed Assets that depict or reference natural or man-made crises.

Not allowed Assets that depict or reference behavioral addiction recovery including, rehabilitation facilities and products that aid in addiction recovery.

Not allowed Assets that depict death or death-related content including but not limited to:

  • A dead person or animal 
  • A funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, mausoleum

Not allowed Assets that depict trauma or pain including (but not limited to) a person grieving or crying.

Not allowed Assets that depict content that is presented in a way that is likely to trigger a negative reaction.

Not allowed Assets that depict discrimination, or encouragement of discrimination, against people based on their personal attributes.

Not allowed Assets that promote actions that violate other platforms’ Terms and Conditions.

Examples:

   
Asset depicting natural disaster Asset depicting a funeral and death
Asset depicting fear and trauma  

Allowed with limitations Allowed with limitations

  • Assets that reference services including (but not limited to) funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, mausoleum, memorial services companies, family and divorce services (attorney/law offices/counseling), insurance or event support services as long as they are neutrally and positively framed
  • Assets that depict or reference the negative events listed above in a scene from a fictional work of entertainment (video game, TV-show, movie, etc.)

Dating-related prohibitions: users’ personal attributes

Not allowed Assets that depict or reference dating services or matchmakers by asserting or implying user’s personal attributes, including (but not limited to) race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, age or sexual orientation.

Implied interactivity

Not allowed Assets that feature visual elements that depict nonexistent functionality (such as a “play” button that cannot be clicked).

Not allowed Assets that tease the user into clicking the advertisement with sensational language, misleading claims or intentionally withholding necessary information.

Example:

Asset depicting cash giveaway

Not allowed Assets that promote an advertorial and tease the user into clicking the advertisement, making it unclear who the advertiser is.

Not allowed Assets referring to personal identifiable information including (but not limited to) insurance cards, driver’s licenses, checks, and credit cards with no context or business offer.

Not allowed Assets that illustrate that someone is trying to contact or has matched with the user while advertising a dating site.

Example:

Asset depicting someone sent you a message

Selfie image

Not allowed Assets that contain selfie images for dating related content.

Example:

Asset depicting a selfie image for dating

Unclear image

Blurry

Not allowed Images that are blurry or unclear.

Examples:

Image asset that is blurry Image asset that is blurry

 

Distorted

Not allowedImages that are visually oddly skewed or shaped, morphed, upside-down, distastefully out of focus, color-inverted, excessively filtered, distorted, or contain watermarks.

Example: 

Image asset that is distorted

 

Poorly cropped

Not allowedImages that are critically cropped or contain even minimally cropped text overlay.

Example:

  Image asset that is poorly cropped

 

Offensive language

Not allowedAssets containing obscene or offensive language, including (but not limited to) profanity and sexual innuendos.

Confusing text

Not allowedAssets that use placeholder text, distasteful formatting such as nonsensical punctuation or capitalization, incomplete sentences, or don’t use commonly accepted spelling or grammar in a way that makes the subject of the asset difficult to understand.

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