About content suitability

Our policies define the type of content that creators and publishers are allowed to monetize. Content suitability settings provide additional filtering to help you find the right fit for your product or brand. Depending on your campaign setup, they can apply to content on YouTube, Display Network, Google Video Partners (GVP), or the Search Partner Network. Coverage of some ad formats and ad inventory types may be limited.

Note: Google has policies that define what types of content can be monetized for ads on YouTube and the Display Network. The content settings listed here are meant to give you additional control and help you exclude types of content that, while in compliance with our policies, may not be the right fit for your brand or business. It's recommended that you also review YouTube’s community guidelines and YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

YouTube brand safety accreditation

YouTube has a brand safety accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC).

Our platform and content policies require that certain types of content is not monetized, helping to reduce the risk of your ads showing on content that isn’t appropriate for most advertisers. Brand safety controls for Display and Video campaigns are set up at the account level, but you can still view and adjust your previous brand safety settings in older campaigns, even those created through other channels.

Inventory types

Inventory types help you quickly define the type of content that aligns with your brand or the message of your campaign. These settings apply to YouTube, Display Network, and Google Video Partner, however don't apply for App campaigns.

You can select from the following 3 inventory types. You can view more details about what type of video content is included and excluded for each inventory type.

Expanded inventory

Expanded inventory lets you maximize available inventory. This option is an appropriate choice for brands that want to maximize their reach by placing ads on content that may be sensitive for some brands. Within the Display Network, this option means your ads are more likely to appear next to dynamic content when compared to Standard and Limited inventory.

Standard inventory

Standard inventory lets you show ads across a wide range of content that’s considered suitable for most brands. Ads are less likely to show, for example, on content with strong profanity, strong references to sexually suggestive content, or strong dramatized violence.

Limited inventory

Limited inventory is intended to be used by brands with very strict guidelines around inappropriate language and sexual suggestiveness. Ads are less likely to show, for example, on content with moderate profanity, moderate references to sexually suggestive content, and moderate dramatized violence. Additional examples include, ads excluded from showing on some of YouTube's most popular music videos and other pop culture content across YouTube and Google Video Partners.

Excluded sensitive content

Sensitive content exclusions help to prevent your ads from showing on categories of content considered sensitive for some brands. They apply to Display Network and Google Video Partner Inventory.

You can choose from the following categories:

Tragedy and conflict: Excludes graphic content of combat or war
Sensitive social issues: Excludes content intended to elicit a response about controversial issues
Profanity and rough language: Excludes content with infrequent or mild profanity, or profanity used in entertainment, comedy, satire, or music
Sexually suggestive content: Excludes content about sex or sexual products
Sensational and shocking: Excludes content of disasters or accidents that show casualties or death

Excluded content types

Content type exclusions help to prevent your ads from showing on certain categories of content, such as live video streams or videos embedded on websites. They apply to Display Network and Google Video Partner inventory..

Live streaming videos (YouTube, Display Network, GVP): Footage of live streamed events
Embedded YouTube videos: Videos embedded on websites outside of YouTube.com
Below-the-fold: Section of a page people have to scroll down to view (Display campaigns only)
Parked domains: Registered but undeveloped website domains

Excluded content labels

Videos, channels, websites, and apps on YouTube, Display Network, and Google Video Partner inventory are analyzed by Google classification technology and given a digital content label. Content label exclusions let you choose the maturity level of the content that your ads can show on or next to.

Note: Content labels refer to the maturity level of the content itself, not the age of the person watching it. They apply to all campaigns running on YouTube or the Google Display Network.

Your campaign won’t run if you select all content labels.

DL-G: Content suitable for general audiences (can also select “Content suitable for families” which includes Made for Kids videos on YouTube)
DL-PG: Content suitable for most audiences with parental guidance
DL-T: Content suitable for teen and older audiences
DL-MA: Content suitable only for mature audiences
Not yet labeled: Content that hasn’t been labeled yet because they haven’t yet completed the classification process

Excluded content keywords

Content keyword exclusions help to prevent your ads from showing on videos, channels, websites, and apps related to those specific words. You can exclude up to 1,000 content keywords at the account level. They apply to YouTube, Display Network and Google Video Partner inventory.

Excluded content keywords only support exact matches, so they have to be spelled correctly. Keep in mind, some words have multiple meanings. Excluding a content keyword will prevent your ads from showing on any content related to that word, even in a different context than you intended.

Excluded placements

Placement exclusions help to prevent your ads from showing on specific videos, channels, websites, and apps that may not be the right fit for your product or brand. You can exclude up to 65,000 placements. They apply to YouTube, Display Network, Google Video Partner and Search Partner Network inventory. Learn more about how to Exclude specific webpages and videos.

Excluded content themes

Content theme exclusions help to prevent your ads from showing on videos, websites, or apps related to specific themes that may not suit your brand, like religion, politics, or video games that feature mature content, among others. Excluded content themes apply to YouTube, Google Display Network and Google Video Partner inventory. You can access excluded content themes under “Advanced settings” on the Content suitability page of your Google Ads account.

Content Suitable for Families: Content that's suitable for families to view together, including Made for Kids videos on YouTube.
Games (fighting): Video games that simulate hand-to-hand fighting or combat with the use of modern or medieval weapons.
Games (mature): Video games that feature mature content, such as violence, inappropriate language, or sexual suggestiveness.
Health (sensitive): Health content that people might find sensitive or upsetting, such as medical procedures or images and descriptions of various medical conditions.
Health (source undetermined) YouTube only: Health content from sources that may provide accurate information but aren’t as commonly cited as other, more well-known sources.
News (recent): News content that's been recently announced, regardless of the themes or people being reported on.
News (sensitive): News content that people might find sensitive or upsetting, such as crimes, accidents, and natural incidents, or commentary on potentially controversial social and political issues.
News (source not featured): News content from sources that aren’t featured on Google News or YouTube News.
Politics: Political content, such as political statements made by well-known politicians, political elections, or events widely perceived to be political in nature.
Religion: Content with religious themes, such as religious teachings or customs, holy sites or places of worship, well-known religious figures or people dressed in religious attire, or religious opinions on social and political issues.

Known limitations of content suitability settings

Content exclusions may provide limited coverage of in-feed ads in YouTube
Content exclusions may provide limited coverage of YouTube Shorts
Content exclusions may provide limited coverage in Discover
Content exclusions may provide limited coverage in Mobile and Connected TV inventory in the Google Display Network and Google Video Partner Network.
Google may conduct evaluations of dynamic app or web inventory to determine suitability, or it will categorize some apps by the app’s main function (e.g. user generated content apps, dating apps, social media apps, and memes & gif sharing apps), not the content shown within it. Dynamic app or web content are more likely to include undetected policy violations.
Content exclusions may provide limited coverage for web inventory in the Google Display Network and the Google Video Partner Network, including where the content is hidden behind login walls, in unsupported languages, or displayed in unsupported video formats.

Content Suitability Coverage

	Content suitability settings
Inventory sources	Inventory types²	Content type exclusion³	Content label exclusions	Excluded placements	Excluded content keywords	Excluded content themes
In-stream video¹	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
YouTube Watch Next feed¹	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
YouTube Shorts	Yes	No	No	Yes⁴	No	Yes⁴
YouTube Home feed	No	No	No	No	No	No
Google video partners	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google Display ads	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google Play	No	No	No	No	Yes⁵	No
Mobile app	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes⁶
Search & Search Partner Network	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes⁵	No
Discover feed	No	No	No	No	No	No
Gmail	No	No	No	No	No	No

¹ Content suitability settings apply to the main video on the YouTube watch page
² All campaigns running on YouTube or Display except App campaigns
³ Content type exclusions are specific to certain inventory sources
⁴ Excluding VAC and PMax campaigns
⁵Keyword exclusions for the Play Store, Search, and Search Partner Network should be applied in “Account Settings”
⁶ Content themes apply to Mobile app inventory except “News” themes

Third-party brand safety and suitability measurement

Third-party brand safety and suitability reporting is available in Google Ads, Display and Video 360 (DV360), and YouTube Reserve. Learn more about third-party measurement on YouTube for Google Ads and DV360 and supported measurement vendors. For additional guidance, you can contact your Google representative.

How to access the Content suitability page

In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon
Click Content suitability.

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