Transparency and ad disclosures

User confidence in Google’s products and services is essential. We want users to be empowered to make informed decisions about the ads they see online.

Trust in advertisers on our platforms helps us deliver a smart and useful web experience for everyone. This means providing transparency about who our advertisers are and where they are located.

We are verifying the identity of advertisers on our platform and including a disclosure with the name of the advertiser and where they are located on ads served through Google Ads.

How it works for advertisers

What users see

Through “About this ad”, users are already able to see information on why particular ads are being shown on Search, YouTube, and other Google services.

In the disclosure, users may see the name and location of registration for the advertiser behind a selected ad, which is information that was provided by the advertiser during Google’s verification program.

Where we’re getting our information on advertiser identity

Advertisers on Google are verified through our advertiser verification program. This includes both new and existing Google Ads accounts. Completion of the verification program requires an advertiser to submit official documentation that shows their legal name and address.

How we use advertiser's information

With the information advertisers provide during the verification process, Google will display the advertiser name and location. As part of our ongoing transparency efforts we may make information about your Google Ads accounts and DV360 accounts and ad campaigns publicly available as outlined in our advertiser policy.

How disclosures look on different ad formats

Search ads

On search ads, users are able to access advertiser verification information through the 3-dot icon on desktop, or the info icon on mobile.

Display ads

Display ads reach the vast majority of Internet users. In most cases, users are able to view additional information about an ad they see by clicking on “About this ad”, accessed through the Ad Choices icon AdChoices icon. You can also find it by clicking the X or the icon+ X.

YouTube

On YouTube, the “About this ad” disclosure can be viewed by clicking on the info icon or the 3-dot icon . Ads on YouTube have the same disclosures as those served on other platforms.

Advertiser Pages

From the ad disclosure, a user can click “See more ads by this advertiser” which will direct them to the Advertiser Page where they can see all the approved ads run by that advertiser over the past 30 days. This will enable users to learn more about an advertiser and more easily report an ad if they believe it violates our policies.

The advertiser information on the page is what the advertiser provided during advertiser verification. For more information see here.

More information

Advertisers can learn more about account verification by:

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?
Search
Clear search
Close search
Google apps
Main menu