Dangerous products

This policy applies to Shopping ads and local inventory ads

Our policy

Google wants to help keep people safe both online and offline, so we don’t allow the promotion of some products that cause damage, harm, or injury.

Examples of what's allowed in some circumstances

Guns, gun parts, & related products

Google allows the promotion of gun parts and associated items that increase the safety of a gun

Examples: Gun locks, trigger locks, safety pins, chamber block

Examples of what's not allowed

Explosives

Products that are designed to explode and could cause damage to nearby people or property

Examples: Nail bomb, chemical bomb, any fireworks that explode, firecrackers, grenades

Promotion of instructional content about the assembly, enhancement or acquisition of explosive items

Examples: Bomb-making instructions, guides, software or equipment for 3D printing of parts of grenades

Guns, gun parts, & related products

Functional devices that appear to discharge a projectile at high velocity, whether for sport, self-defense, or combat. Note that we err on the side of caution and apply this policy to sporting or recreational guns that can cause serious harm if misused, or that appear to be real guns

Examples: Handguns, rifles, shotguns, hunting guns, functioning antique guns, airsoft guns, paintball guns, bb guns, 3D printed guns

Any part or component, whether finished or unfinished, that is essential to, or enhances the functionality of a gun

Examples: Ammunition, ammunition clips, silencers, ammunition belts, stocks, conversion kits, gun-grips, scopes and sights, tripods and bipods

Instructional content about the assembly, enhancement or acquisition of any of functional devices that appear to discharge a projectile at high velocity, including parts or components thereof

Examples: Gun-making instructions, guides, software or equipment for 3D printing of guns or gun parts

Dangerous knives

Knives that are designed or promoted (in modern-day usage) as products that can be used to injure an opponent in sport, self-defense, or combat. Any knife design that provides a confrontational advantage (including disguised appearance or assisted-opening mechanism)

Examples: Switchblades, fighting knives, sword-canes, balisongs, military knives, push daggers, throwing axes

Other weapons

Any other product designed to (in modern-day usage) injure an opponent in sport, self-defense or combat

Examples: Throwing stars, brass knuckles, tasers, pepper spray

Promotion of instructional content about the assembly, enhancement or acquisition of any product covered by the other weapons policy section

Examples: Guides, software or equipment for 3D printing of push daggers, brass knuckles, throwing stars

Recreational drugs & drug-related equipment

Promotion of substances that alter mental state for the purpose of recreation, or otherwise induce "highs"

Examples: Cocaine, crystal meth, heroin, marijuana, cocaine substitutes, mephedrone, "legal highs"

Products marketed as facilitating recreational drug use

Examples: Pipes, bongs, cannabis coffee shops

Promotion of instructional content about producing, purchasing, or using recreational drugs

Examples: Instructional resources on drug use

Promotion of pill presses, encapsulating machines and related components used for compacting or filling powders, granules or other materials into tablets or capsules.

Examples: Pill presses, tableting machines, dies, molds, stamps, punches used for creation or imprinting of pills and tablets.

Tobacco products & related equipment

Tobacco or any products containing tobacco

Examples: Cigarettes, cigars, snus, chewing tobacco, rolling tobacco, pipe tobacco

Products that form a component part of a tobacco product, and products that directly facilitate or promote tobacco consumption

Examples: Rolling papers, pipes, tobacco filters, hookahs

Products designed to simulate tobacco smoking

Examples: Herbal cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, e-juice

Sodium Nitrite

Products with a concentration of more than 10% sodium nitrite

What you can do

Here's what you can do if your product is disapproved or if your Merchant Center account is impacted:

Product disapproval

Products that don't comply with our policies may be disapproved and won't be eligible to serve.

Read our Shopping policies to learn what we don't allow.
Update your website. If your ad or listing directs to violating content, update your website to meet all policy requirements.
- Remove the violating products. You must remove non-compliant offers from your product data feed. You’ll receive an email with details about the violations.
- Update your product data in Merchant Center. Manually update your product data or wait for your automated upload schedule to run before requesting any reviews.
Request a review or appeal. After fixing the issue or if you believe the disapproval is incorrect, you can request a review or appeal the decision.
- Individual product review (if you fixed the issue)
  - If you edit your product data via your chosen upload method (such as a file) or directly in Merchant Center, the affected products will be automatically re-reviewed.
  - If you remove the violating products from your feed, no further action or review request is necessary.
- Standard appeal (if you disagree with the issue)
  - For certain issues, you can dispute the violation. You may need to complete additional steps, such as providing an appeal reason and/or uploading required documentation.
  - If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will be removed from Merchant Center.
- Bulk appeal (available in certain cases)
  - For specific policy issues where you believe a large number of offers require review, you may be able to submit a single bulk appeal.
  - ⚠️ Warning: Before submitting a bulk appeal, you must review your offers and remove any policy-violating items from your feed. Submitting a bulk appeal for a large set of offers risks immediate failure if violations are found. This may limit your ability to submit subsequent appeals for those products.
  - You must remove any offers that are violating our policies from your feed before attempting to appeal in bulk.
  - How to appeal in bulk: The bulk appeal option may not be available in all instances or when using third-party platforms.
    - Option 1 - Under all products
      - Go to Merchant Center > Products > Needs attention.
        
        Navigate to the specific issue.
        
        Select “View fix”
        
        Select the option to disagree with the issue for all products.
        
        Review any informational prompts that appear.
        
        Select “Request review” to submit the appeal.
    - Option 2 - Product details page
      - From the product details page, selecting “Review and fix” will display the appeal options: “I disagree with the issue” and/or “I disagree with the issue for all products”.
  - Third-party platforms
    - If you use a third-party platform to list your products, consult that platform for available review options.
    - If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center.

Account disapproval

For most violations, we'll send you a warning email detailing the policy violation and give you 7 or 28 calendar days to fix your issue.However, we may not issue a warning for egregious policy violations.

Read our Shopping policies to learn what we don't allow.
Update your website. If your ad or listing directs to violating content, update your website to meet all policy requirements.
- Remove the violating products. You must remove non-compliant offers from your product data feed. You’ll receive an email with details about the violations.
- Update your product data in Merchant Center. Manually update your product data or wait for your automated upload schedule to run before requesting any reviews.
Request a review or appeal. After fixing the issue or if you believe the disapproval is incorrect, you can request a review or appeal the decision.
- Individual product review (if you fixed the issue)
  - If you edit your product data via your chosen upload method (such as a file) or directly in Merchant Center, the affected products will be automatically re-reviewed.
  - If you remove the violating products from your feed, no further action or review request is necessary.
- Standard appeal (if you disagree with the issue)
  - For certain issues, you can dispute the violation. You may need to complete additional steps, such as providing an appeal reason and/or uploading required documentation.
  - If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will be removed from Merchant Center.
- Bulk appeal (available in certain cases)
  - For specific policy issues where you believe a large number of offers require review, you may be able to submit a single bulk appeal.
  - ⚠️ Warning: Before submitting a bulk appeal, you must review your offers and remove any policy-violating items from your feed. Submitting a bulk appeal for a large set of offers risks immediate failure if violations are found. This may limit your ability to submit subsequent appeals for those products.
  - You must remove any offers that are violating our policies from your feed before attempting to appeal in bulk.
  - How to appeal in bulk: The bulk appeal option may not be available in all instances or when using third-party platforms.
    - Option 1 - Under all products
      - Go to Merchant Center > Products > Needs attention.
        
        Navigate to the specific issue.
        
        Select “View fix”
        
        Select the option to disagree with the issue for all products.
        
        Review any informational prompts that appear.
        
        Select “Request review” to submit the appeal.
    - Option 2 - Product details page
      - From the product details page, selecting “Review and fix” will display the appeal options: “I disagree with the issue” and/or “I disagree with the issue for all products”.
  - Third-party platforms
    - If you use a third-party platform to list your products, consult that platform for available review options.
    - If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center.

Note: Account reviews typically take 7 business days, but may take longer for complex reviews. If you remove violating products, the warning will be removed. If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center. In the case of account suspension, we will approve the account and allow products to be displayed again.

Account issue that limits product visibility

Your account has an issue and is operating with reserved functionality, therefore your products have limited visibility. Check your email for a notice with details about the issue and steps to resolve it. Common issues include policy violations or missing account information.

Read our Shopping policies to learn what we don't allow.
Update your website. If your ad or listing directs to violating content, update your website to meet all policy requirements.
- Remove the violating products. You must remove non-compliant offers from your product data feed. You’ll receive an email with details about the violations.
- Update your product data in Merchant Center. Manually update your product data or wait for your automated upload schedule to run before requesting any reviews.
Request a review or appeal. After fixing the issue or if you believe the disapproval is incorrect, you can request a review or appeal the decision.
- Individual product review (if you fixed the issue)
  - If you edit your product data via your chosen upload method (such as a file) or directly in Merchant Center, the affected products will be automatically re-reviewed.
  - If you remove the violating products from your feed, no further action or review request is necessary.
- Standard appeal (if you disagree with the issue)
  - For certain issues, you can dispute the violation. You may need to complete additional steps, such as providing an appeal reason and/or uploading required documentation.
  - If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will be removed from Merchant Center.
- Bulk appeal (available in certain cases)
  - For specific policy issues where you believe a large number of offers require review, you may be able to submit a single bulk appeal.
  - ⚠️ Warning: Before submitting a bulk appeal, you must review your offers and remove any policy-violating items from your feed. Submitting a bulk appeal for a large set of offers risks immediate failure if violations are found. This may limit your ability to submit subsequent appeals for those products.
  - You must remove any offers that are violating our policies from your feed before attempting to appeal in bulk.
  - How to appeal in bulk: The bulk appeal option may not be available in all instances or when using third-party platforms.
    - Option 1 - Under all products
      - Go to Merchant Center > Products > Needs attention.
        
        Navigate to the specific issue.
        
        Select “View fix”
        
        Select the option to disagree with the issue for all products.
        
        Review any informational prompts that appear.
        
        Select “Request review” to submit the appeal.
    - Option 2 - Product details page
      - From the product details page, selecting “Review and fix” will display the appeal options: “I disagree with the issue” and/or “I disagree with the issue for all products”.
  - Third-party platforms
    - If you use a third-party platform to list your products, consult that platform for available review options.
    - If a review or appeal is successful, the issue will disappear from Merchant Center.

To ensure a safe and positive experience for customers, Google requires that retailers comply with all applicable laws and regulations in addition to our policies. It's important that you familiarize yourself with and keep up to date on these requirements for the place where your business operates, as well as any other places your ads are shown. When we find content that violates these requirements, we may block it from appearing. In cases of repeated or egregious violations, we may ban you from advertising content with us.

If you’re working with a third-party platform, some of these instructions may not apply to you. Refer to your third-party platform for instructions on how to resolve the issue and request a review. Learn how to find support if you use a non-Google platform.

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