Political content

This policy applies to Shopping ads and local inventory ads

Our policy

When you promote political content, you must comply with the following requirements:

Applicable laws and industry standards for any location that you target
Any applicable election "silence periods"

Examples of what's allowed in some circumstances

Political content

Products relating to political organizations, political parties, political issue advocacy or fundraising, and individual candidates and politicians

Additional country-specific requirements:

Brazil: In Brazil, the following is prohibited on Google platforms:
- Political-electoral content as defined under TSE Resolution 23,732/2024: Ads featuring elections, political parties, federations and coalitions, elected positions, government proposals, legislative bills, the exercise of the right to vote and other political rights or matters related to the electoral process.
Canada: During an election period regulated by the Canada Elections Act, Shopping ads that feature a federal political party, leader of a federal political party, or current member of or candidate (including nomination contestant) for member of the Parliament of Canada are not allowed.
- British Columbia: In British Columbia, the following is not allowed on Google platforms: Election advertising as defined under the Election Act, RSBC 1996, c 106.
  - During the pre-campaign period, as defined by the British Columbia Election Act, Shopping ads sponsored by a third-party sponsor that directly promote or oppose a registered British Columbia political party or the election of a candidate for member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
  - During the campaign period, as defined by the British Columbia Election Act, Shopping ads that directly or indirectly promote or oppose a registered British Columbia political party or the election of a candidate for member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, including Shopping ads that take a position on an issue with which such a registered political party or candidate is associated.
European Union:
The following is restricted on Google platforms:

Political advertising as defined under EU Regulation 2024/900:
- Ads by, for or on behalf of a political actor (defined below), unless it is of a purely private or a purely commercial nature; or
- Ads which are liable and designed to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, voting behavior or a legislative or regulatory process, at EU, national, regional or local level.

EU Political Actor

Under EU Regulation 2024/900, a political actor means any of the following in the EU:

a political party or an entity related directly or indirectly to the sphere of activity of such a political party;
a political alliance;
a European political party;
a candidate for or holder of any elected office at EU, national, regional and local level, or for any leadership position within a political party;
a member of EU institutions, with the exception of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and Court of Auditors, or of a government of a Member State at national, regional or local level;
a political campaign organization with or without legal personality, established solely for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election or referendum;
any natural or legal person representing or acting on behalf of any of the persons or organizations referred to in the points above, and promoting the political objectives of any of those persons or organizations.

Ads that feature any of the following:

A political party, coalition, current elected officeholder, or candidate for the EU Parliament or an elected national office within an EU member state; or
A referendum question up for vote, a referendum campaign group, or a call to vote related to a national referendum or a state or provincial referendum on sovereignty.

Exceptions

The following ads are permitted to run upon successful completion of the application process below:

Messages from official sources of Member States or the EU that are strictly limited to the organization and modalities for participating in elections or referendums, including the announcement of candidacies or the question put to the referendum, or for promoting participation in elections or referendums; and
Public communication that aims to provide official information to the public by, for or on behalf of any public authority of a Member State or by, for or on behalf of the EU, including by, for or on behalf of members of the government of a Member State, provided that they are not liable and designed to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, voting behavior or a legislative or regulatory process.

If you believe you satisfy these requirements, you can apply for an exemption, or you can appeal the policy decision. If you’re an agency or someone who manages multiple accounts, each individual account will need to apply for an exemption.

Indonesia: Promoting ads of political candidates or parties is not allowed in Indonesia.
India: Political parties, political candidates, or current members of the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha are not allowed to run Shopping ads in India.
Japan: Promoting products that are part of a political campaign is not allowed in Japan.
Philippines: During an election campaign period or a silence period regulated by the Commission on Elections, Shopping ads that promote or oppose any political party or the candidacy of any person or party for public office are not allowed.
South Korea: Ads featuring political candidates or parties for elected offices of South Korea are not allowed.
Singapore: Ads that do any of the following are not allowed in Singapore:
- Promote the interests of a political party or other group of persons organized in Singapore for political objects;
- Influence, or to seek to influence, the outcome of an election to the office of President, a general election of Members of Parliament, a by-election of any Member of Parliament, or a referendum;
- Influence, or to seek to influence, public opinion on a matter that in Singapore is a matter of public interest or public controversy, with key examples being those relating to race or religion; or
- Bring about, or to seek to bring about, changes of the law in the whole or a part of Singapore, or to otherwise influence, or to seek to influence, the legislative process or outcome in Singapore.
Vietnam: Promoting political content, including political candidates and parties, is not allowed in Vietnam.

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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