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.
• 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

To verify if the system has correctly tagged or overflagged a product, check the SOP which outlines when to process a review. 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. When a product is disapproved, it won't be eligible to serve.

1. Read our policies to learn what we don't allow.
2. Update your website. If your ad or listing leads to content that violates a policy, update your website to meet the requirements and be in compliance with our policies.
3. Remove the violating products from your product data. You’ll receive an email with details about the violation.;
   • If you have products in your product data that violate the policy (or policies), you'll need to remove the offers from your feed.
4. Update your product data in Merchant Center. If you created a schedule for automatic uploads, update your product data manually or wait for your product data to be automatically updated before requesting any reviews.
5. Request a review of your products or appeal the decision taken on this issue.
   • If the violating products are removed, you won't need to request a review or take any additional action.
   • If you fix your product-level issues by editing your product data via your chosen upload method (such as a file) or directly in Merchant Center, your products will be re-reviewed.
   • For certain issues, you can disagree with the issue but you may need to complete additional steps such as provide an appeal reason and/or upload required documentation.
   • If you use a third-party platform to list your products, you can refer to your third-party if you want to request a review. You won’t be able to do this in Merchant Center.
   • 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, a warning may not be issued for egregious policy violations.

1. Read our policies to learn what we don't allow.
2. Update your website. If your ad or listing leads to content that violates a policy, update your website to meet the requirements and be in compliance with our policies.
3. Remove any violating products from your product data. You’ll receive an email with details about the violation. If you have products in your product data that violate the policy (or policies) you'll need to remove the offers from your feed.
4. Update your data in Merchant Center.
   • Review your account and submit any missing information or complete any unfinished steps.
   • If you created a schedule for automatic uploads, update your product data manually or wait for your product data to be automatically updated before requesting any reviews.
5. Make sure that your linked or associated account is issue-free before requesting a Merchant Center review. Learn more about how to fix Linked account suspensions.
6. Request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on this issue.
   • If your account is still within the warning period, it will automatically be reviewed again at the end of the warning period. If the violating products are removed, you won't need to request an account review or take any additional action.
   • If your account is suspended and you've taken actions to resolve the issue, request an account review.
   • For certain issues, you can disagree with the issue but you may need to complete additional steps such as provide an appeal reason and/or upload required documentation.
   • If you use a third-party platform to list your products, you can refer to your third-party if you want to request a review. You won’t be able to do this in 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. An email was sent with a notice on what to do and the steps needed to resolve your account issue.

1. Read our policies to learn more about our requirements.
2. Update your website. If your ad or listing leads to content that violates a policy, update your website to meet the requirements and be in compliance with our policies.
3. Fix any other open policy violation in your account. Review your products and your account details.
   • If products aren’t supported, remove them from your feed.
   • If account details are missing, complete them in Merchant Center.
4. Request a review of your account or appeal the decision taken on this issue.
   • If your Merchant Center account is still within the warning period for certain policies, it will automatically be reviewed again at the end of the warning period.
   • If your account is affected and you've resolved the issue, request a Merchant Center account review.
   • For certain issues, you can disagree with the issue but you may need to complete additional steps such as provide an appeal reason and/or upload required documentation.
   • If you use a third-party platform to list your products, you can refer to your third-party if you want to request a review. You won’t be able to do this in 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.

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.