The policies listed below apply to researchers and developers using Google Surveys and Google Surveys 360 (collectively “Google Surveys”) to create surveys. Violations of these policies may result in your Google Surveys account, and any related accounts, being permanently suspended. Be sure to check back from time to time as these policies may change. All surveys created or served using Google Surveys must comply with the program policies below.
Content policies
Surveys must not be used in connection with content that is illegal, promotes dangerous and/or illegal activities, or infringes on the legal rights of others, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, and other intellectual property rights. We reserve the right to disallow, at our sole discretion, any survey that we determine to contain content that is disturbing, distasteful, offensive, mature, misrepresentative (i.e., content that misrepresents, misstates, misleads others, or otherwise conceals information about the survey’s primary purpose), hateful or intolerant speech, or vulgar language.
Personally identifiable information & location information
Surveys must not request information that Google could use or recognize as personally identifiable information from end users, such as names, phone numbers and email addresses, social media accounts, employer, account credentials, government identification numbers, cardholder data and financial account data. Surveys also must not request any physical address information, including City, State, and ZIP codes, except as expressly permitted by Google.
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Sensitive demographics
Please note that age, gender, and geography are provided in the survey results as inferred or declared demographics, so you don't need to ask these questions in your survey.
Surveys may ask for age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and immigration status provided the answer choices are in groups or ranges with a "I prefer not to say" or using "Other" as the opt out answer; the open-text question type is not permitted for such survey questions. Questions also must not target, whether by direct or indirect means, end users under 18 years of age, or include any age under 18 years old in answer ranges.
A disclaimer/permission screen must be displayed upfront for surveys asking certain sensitive demographic questions, such as religion, sexual orientation, and immigration status. Please note that surveys with disclaimer/permission screen can only be targeted to Android smartphone users. The Google Surveys team reserves the right to apply a disclaimer/permission screen when we deem necessary. Should the Google Surveys team apply a disclaimer/permission screen, we will notify the survey creator.
Surveys may screen in respondents based on certain demographics. Please refer to recommendations when using screening questions.
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Survey questions asking about demographics that allow respondents to choose from a group or range of answers with an opt-out. For example:
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Survey questions asking about demographics that are answerable by “yes” or “no”, with or without an opt-out. For example:
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Sensitive subjects
A disclaimer/permission screen must be displayed upfront for surveys with questions that contain or solicit responses relating to sensitive subjects and/or demographics. While the list of sensitive topics may vary depending on current events, surveys relating to such demographic groups as age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and immigrant status are considered sensitive and thus, require a disclaimer/permission screen. Please note that surveys with disclaimer/permission screen can only be targeted to Android Smartphone users. The Google Surveys team reserves the right to apply a disclaimer/permission screen when we deem necessary. Should the Google Surveys team apply a disclaimer/permission screen, we will notify the survey creator.
We do not allow surveys that request information relating to sensitive subjects, such as abortion or personal criminal records. This is not an exhaustive list and we reserve the right and sole discretion to determine which surveys relating to sensitive demographics and subjects are permitted.
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Adult material
Surveys must not request or contain adult content or content that could be considered to be adult in nature, including adult themes, adult activity, nudity, sexually suggestive material, and drug use.
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Offensive and inappropriate content and language
Surveys must not request or contain:
- Hate speech (including content that incites hatred or promotes violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity), harassment, bullying, or similar content that advocates harm against an individual or group;
- Content or language that is obscene, gruesome, distasteful, or offensive to end users, including content related to judging or rating physical appearance of people; or
- Content or language that is otherwise inappropriate, including variations and misspellings of inappropriate words and language.
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Push-polling or promotion
Surveys must not contain “push-polling” content, including any questions designed to influence or alter the view of end users, whether negatively or positively. Surveys must not be used as an advertisement or to promote the use of any goods or services. Surveys must not contain call-to-action phrases such as “Vote NO” or "click here" or "visit our website". Text pointing end users to a URL is also not permitted.
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Policy and election polling
Policy-polling questions are only permitted in Google Surveys with a discrete opt-out choice for respondents who don't wish to answer, (e.g. “I prefer not to say”).
Election-polling questions aren't permitted, including questions about:
- Voting preference or action in past, future, or hypothetical elections, or
- Opinions about the outcome of those elections.
Surveys about controversial political topics are also prohibited, including but not limited to those relating to abortion, drug legalization, legalized prostitution, death penalty, euthanasia, gun rights, racial profiling, torture, war, and weaponry. Google reserves the right to determine at its sole discretion whether surveys relating to these topics are controversial and thus, prohibited under this policy.
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Health and medical history
A disclaimer/permission screen must be displayed before a survey requests health and medical information, whether historical or current conditions, from end users. Please note that surveys with disclaimer/permission screen can only be targeted to Android Smartphone users. The Google Surveys team reserves the right to apply a disclaimer/permission screen when we deem necessary. Should a disclaimer/permission screen be applied to a survey, we will notify the survey creator.
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Interest-based surveys (including remarketing)
You must not use Google Surveys to select or target interest-based surveys, or to collect or use audience data such as cookie lists, based on:
- Past or current activity by end users known by you to be under the age of 18 years;
- Past or current activity by end users on sites or apps or areas of sites or apps directed at children under the age of 18 years;
- Past or current activity by end users on adult, gambling, or government-agency sites or apps; or
Other inferred or actual sensitive information, including, without limitation:
You must have all rights necessary to collect and use audience data such as cookie lists.
Editorial Policies
Surveys must comply with the Surveys editorial policies. Please also refer to the Surveys tips guide for guidance on best practices.
Enforcement
If you see a survey or question that you believe violates any of the above policies, please contact the Google Surveys team.
- Health or medical history or information, such as from sites or apps that market to a specific health-related group,
- Negative financial status or other detailed information pertaining to a person's finances, such as information indicating that an end user has a low credit rating or high debt load,
- Racial or ethnic origins, such as from sites or apps that collect affirmative racial or ethnic identification from visitors,
- Religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature, such as from sites or apps that collect people’s affirmative information on religion or religious beliefs,
- The commission or alleged commission of any crime, such as information indicating that an end user has a criminal record,
- Political affiliation (to the extent permitted by applicable law, political affiliation may be used to target ads to end users or to promote advertisers’ products or services in the United States),
- Trade union membership, such as an end user’s visit to a trade union’s site or app, or
- Sexual behavior or orientation, such as sexual orientation inferred from an end user’s visit to a particular site.
Changelog
10 April 2020
- Updated to clarify our policy on policy and election polling, including updated examples.
- Added note about the suspension of medical or health topics.