About the Community Guidelines
The Community Guidelines are meant to help protect Google Search users and apply to everyone with a Search profile. They govern the content of Search profiles, as well as the notes that people create who are participating in our Search Labs experiment. These guidelines are only applicable to notes and profiles. Google search results themselves and other search features have their own policies that can be found on the Content policies for Google search page.
For those participating in notes, we want the experience to foster the creation of helpful content, where people can contribute their unique points of view and information on Search. Our Community Guidelines help us maintain a safer environment and define the types of content and behavior that aren't allowed, covering such areas as child safety, dangerous content, hate speech, and spam, among others. The Community Guidelines apply to all user generated content in notes and profiles, such as text, images, and external links in the profile.
In addition to these Community Guidelines, all notes and profiles must follow the Google Terms of Service and we may remove notes if they don’t follow local laws and regulations. Since notes are a Search Labs experiment, where people opt in to share feedback on early-stage experiences, we may use participants’ feedback and other learnings to update these Community Guidelines and improve the user experience.
How content is reviewed
We use a combination of machine-learning algorithms and human reviewers to detect content that doesn’t meet the Community Guidelines. Content detected by the algorithms is either removed or flagged for additional human review where trained analysts take a closer look. If these methods determine that content doesn’t meet the Community Guidelines, we respond by removing the content or account privileges. We may make exceptions to these policies based on artistic, educational, historical, documentary or scientific considerations, or where there are other substantial benefits to the public.
If your content has been removed, or your profile or other features were restricted, you'll be notified about any violations and have the opportunity to appeal.
Reporting content
Important: If you find content in notes or profiles that doesn’t meet the Community Guidelines, or breaks the law, report it. We appreciate your help in keeping Google Search users safe.
- Report content that you believe doesn't meet the Community Guidelines. View instructions.
- Report content that you believe may break the law. View instructions.
The following sections lists the different types of content and behaviors that aren’t allowed, including, but not limited to, some of the representative examples shown below:
Account hijackingWe don’t allow others to access or control accounts or profiles by false means or representation.
- Sexually explicit content featuring minors.
- Content that sexualizes minors.
- Content that leads to or promotes child endangerment.
- Content that provides inaccurate information about where to vote.
- Content that promotes substances or treatments that present an inherent risk of severe bodily harm or death and is contrary to medical consensus.
- A profile that uses someone else's real name, user name, image, brand, logo, or other personal information to trick people into believing the profile owner is that person.
- Setting up a profile using the name and image of a person, and then posting notes as if they were posted by that person.
- Coordinated abuse, including clusters of accounts working together, to mislead users.
- Content that has been incentivized in exchange for payment - including but not limited to money, discounts, free goods and/or services.
- Discouraging or prohibiting negative notes, or selectively soliciting positive notes from users.
- Content that has been posted from multiple accounts where the only purpose is to boost views or other metrics.
- Content that contains instructions on the manufacturer or assembly of a bomb.
- Content depicting how to complete a challenge that requires ingesting harmful substances.
- Promotional content explaining how to engage in self-harm.
- Content that contains a violent insult or slur based on a person’s characteristics to dehumanize them.
- Content that threatens an identifiable individual or their property, including implicit threats.
- Content makes a false death claim about a public official.
- Promotion of hateful supremacism by alleging the superiority of a group over those with protected group status to justify violence.
- Content with hateful imagery or symbols without educational or documentary context.
- Content that praises or glorifies the use of violence against a group based on their protected group status.
Some representative examples of content that violates our Highly personal information policies include:
- Content that includes a phone number, address, or email address.
- Images of unredacted passports or visas.
- Content that contains unwanted sexualization such as non-consensually shared intimate imagery.
- Content containing a deepfake to make it appear that a government official is dead, without proper disclosures.
- A manipulated screenshot that could inflame geopolitical tensions, without proper disclosures.
- Content that directs users to a website with manipulated videos to fabricate electoral events, without proper disclosures.
We don’t allow users to post content that would reasonably cause another to experience extreme anger, insult, or disrespect. This includes attacking other individuals or groups, content that is clearly and deliberately provocative, and unsubstantiated allegations of unethical behavior or criminal wrongdoing. We do allow content that describes negative experiences in a respectful manner. Some representative examples of content that violates our Offensive content policy include:
- Content that ridicules or calls another person names.
- Content making fun of individuals, amorphous groups, organizations in a negative or demeaning way.
- Malicious content relating to a personal characteristic - such as someone’s appearance or intelligence.
- A profile that has been created to engage in previously prohibited behaviors in notes and profiles.
- A profile that has been created and is distributing content that has been prohibited on other Google products.
- Using other methods intended to continue distributing content or engaging in a behavior that aims to violate our policies.
- Content that includes contact information to engage in gambling or sports betting.
- Content that glorifies the usage, involvement, or purchase of a regulated substance.
- Content where the purpose is to sell or facilitate the purchase of pharmaceuticals by posting links, email addresses, phone numbers, or other means of contacting the seller.
- Content that intends to be sexually gratifying, such as the depiction of the use of sex toys for sexual gratification.
- Depiction of clothed or unclothed genitals, breasts, or buttocks that are meant for sexual gratification.
- Depictions of pornography or fetishes meant for sexual gratification.
- Content that redirects the user away from the note or profile they are viewing via the inclusion of an external link or other non-targeted language.
- Leaving large amounts of identical, untargeted, or repetitive content.
- Content that redirects users to sites that spread dangerous software, attempt to collect personal information or cause negative impact.
- Content with depictions of torture, immolation, or corpses with serious injuries.
- Content that praises or glorifies serious acts of neglect, abuse, or violence against animals.
- Content about a medical procedure whose content focuses on open wounds and doesn't provide educational information or explanation to viewers.
- Use of sexually explicit language or narratives.
- Use of excessive profanity in the content.
- Use of hateful or harassing language.