AdSense program policies

All publishers are required to adhere to the following policies, so please read them carefully. If you fail to comply with these policies without permission from Google, we reserve the right to disable ad serving to your site and/or disable your AdSense account at any time. If your account is disabled, you will not be eligible for further participation in the AdSense program.

Because we may change our policies at any time, please check here often for updates. In accordance with our online Terms and Conditions, it's your responsibility to keep up to date with, and adhere to, the policies posted here. Exceptions to these policies are permitted only with authorization from Google.

Invalid clicks and impressions

Publishers may not click their own ads or use any means to inflate impressions and/or clicks artificially, including manual methods.

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Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest. Any method that artificially generates clicks or impressions on your Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools and the use of robots or deceptive software. Please note that clicking your own ads for any reason is prohibited.

Encouraging clicks

Publishers may not ask others to click their ads or use deceptive implementation methods to obtain clicks. This includes, but is not limited to, offering compensation to users for viewing ads or performing searches, promising to raise money for third parties for such behavior or placing images next to individual ads.

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In order to ensure a good experience for users and advertisers, publishers participating in the AdSense program may not:

·         Compensate users for viewing ads or performing searches, or promise compensation to a third party for such behavior.

·         Encourage users to click the Google ads using phrases such as "click the ads", "support us", "visit these links" or other similar language.

·         Direct user attention to the ads using arrows or other graphical gimmicks.

·         Place misleading images alongside individual ads.

·         Place ads in a floating box script.

·         Format ads so that they become indistinguishable from other content on that page.

·         Format site content so that it is difficult to distinguish it from ads.

·         Place misleading labels above Google ad units. For instance, ads may be labelled "Sponsored Links" or "Advertisements", but not "Favourite Sites" or "Today's Top Offers".

Content guidelines

Publishers may not place AdSense code on pages with content that violates any of our content guidelines. Some examples include content that is adult, violent or advocating racial intolerance.

View full content policies.

Sites with Google ads may not include or link to:

·         Pornography, adult or mature content

·         Violent content

·         Content related to racial intolerance or advocacy against any individual, group or organisation

·         Excessive profanity

·         Hacking/cracking content

·         Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia content

·         Sales of beer or hard alcohol

·         Sales of tobacco or tobacco-related products

·         Sales of prescription drugs

·         Sales of weapons or ammunition (e.g. firearms, firearm components, fighting knives, stun guns)

·         Sales of products that are replicas or imitations of designer or other goods

·         Sales or distribution of coursework or student essays

·         Content regarding programs which compensate users for clicking ads or offers, performing searches, surfing websites or reading emails

·         Any other content that is illegal, promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others

Publishers are also not permitted to place AdSense code on pages with content primarily in an unsupported language.

Copyrighted material

AdSense publishers may not display Google ads on webpages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. This includes sites that display copyrighted material, sites hosting copyrighted files, or sites that provide links driving traffic to sites that contain copyrighted material. Please see our DMCA policy for more information.

Webmaster guidelines

AdSense publishers are required to adhere to the webmaster quality guidelines.

View excerpts

Traffic sources

Google ads may not be placed on pages receiving traffic from certain sources. For example, publishers may not participate in paid-to-click programs, send unwanted emails or display ads as the result of the action of any software application. Also, publishers using online advertising must ensure that their pages comply with Google's Landing Page Quality Guidelines.

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Ad behavior

Publishers are permitted to make modifications to the AdSense ad code so long as those modifications do not artificially inflate ad performance or harm advertisers.

Ad placement

Publishers are encouraged to experiment with a variety of placements and ad formats. However, AdSense code may not be placed in inappropriate places such as pop-ups, emails or software. Publishers must also adhere to the policies for each product used.

View full ad placement policies.

Google ads, search boxes or search results may not be:

·         Integrated into a software application (does not apply to AdMob) of any kind, including toolbars.

·         Displayed in pop-ups or pop-unders.

·         Placed in emails, email programs, including webmail, or on pages where dynamic content (such as live chat, instant messaging, or auto-refreshing comments) is the primary focus. (Does not apply to AdMob.)

·         Placed in emails, email programs, or chat programs. (Does not apply to AdMob.)

·         Obscured by elements on a page.

·         Placed on any non-content-based page. (Does not apply to AdSense for search, mobile AdSense for search, or AdMob.)

·         Placed on pages published specifically for the purpose of showing ads.

·         Placed on pages whose content or URL could confuse users into thinking it is associated with Google due to the misuse of logos, trademarks or other brand features.

·         Placed on, within or alongside other Google products or services in a manner that violates the policies of that product or service.

Site behavior

Sites showing Google ads should be easy for users to navigate. Sites may not change user preferences, redirect users to unwanted websites, initiate downloads, include malware or contain pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with site navigation.

Google advertising cookies

AdSense publishers must have and abide by a privacy policy that discloses that third parties may be placing and reading cookies on your users' browsers, or using web beacons to collect information as a result of ad serving on your website.

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Google uses the DoubleClick cookie on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. Subject to any applicable laws, rules and regulations, you will have the sole and exclusive right to use all data derived from your use of the DoubleClick cookie for any purpose related to your business, provided that Google may use and disclose this data subject to the terms of Google's advertising privacy policies and any applicable laws, rules and regulations.

If your current advertising services contract with Google or DoubleClick already has a specific provision defining data ownership, that provision instead of this policy will govern with regard to the data collected under that contract.

Learn more about preparing your privacy policy.

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

If you implement any Google advertising service on a site or section of a site that is covered by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), (a) you must notify Google of those sites or sections of sites covered by COPPA using the tool found here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/coppa, or the method for apps described here:http://developers.google.com/mobile-ads-sdk/docs/admob/best-practices, and (b) you must not use interest-based advertising (including remarketing) to target: (i) past or current activity by users known by you to be under the age of 13 years or (ii) past or current activity on sites directed at users under the age of 13 years.

Gambling content

AdSense restricts the placement of ads on gambling sites and gambling-related content. We have different policies for gambling content based on the country in which a publisher is located. Publishers outside a limited group of countries are not allowed to place ads on any gambling content or on any pages with links to gambling content. This includes any content that allows users to place bets or play games in exchange for an opportunity to earn money or other prizes.

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In this selected group of countries, publishers are allowed to monetize pages with online gambling, information about online gambling content and pages that link to gambling content. Gambling content includes: online casino games, sports betting, bingo, lotteries, tips, odds, handicapping, mahjong, educational/supplemental materials and bonus codes.

Austria	Greece	Portugal
Belgium	Ireland	Romania
Canada	Italy	Serbia
Denmark	Israel	Spain
Finland	Norway	Sweden
France	Peru	United Kingdom

Currently, these publishers must meet Google’s stringent requirements for consideration and need to be selected and approved by the AdSense Policy Team before ads can be shown. If you're eligible, AdSense will be sure to contact you. Publishers located outside of these countries aren’t permitted to place ads on content that allows any type of betting or has links to such content.

To keep the Global Display Network family safe, ads will only be shown on gambling content if both the publisher and the page’s visitor are located within a gambling-approved country and if the visitor is of legal age.

Additionally, publishers now have the opportunity to opt in to receiving gambling ads through the category filtering feature. If you don't wish to receive gambling ads on your site, no action is required on your part.

Examples

Publishers who have not been not selected or approved for gambling content:

Allowed

Not allowed

·         Sites with play-for-fun games, contests, sweepstakes, raffles ·         Location-based gambling sites (hotel casinos and destination travel sites) ·         Sites promoting fantasy sports ·         Sites selling books, ebooks, magazines, TV shows that discuss gambling-related activities ·         Discussion forums or blogs about gambling that don’t drive traffic to online gambling sites ·         Sites selling gambling equipment

·         Online gambling sites, such as online casinos or online wagering sites ·         Sites that drive traffic to online gambling sites, such as through organic links

Publishers who have been selected and approved for gambling content, and are located in one of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom:

Allowed

·         Online gambling sites, such as online casinos or online wagering sites ·         Sites that drive traffic to online gambling sites, such as through organic links ·         Sites with play-for-fun games, contests, sweepstakes, raffles ·         Location-based gambling sites (hotel casinos and destination travel sites) ·         Sites promoting fantasy sports ·         Sites selling books, ebooks, magazines, TV shows that discuss gambling-related activities ·         Discussion forums or blogs about gambling that don’t drive traffic to online gambling sites ·         Sites selling gambling equipment

Product-specific policies

AdSense for content: Publishers may place up to three AdSense for content ad units on each page. Out of those three ad units, no more than one can be size 300x600. Publishers can place more than one of all ad sizes except the 300x600 on each page. In addition to three AdSense for content ad units, publishers may also place up to three link units and two search boxes on each page. These policies apply to both desktop and high-end mobile optimized sites.

AdSense for search: A maximum of two Google AdSense for search boxes may be placed per page. Also, a single link unit or image ad only may be placed on pages with AdSense for search results. Queries must originate from users inputting data directly into the search box and cannot be modified. This includes pre-populating the search box with terms or hard-coding direct links to search results pages. AdSense for search code may not be integrated into any software application such as a toolbar.

AdSense Custom Search Ads

Terms and Conditions

In addition to the Google AdSense Online Standard Terms and Conditions, the AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps (CSA for Mobile Apps) has the following supplemental terms that you must agree to in order to participate. Capitalized terms used but not defined in the following supplemental terms will have the meanings set forth in the AdSense Online Standard Terms and Conditions. By requesting search ads via the Google AdMob Ads SDK, you agree to the following terms:

1.       Query variable passed to Google must match user query
All search queries must originate from individual human end users inputting data directly into a search box. You must send all queries exactly as entered, without editing, modifying, or filtering unless explicitly you have been granted approval to append certain keywords to refine the search. The search box should not be pre-populated with search terms, and publishers may not create links containing pre-populated search terms.

2.       Maximum 2 ad units per user requested action
On mobile applications you may not make more than 2 requests for CSA for Mobile Apps ads per user requested action for which CSA for Mobile Apps results will be displayed. If your search results page implements infinite scroll, user scroll that initiates the asynchronous loading of more search results is considered a user requested action and you may request more ads.

3.       Maximum of 1 visible ad per screen
There can never be more than 1 CSA for Mobile Apps ad visible to the user at a time.

4.       Code may only be used on search results pages
CSA for Mobile Apps ad units may only be placed on search results pages, where search results pages are defined as pages that are composed of a listing of results dictated by a users query on the previous screen.

5.       Nature of searchable content
As described in the AdSense Program Policies, copyrighted content or content that violates our Site Content guidelines should not be the focus of your searchable content.

6.       Ads must be distinct from search results
CSA for Mobile Apps ad units must be clearly differentiated from search results. Ad units should not be customized in such a way as to closely resemble search results, and should not be labeled in a way that implies they are search results. Some ways to distinguish your ads from site content are shading the background color of your ads in a different color than your site background, or adding borders to your ads.

7.       No incentivizing searches
You may not compensate users for viewing ads or performing searches.

8.       Organic results should appear on 90% pages that display AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps ads
CSA for Mobile Apps ads are intended to supplement the organic results that your site returns and not act as results themselves. 90% of page views that display AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps ads should have organic results returned in addition to the ads.

9.       Partners may not backfill AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps with AdSense for content (AFC)
Advertising placements on partner applications must be exclusively either AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps or AFC. It is not permitted to mix request types within the one placement, such as to backfill AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps results with AFC results. It is also not permitted to alternate request types for the same placement, such as to use AdSense Custom Search Ads for Mobile Apps on some views, and AFC on other views.