Google values honesty and fairness, and it doesn’t allow listing products that are designed to enable dishonest behavior. Below are some examples of what to avoid in your listings.
Violations of this policy will not lead to immediate account suspension without prior warning. A warning will be issued at least 7 days prior to any suspension of your account.
On this page
Enabling honest behavior
Products designed for parents to track or monitor their underage children are allowed.
Products that help users mislead others are not allowed
Examples (non-exhaustive):
- Creation of fake or false documents like passports or diplomas
- Selling numbers like credit privacy numbers that mimic the appearance of national identification numbers
- Aids to pass drug tests
- Products that enable academic dishonesty, like custom or pre-written essays
- Selling falsified user activity in the form of invalid clicks, reviews, or social media endorsements
- VPNs marketed to circumvent geo-restrictions
Products that enable a user to gain unauthorized access or make unauthorized changes to systems, devices, or property
Examples (non-exhaustive):
- Hacking devices, including game enhancements and cheat softwares
- Radar jammers
- Devices that change traffic signals
- Phone or wire-tapping products
Products that enable a user to track or monitor another person or their activities without their authorization
Examples (non-exhaustive):
- Spyware and technology used for intimate partner surveillance like spyware or malware that enable a user to monitor texts, phone calls, or browsing history
- GPS trackers specifically marketed to spy on or to track someone without their consent
- Promotion of surveillance equipment like cameras, audio recorders, dash cams, nanny cams marketed specifically for spying
Best practices
This non-exhaustive list of best practices outlines what you should avoid in your listing text and creatives to help avoid issues related to this policy.
- Don't use imagery that implies your product can be used for dishonest purposes. For example, an image of a student looking over their shoulder during an exam while using your product would not be allowed.
- Don't use language that suggests your product can be used to cheat or deceive. For example, avoid phrases like “fool the system” or “get away with anything”.
Options to fix
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 ads 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 source. 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 data source, 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 data source. 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 data source 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.
- Go to Merchant Center > Products > Needs attention.
- Option 1 - Under all products
- Individual product review (if you fixed the issue)
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 ads 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 source. 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 data source, 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 data source. 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 data source 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.
- Go to Merchant Center > Products > Needs attention.
- 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”.
- Option 1 - Under 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.
- Individual product review (if you fixed the issue)
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.
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 ads and listings 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 source. 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 data source, 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 data source. 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 data source 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.
- Go to Merchant Center > Products > Needs attention.
- 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”.
- Option 1 - Under 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.
- Individual product review (if you fixed the issue)
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.