What Google bans as dangerous or derogatory ads
Direct answerGoogle does not allow ads or destinations that promote hatred, harassment, threats of harm, or exploitation. The dangerous or derogatory content page names hate groups, calling a person or group inhuman or inferior, singling someone out for abuse, denying a tragic event, sharing personal information in order to harass, advocating self-harm, threatening real-world harm, and content that supports terrorist or transnational drug-trafficking organizations. A warning comes at least 7 days before suspension.
The four bans
| Google’s ban | Examples on the page |
|---|---|
| Hatred or discrimination | Promoting hate groups or their merchandise. Encouraging others to believe a person or group is inhuman, inferior, or worthy of being hated. |
| Harassment, intimidation, or bullying | Singling someone out for abuse. Claiming a tragic event did not happen, or that victims or their families are actors or part of a cover-up. Sharing personal information to promote fraud, identity theft, harmful contact, or harassment. |
| Threats or advocacy of harm | Advocating suicide, anorexia, or other self-harm. Threatening real-life harm or calling for an attack. Glorifying violence. Content by or in support of terrorist groups or transnational drug-trafficking organizations, including recruitment or celebrating their attacks. |
| Exploitation | Extortion, blackmail, soliciting or promoting dowries, and exploitative removals. |
The list of characteristics is non-exhaustive in one direction: Google also says “any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization.” Interpretation: a product ad that never mentions a group is not in these bullets. A creative whose joke is that a group is inferior is the hatred example, even if the product is ordinary.
If you or someone else is thinking about suicide, call or text 988 in the US. This article does not describe methods.
Nearby labels
Shocking content, including gore and profanity, is on the clickbait and misleading-design page. Exploiting a sensitive event, including price gouging of vital supplies and victim-blaming tied to that event, is sensitive-event advertising. Graphic sexual acts are sexually explicit content, which suspends the account with no warning. This derogatory policy warns at least 7 days. All of them sit under inappropriate content. Use the label in the account.
How to fix a disapproval
- Delete the hate, harassment, threat, or exploitation from the ad and the landing page. Do not replace it with a misspelling of the same attack.
- In Google Ads, edit the ad and save. Re-review typically takes 24–48 hours.
- Appeal only if the ad does not do what the examples describe and you believe the label is wrong.
Sources
Reviewed October 6, 2026. Policies change. This is not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is a gory image this policy?
Crime-scene photos, gore, and profanity, including a bleeped swear word, are shocking content. Dangerous or derogatory content is hatred, harassment, threats, and exploitation. An ad can fail both. Read the label in the account.
Does denying a tragedy count?
Yes. Google’s harassment examples include suggesting a tragic event did not happen, or that victims or their families are actors or complicit in a cover-up. Exploiting a current sensitive event with price gouging or disaster keywords is a different policy.
Does this suspend the account immediately?
No. The dangerous-or-derogatory page says a warning is issued at least 7 days before suspension. Re-review after an edit typically takes 24–48 hours.
Read the line before it runs
LaunchGuarding can scan ad copy for an attack on a person or group before the campaign is submitted.