Starting on 25 August 2025, certain AdSense for Search features have limitations depending on an account's status within the search partners network. Accounts that maintain good standing may receive an invitation from their account manager to enable RAFs.
Which features are classified as RAFs?
- Related Search (RS) unit functionality
- Serving more than five suggested search terms
- Serving multiple units on a page
- Serving partner-provided terms
- Select RS unit style customisations
- Height and width styling settings
- Font settings
- Icon settings
- Access to more than 500 reporting channels
- Access to click-tracking permissions (new feature)
Find more details in the FAQs below.
Who is eligible?
To be given access to RAFs, accounts must:
- Have access to AdSense for Search in the AdSense interface.
- Work with their Google AdSense account manager to confirm/request access.
Strikes
The following events will result in a 'strike' and can affect an account’s RAF eligibility:
- Any five (5) RAF in-scope policy violations, or:
- Any single RAF in-scope policy violation that is deemed egregious
For more details on what policy violations are in-scope and how egregiousness is defined, visit Policy violations in scope for Restricted Access Features (RAFs).
Applying strikes
Qualified publisher receives their first strike
The account is demoted to 'Probation' for 90 days. Probation accounts retain access to RAFs. If another strike is received during this 90-day period, the account is demoted to 'Revoked'. Revoked accounts lose access to RAFs permanently.
If no additional strikes are received during this 90-day period, the account graduates back to 'Qualified' and RAFs are reinstated.
Qualified publisher receives their second strike in a two-year period
The account is demoted to 'Restricted' for 90 days. Restricted accounts do not have access to RAFs. If another strike is received during this 90-day period, the account is demoted to 'Revoked'. Revoked accounts lose access to RAFs permanently.
If no additional strikes are received during this 90-day period, the account graduates back to 'Qualified' and RAFs are reinstated.
Qualified publisher receives their third strike in a two-year period
The account is demoted to 'Revoked'. Revoked accounts lose access to RAFs permanently.
Expunging strikes
Strike incidents are documented for a two-year period following the most recent reported strike.
If no strikes are documented for two full years following the previous strike, all existing strikes are removed from the account and the account’s strike count is returned to zero. Note that accounts with a 'Revoked' RAF status are not eligible for strike removal.
FAQs
Which policy violations are in scope for RAF strikes?
For more information, visit Policy violations in scope for Restricted Access Features (RAFs).
How does Google classify an 'egregious' policy violation?
For more information, visit Policy violations in scope for Restricted Access Features (RAFs).
Where can I find my current RAF status?
Your RAF status will be available in AdSense at launch. If you have questions about your status, reach out to your account manager.
When RAFs are released on 25 August 2025, will past or existing policy violations be considered? Could an account start with a strike?
- Policy violations that are successfully appealed and removed from an account prior to 25 August 2025 will not be counted toward RAF status.
- On 25 August 2025, Google will review all AdSense for Search accounts. Any accounts with active policy violations could have their RAF status impacted.
- For example, if an account still has five or more active policy violations or one of those violations is classified as egregious, then that account would start with a strike and the RAF status would be 'Probation'.
Does the RAF eligibility criteria apply to all AFS accounts?
Yes.
Are strikes at the property-code level or the AdSense-account level?
Strikes are at the AdSense-account level.
How long are strikes documented? Do they ever expire?
Strike incidents are documented for a two-year duration following the most recent reported strike.
An account receives a strike and goes on 'Probation' status. One year later the account received another strike. Because the second strike was documented within two years of the last strike received, the account goes on 'Restricted' status. Two full years pass and no strikes are received, and so the account’s strikes are expunged (removed from the account’s record). Shortly after the strikes were expunged, the account received a new strike, but because the account has no strikes documented (they were removed at the two-year mark), the account will only be moved to 'Probation' status.
Can I appeal strikes?
- You cannot directly appeal a RAF strike. However, you can appeal the policy violations that contribute to your strike status through the standard appeal process in the Policy centre.
- If an appeal succeeds because Google confirms the policy violation did not happen, the associated violation will be removed from your RAF record. If this removal means that a strike was unwarranted, the strike will also be retracted and your account's RAF status will be updated.
- However, if an appeal is successful because the violation has been addressed (rather than disproven), your account's RAF strike status will not change.
- The same applies for egregious strikes.
Can my account manager appeal violations, strikes or account status on my behalf?
- No, Google Account Managers will not be able to appeal on behalf of publishers.
- Publishers can appeal individual policy violations through the standard appeal process in the Policy centre; strikes and account status cannot be appealed.
What will my related search unit look like if I don’t have 'Qualified' status?
'Probation'
- No impact. Probation accounts retain access to RAFs.
'Not qualified', 'Restricted' or 'Revoked'
- Related search unit functionality
- A maximum of five (5) suggested searches will be returned
- Only one (1) RS unit will be served per page
- Only terms generated by Google will be served
- Publisher customisations made in the AdSense style editor will be served as-is for:
- Template
- Background colour
- Link, unit, ad separator and font colours
- Font family
- Border radius
- Title of Unit Title
- Publisher customisations will be served as-is unless they do not comply with:
- Link container top and bottom margins (maximum 2px)
- Link container borders (maximum 1px)
- Ad separator height (maximum 1px)
- All other publisher customisations will be ignored in favour of the default style values for:
- Height and width styling settings (margin, padding, border and size settings)
- Font settings (size, height and emphasis)
- Icon settings
- Icon colours (will default to font colour)
- Column settings
If an account graduates to 'Qualified', they will have all Related Search controls reinstated.
How will my reporting channels be impacted if I don’t have 'Qualified' status?
'Probation'
- No impact. Probation accounts retain access to RAFs.
'Not qualified', 'Restricted' or 'Revoked'
- All existing channels will be removed from the account and 500 new channels will be issued.
- Google will name newly issued channels according to their number (1, 2 … 500).
If an account graduates to 'Qualified', they will have their original number of reporting channels re-issued.
What is click-tracking?
Publishers can use click tracking to monitor ad engagement. By including one or more URLs in the AFS tags, publishers can collect ad click data. This feature also allows publishers to track which specific ad block ID and/or position was clicked, enabling them to analyse ad performance through their own monitoring systems.
My account was moved to 'Revoked' status. How can I qualify for RAFs again? Can I re-apply for a new AdSense account later?
- Revoked accounts permanently lose access to RAFs and are no longer eligible for 'Qualified' status.
- Accounts with 'Revoked' status can still access and operate their AFS account, as their account is not terminated. However, operating more than one AdSense account per business entity is not permitted under the AdSense Terms.
I’m not sure why I received a policy violation. Can Google provide more information on specific policy violations?
No, we're unable to provide additional information on policy violations beyond what's shared in the Policy centre. Publishers are encouraged to review the AdSense programme policies and Policy violations in scope for Restricted Access Features (RAFs).
