Below, we've listed the most common reasons why accounts are disabled for invalid traffic or policy violations. This information aims to help you keep your account (including sites, YouTube channels, and/or apps) compliant with the AdSense programme policies. Note that this list covers the most common causes, but is not exhaustive.
Google works hard to maintain a healthy ads ecosystem for advertisers and publishers. As a publisher, you're responsible for ensuring that your inventory and traffic are high-quality inventory. If we determine that your account violates our policies and/or drives invalid traffic, it will impact your eligibility to participate in AdSense or other publisher products, and could result in your account being disabled.
On this page:
- Common reasons why AdSense accounts are disabled for invalid traffic
- Common reasons why AdSense accounts are disabled for policy violations
- Additional resources
Common reasons why AdSense accounts are disabled for invalid traffic
Clicking ads on your own site, YouTube channel or app- Publishers must not click on the ads on their site, YouTube channel or app, and must not artificially inflate the impressions or clicks that the ads receive, either through automated or manual means. For YouTube content creators, when viewing your videos, you must skip the ad so that advertiser costs are not artificially inflated unintentionally.
- If you'd like more information about one of the advertisers appearing on your site, type the URL of the ad directly into your browser's address bar.
- For AdMob publishers, use test ads (available for Android and iOS) to avoid generating invalid clicks on your ads.
- Publishers must not artificially inflate the impressions or clicks that the ads receive, either through automated or manual means. This includes testing on live ads.
- Don't encourage or ask your friends, family, co-workers, etc. to click your ads. If you have testers, ask them to avoid clicking on live ads.
- To test ads on YouTube channels, skip the ad so that advertiser costs are not artificially inflated unintentionally.
- To test ads on AdMob apps, use test ads (available for Android and iOS) to avoid generating invalid clicks.
- Publishers may not ask others to click their ads. This includes asking for users to support your site, YouTube channel, or app, offering rewards to users for clicking ads, and promising to raise money for third parties for such behaviour.
- Artificial impressions and clicks that are generated through automated means such as a bot or deceptive software, are prohibited. Automated traffic can be generated by a publisher, or can be received through purchased traffic. It’s important to review traffic sources before you decide to work with a traffic source. Be aware of programs that check links within your site, YouTube channel, or app, as they may click ad links as well.
- Publishers should not use third-party services that generate clicks or impressions such as paid-to-click, paid-to-surf, autosurf and click-exchange programmes.
- Manipulating the targeting of the ads to get higher revenue ads is prohibited. This includes using keywords in your site that aren't related to the content of your site to get irrelevant ads.
- Ads should not be placed within IFRAMEs. Besides being prohibited, improper implementations can cause reporting discrepancies, and you won't be able to know where the ads are actually showing.
- Publishers may not ask others to refresh or click their ads. This includes asking for users to support your site, YouTube channel or app, offering rewards to users for viewing ads or performing searches and promising to raise money for third parties for such behaviour.
- For AdMob, there are rewarded ads available through third-party mediation (for Android, iOS). Note that incentivised behaviour on regular AdMob ads is still prohibited.
- Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google Ads in any way. This includes, but isn't limited to:
- Implementing the ads in a way that they might be mistaken for other content, such as menu, navigation or download links.
- Modifying the ad size to be non-standard and invisible or hard to see for the user.
- placing ads too close to elements on the page or screen that require heavy mouse or touch interaction.
- Review our ad placement policies to learn about ad implementations that are considered deceptive.
- Publishers are not permitted to embed ads in software applications. This includes toolbars, desktop applications, browser extensions, etc. At times this can also include applications hosted through third-party sites when the implementation is leading to invalid clicks from users who don't intend to click on the ads, but do so accidentally. Publishers who choose to serve in mobile applications should do so only with the AdMob SDK.
Note: If your account has already been disabled for invalid traffic, visit AdSense account disabled for invalid activity for more information.
Common reasons why AdSense accounts are disabled for policy violations
Sexually explicit content- Publishers are not permitted to place Google Ads on content that promotes sexually explicit content. If your site has content which you wouldn't be comfortable viewing at work or with family members around, then it probably isn't an appropriate site to place Google Ads on. Learn more about the Google Publisher Policy for sexually explicit content.
- It’s important to be aware that any screens containing your ad code must comply with our publisher policies whether it’s your content or user-generated content. Learn more about Good strategies for managing user-generated content.
- Advertising and other paid promotional material added to your pages should not exceed publisher-content. Publisher-content includes images, videos, games, article text and user-generated content created or managed by the publisher, but it does not include whitespace, header or footer content or links to other content on the site. For more information, visit More ads or paid promotional material than publisher-content.
- Encouraging invalid clicks, that is, misleading labels, misleading to click, unnatural attention, deceptive layout:
- Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google Ads in any way. This includes implementing the ads in a way that they might be mistaken for other site content, such as menu, navigation or download links.
- Google ads may not be displayed on sites or apps with content that infringes copyright. Some examples of copyrighted content might include audio and video files, television shows, software, comics and literary works. When a site displays someone else's site within a frame or window on their own site, this is considered framing content. Placing Google Ads on such pages is strictly prohibited.
- Google ads may not be placed on any content that promotes or permits any form of illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others. This includes but is not limited to the production of false legal documents or sale of term papers or other materials that promote fraudulent activity, or sites that drive traffic to or provide instructions about manufacturing counterfeit or replica designer goods.
Note: If your account has already been disabled for policy reasons, visit AdSense account disabled for policy reasons for more information.
