A high-quality, functional website is essential for participating in the Google Ad Grants program. Our website policies are designed to ensure that organizations provide a positive experience for users who click on their ads and that the website accurately reflects the nonprofit's mission. This guide provides detailed information and actionable steps to help you understand and meet these requirements.
Domain ownership
- Requirement: Your nonprofit must own the domain(s) your ads point to. "Own" means you have administrative control over the website's content, structure, and technical settings.
- Domain name clarification (.org vs. others): While many nonprofits use .org domains, it is not a strict requirement for Ad Grants. You can use other top-level domains (like .com, .ngo, .foundation, etc.) as long as your organization fully owns and controls the website hosted on that domain.
High-quality website experience
Your website needs to offer visitors significant value and be easy to use.
Substantial and unique content
Clear mission and activities
Easy navigation and functionality
Fast loading speed
Mobile-friendly design
Technical requirements
Secure connection (HTTPS)
- What it means: Your entire website must be served over HTTPS, providing a secure, encrypted connection.
- Common pitfalls: Not having an SSL certificate installed; having an expired SSL certificate; having "mixed content" errors (where the main page is HTTPS, but some elements like images or scripts load over HTTP).
- Action: Install an SSL certificate on your web server (many hosts offer free certificates). Ensure your website automatically redirects all HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
Content and website behavior restrictions
- Requirement: Your website must comply with Ad Grants policies regarding commercial activity, advertising, and prohibited content.
- What it means: Generally, your site should focus on your mission. Limited commercial activity (like an online store selling mission-related items) may be acceptable, but it shouldn't be the primary focus. Financial information must be clearly presented. Your site cannot host excessive third-party ads (e.g., Google AdSense) or primarily function to send traffic to other websites via affiliate links. Donation links must work and go to a secure page dedicated to donations.
- Action: Don't display AdSense ads on your website. Ensure your donation process is clear, secure (HTTPS), and functional.
Note: Any account found in violation of program policies is subject to automatic suspension without notification. Google reserves the right to grant or deny an organization's application or participation at any time, for any reason, and to supplement or amend these eligibility guidelines at any time.
Understanding website rejections
The review process checks for compliance across all these areas. If your application was rejected or your account suspended due to website issues, carefully review your site against all the points in this guide.
Here are some of the most common reasons websites fail to meet Ad Grants policy requirements:
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| Insufficient unique content | Website has very little original text; content is duplicated from elsewhere. |
| Unclear mission | Difficult for a visitor to quickly understand the nonprofit's purpose and activities. |
| Poor navigation / broken links | Website is hard to navigate, or contains multiple broken links or non-functional elements (especially donation buttons). |
| Slow load speed | Website performs poorly in tools like PageSpeed Insights, particularly on mobile. |
| Not secure (no HTTPS) | Website does not use HTTPS across all pages, or has mixed content warnings. |
| Disallowed commercial activity | Website has excessive advertising, a primary focus on sales unrelated to the mission, or broken/insecure donation links. |
| Poor mobile experience | Website performs poorly in Mobile-friendly tests and is difficult to use on mobile devices. |
Action after rejection: Use the list above as a checklist. Thoroughly audit your website against every requirement detailed in this guide. Utilize the recommended tools (PageSpeed Insights, Mobile-Friendly Test, Broken Link Checkers).
Requesting an additional domain
Your organization may use only website domains that have been approved through the Ad Grants activation process or through the additional website domain(s) request form. Your request will be reviewed within 10 business days.