This analysis describes what Google Ads's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The clause covers all methods of artificial traffic generation under a single strict prohibition, and the non-exhaustive list signals that novel methods are also prohibited.
Advertisers and the ad ecosystem are protected because publishers may not use any technique to inflate click or impression counts on Google ads.
How other platforms handle this
You may not display any personal contact, banking, or peer-to-peer payment information, whether in relation to you or any other person (for example, names, home addresses or postcodes, telephone numbers, email addresses, URLs, credit/debit card...)
Bypass or ignore instructions contained in our robots.txt file that controls automated access to portions of our Services;
Send content created in Mailchimp through another service.
"Any method that artificially generates clicks or impressions on your Google ads is strictly prohibited. These prohibited methods include, but are not limited to, repeated manual clicks or impressions, automated click and impression generating tools and the use of robots or deceptive software.Excerpt from Google Ads's Google AdSense Program Policies
Get the research letter
Companies change their terms quietly. We read every version and catch what actually changed. One email a week on the changes that matter and what they mean.
The clause covers all methods of artificial traffic generation under a single strict prohibition, and the non-exhaustive list signals that novel methods are also prohibited.
Advertisers and the ad ecosystem are protected because publishers may not use any technique to inflate click or impression counts on Google ads.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 282 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google Ads.