Provision record
YouTube Ads · YouTube Terms of Service · View original document ↗

Prohibition on Manipulating Engagement Metrics

High severity High confidence Explicit document language Common · 281 of 352 platforms

Key Facts

What does YouTube Ads prohibit users from causing or encouraging?
YouTube Ads prohibits users from causing or encouraging any inaccurate measurements of genuine user engagement with the Service, including by paying people or providing them with incentives to increase a video's views, likes, or dislikes.
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This analysis describes what YouTube 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

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This prohibition protects the integrity of engagement data that advertisers and creators rely on to make business and content decisions.

Clause Stability Stable

0
Changes
5
Months Monitored
Jul 10, 2026
First Seen
Jul 10, 2026
Last Seen
This clause type exists across 4244 other provisions on other platforms.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Users are prohibited from taking any action, including financial incentives, that would produce inaccurate measurements of genuine engagement on the Service.

How other platforms handle this

Tinder Medium

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...)

ActiveCampaign Medium

Bypass or ignore instructions contained in our robots.txt file that controls automated access to portions of our Services;

Mailchimp Medium

Send content created in Mailchimp through another service.

See all platforms with this clause type →
▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
cause or encourage any inaccurate measurements of genuine user engagement with the Service, including by paying people or providing them with incentives to increase a video's views, likes, or dislikes...

Excerpt from YouTube Ads's YouTube Terms of Service

Applicable regulations

CFAA
United States Federal
DMCA
United States Federal

Provision details

Document information
Document
YouTube Terms of Service
Entity
YouTube Ads
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 21, 2026
Last verified
May 21, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-022049
Document ID
CA-D-00069
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
29a35f30aec4fcdd01e0e440c99cf919acfeef49e92424061d5b45ab92271a6b
Analysis generated
May 21, 2026 06:32 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: YouTube Ads
Document: YouTube Terms of Service
Record ID: CA-P-022049
Captured: 2026-05-21 06:32:48 UTC
SHA-256: 29a35f30aec4fcdd…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/youtube-ads/youtube-terms-of-service/provision/CA-P-022049/prohibition-on-manipulating-engagement-metrics/
Accessed: Aug. 18, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does YouTube Ads's Prohibition on Manipulating Engagement Metrics clause do?

This prohibition protects the integrity of engagement data that advertisers and creators rely on to make business and content decisions.

How does this clause affect you?

Users are prohibited from taking any action, including financial incentives, that would produce inaccurate measurements of genuine engagement on the Service.

How many platforms have this type of clause?

ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 281 platforms. See the full comparison.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with YouTube Ads?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube Ads.