What is referrerAdCreative?
referrerAdCreative is a parameter Google requires on related search pages. When a visitor arrives from an advert or link the publisher controls, the publisher must pass Google the exact, complete text of that advert. From 1 November 2025 leaving it out is a policy violation. It lets Google check that the advert, the page and the search terms agree.
Google describes the requirement as a literal transcription: headline, description, body, button text, words inside images and video, and spoken audio. Paraphrases and summaries do not satisfy it. The rule applies to traffic from sources under the publisher's control, including third-party networks and affiliates.
referrerAdCreative changes the economics of deception. Before it, a publisher could run a sensational advert and a bland page, and Google saw only the page. Now a misleading ad is sent to Google by the publisher's own code. Practically, teams need a reliable way to map every live creative to its text, usually through the tracker or the provider's tools, and to keep that mapping current during creative testing.