Policy & compliance · also called Related search for content policies, RSOC rules
RSOC policies
RSOC policies are Google's rules for the related-search unit on content pages: real standalone content, honest search terms, honest upstream ads and a fully declared ad creative.
Related Search on Content lets a publisher place a block of related search terms on an article. A click on a term opens a results page with search ads. Because the user did not type the query, Google polices this unit more tightly than a plain search box.
The main requirements, in Google's help pages: the content page must have enough standalone value and not be thin or mostly ads; the unit must complement the content and not be placed deceptively; any terms a publisher suggests through the terms parameter must be relevant and are filtered by Google; and the ads that send visitors to the page must describe it truthfully, without promises the page cannot keep. From 1 November 2025, publishers must also pass the referrerAdCreative parameter, a word-for-word transcription of the upstream ad, whenever the traffic comes from a source they control.
Google also introduced Restricted Access Features. Trade press reported that from August 2025 new or restricted accounts were limited to one related-search block per page with at most five terms, with styling and reporting channels locked until the publisher proves good standing. Google's page says ten violations, or one egregious one, count as a strike.
An example
An article titled "How solar panel grants work" may carry related searches such as "solar installers near me". The same page fed by a Facebook ad promising "free solar panels for every homeowner" would break the rules, because the article cannot deliver that promise.
Related terms
Related Search on Content (RSOC)
Related Search on Content is a Google AdSense for Search feature that shows search suggestions on an article, each leading to an ad-carrying results page on the same site.
referrerAdCreative
referrerAdCreative is a Google AdSense for Search parameter in which a publisher must send the exact wording of the ad that brought a visitor to a related search page.
Terms parameter
The terms parameter is an optional field in a Google related search request where the publisher lists its own suggested search terms, separated by commas.
AFS program policies
AFS program policies are Google's rules for anyone showing its search ads on their own site, covering where queries come from, how ads are placed and what traffic is acceptable.
Misleading ad
A misleading ad promises or implies something the landing page does not deliver, tricking people into a click they would not otherwise have made.
Forced keywords
Forced keywords are search terms chosen by the publisher, not typed by the visitor, and passed to the search feed to shape which related searches or ads appear.
Sources: Google AdSense Help: Related search for your content pages, Google AdSense Help: AdSense for Search Product-Integrated Feature policies, Google AdSense Help: Policy violations in scope for Restricted Access Features (RAFs), Google AdSense Help: AdSense policy change log, Domain Name Wire: Google clamps down on RSOC as AdSense for Domains dies (November 2025), PPC Land: AdSense for Search tightens Referrer Ad Creative requirements