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Policy & compliance quiz

Google's AFS and RSOC rules, traffic-source ad policies, the 2024 to 2025 shake-up, consent and consumer law, and the advertiser's point of view. Twelve questions on staying in business. advanced · 12 questions

Question 1 of 12Score 0

What must the referrerAdCreative parameter contain?

All questions with answers
  1. What must the referrerAdCreative parameter contain?
    Answer: The precise and complete text of the ad or link that sent the visitor, word for word. Google's rule is that the creative copy is passed verbatim and in its entirety through referrerAdCreative, and that covers text in images and video as well. A tidy summary or headline-only version is the trap: omitting parts counts as a violation.
  2. Under Google's Restricted Access Features system for AdSense for Search, in force since 25 August 2025, what happens on a third strike?
    Answer: Access to the restricted features is revoked permanently. As set out by Google, a first strike means 90 days of probation, a second means 90 days without the features, and a third removes them for good. Google's help page says any ten in-scope violations make one strike, and a single egregious one can be a strike on its own. See RSOC policies.
  3. Under the AFS policies, may a publisher pre-fill its search box with a keyword?
    Answer: No: search boxes may not be pre-populated with search terms. The AFS program policies say a query must reflect clear user intent, typed and submitted by the user without modification. A pre-filled box puts words in the user's mouth, which is a form of forcing keywords.
  4. A site offers visitors reward points for every search they run. How do the AFS policies treat this?
    Answer: It is a violation: users may not be compensated for searching or viewing ads. Paying or rewarding people to search creates incentivised activity: real humans with no real interest. "No cash value" is the tempting excuse, but any compensation breaks the rule.
  5. What did Google Ads change about parked domains from March 2025?
    Answer: It began opting advertiser accounts out of parked domains by default, so appearing there needs a deliberate opt-in. Before, advertisers were included unless they excluded parked domains. From 19 March 2025 the default flipped to opted out, which removed most demand from AdSense for Domains.
  6. When a traffic source such as Meta or Taboola reviews an ad, what does it look at?
    Answer: The ad and also the landing page it leads to. Ad review covers the post-click experience too: a clean ad pointing at a misleading or ad-stuffed page still fails. Believing that only the creative is checked is how many accounts collect an account ban.
  7. Google says the page a paid visitor lands on must be "substantially the same" as the page an organic visitor would see. What practice does this rule out?
    Answer: Showing different pages to different visitors or reviewers, known as cloaking. The rule targets cloaking: one version for reviewers or organic users, another for paid traffic. Channel IDs and translations are ordinary practice and are not affected.
  8. What does Google require before ads are personalised for visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland?
    Answer: The visitor's consent, collected through a consent management platform. Google's EU user consent policy, alongside GDPR, means publishers must gather consent with a consent management platform. Skipping it can limit or stop ad serving in those regions.
  9. What does consumer protection law such as the US FTC Act require of advertising?
    Answer: That it is not deceptive, and that paid content can be recognised as advertising. The FTC Act prohibits deceptive practices, and the regulator's guidance on native ad disclosure says people must be able to tell an ad is an ad. There is no pre-approval office: the duty is on the advertiser.
  10. What did Google add for advertisers in August 2025 to make its Search Partner Network more transparent?
    Answer: Full placement reporting: a list of the partner sites where ads appeared, with impressions for each. Advertisers in Search, Shopping and App campaigns can now see which search partner network sites showed their ads and then apply a placement exclusion. The report lists impressions per site, not cost or conversions per site.
  11. A publisher suggests its own related search terms through the terms parameter. Which approach does Google's policy allow?
    Answer: Terms that are relevant to the page's content. Partner-provided terms through the terms parameter must be relevant and based on the content. Picking terms to chase expensive ads, or to target people by demographics, is specifically ruled out. Google may also ignore the suggestions.
  12. An ad image shows a video "play" button, but clicking it opens a text article with no video. What is the problem?
    Answer: It implies a function that does not exist, which misleads the user. This is implied functionality: the creative pretends to be something clickable that it is not. Ad platforms treat it as misleading, and under Google's rule the ad would also not accurately represent the destination. It has nothing to do with trademarks.