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Policy or violation?

Fourteen real-world situations judged against Google's AFS and RSOC rules and the ad policies of traffic sources. Some are fine. Decide which, and why. advanced · 14 questions

Question 1 of 14Score 0

A Facebook ad says "Seniors: the government will pay off your mortgage, claim today". It leads to an article about refinancing with a related search unit. Compliant?

All questions with answers
  1. A Facebook ad says "Seniors: the government will pay off your mortgage, claim today". It leads to an article about refinancing with a related search unit. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: the ad promises an offer that is not available on the destination page. Google's rules for traffic to related search pages say the source must not promise offers that are unavailable on the page or make false claims; its own example is a promise to forgive loans. A loosely related topic does not rescue a misleading ad.
  2. A publisher's search box appears already filled in with "cheap car insurance". Compliant with AFS?
    Answer: Violation: search boxes may not be pre-populated with search terms. The AFS program policies require the query to come from the user, typed and submitted without modification. "They could change it" is the trap: most people will not, so the publisher has in effect chosen the query.
  3. An ad reads "Compare 2026 SUV lease deals". It opens an article comparing SUV lease options, with a related search unit beside the content, and the full ad text is passed in referrerAdCreative. Compliant?
    Answer: Compliant: the ad matches the page, the page has real content, and the creative is passed in full. This is the compliant route under the RSOC policies: honest creative, a page with standalone value and accurate parameters. Paid traffic to related search pages is allowed when the acquiring-traffic rules are followed.
  4. A publisher passes only the ad's headline in referrerAdCreative, leaving out the text shown in the image and on the button. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: the creative text must be complete, including wording inside images and buttons. Since 1 November 2025 the referrerAdCreative value must be the precise and complete text of the creative, which Google's guidance extends to text in images, video and audio. The parameter is required for traffic sources under the publisher's control.
  5. Above its ads, a page prints "Please click a link below to support our site" with arrows pointing at them. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: publishers may not encourage users to click ads. Asking for clicks or drawing attention to ads with arrows creates clicks without interest, a long-standing AdSense rule and a form of induced clicking. Politeness and font size make no difference.
  6. A site awards loyalty points each time a member runs a search on its AFS search box. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: users may not be compensated for performing searches or viewing ads. The AFS program policies bar compensating users for searches. Rewards manufacture queries and produce incentivised traffic that advertisers pay for. There is no small-reward or daily-limit exception.
  7. Visitors arriving from a paid ad see the same full article and the same related search unit as visitors arriving from organic search. Compliant?
    Answer: Compliant: the destination is substantially the same as the organic page. Google requires that a paid visitor's destination be substantially the same as what an organic visitor would get. Serving everyone the same page is exactly what the rule asks for.
  8. Paid visitors are sent to a stripped-down version with a headline and a related search unit, while organic visitors get the full article. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: the paid version is not substantially the same as the organic page and lacks standalone content. Two rules are broken: the page must match the organic version, and a related search page needs enough content of its own, not more ads than content. A matching URL or headline does not cure a Made-for-arbitrage page.
  9. A visitor clicks the related term "flower bouquet delivery". The publisher sends the query to the feed as "flowers" because it earns more. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: the search term sent must be exactly what the user indicated. Google's policy says the term must not be altered, and uses a flower example of this very kind. Changing the query for revenue is query fraud in miniature, however similar the words look.
  10. A publisher uses the terms parameter to suggest related searches drawn from the subject of the article. Compliant?
    Answer: Compliant: suggesting relevant, content-based terms is allowed, though Google may not use them. The terms parameter exists for this, provided the terms are relevant to the content and referrerAdCreative is supplied alongside. Relevance is the test, and Google keeps the final say on what is shown.
  11. On a recipe article, a publisher supplies related search terms about injury lawyers and insurance claims because those ads pay the most. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: suggested terms must be relevant, not chosen to target high cost-per-click ads. Google's rules on partner-provided terms say they must target relevant queries, not expensive ones. Irrelevant, high-paying terms are forced keywords and a fast route to strikes.
  12. A developer builds AFS ad code into a browser extension so that ads appear on every new tab. Compliant?
    Answer: Violation: AFS code may not be integrated into software such as toolbars and browser extensions. The AFS program policies keep the code on web pages and out of software. Extension-based search monetisation needs its own agreements, and without them it drifts towards search hijacking.
  13. A social ad's image shows a video player with a "play" button. Clicking it opens a text article with no video. Compliant with the traffic source's ad rules?
    Answer: Violation: the creative shows functionality that does not exist, which misleads users. Fake buttons are implied functionality, treated as misleading by major ad platforms. It would also fail Google's requirement that the traffic source accurately represent the destination page.
  14. A publisher places two AFS search boxes on one page: one in the header and one below the article. Compliant?
    Answer: Compliant: the AFS policies allow up to two search boxes per page. The AFS program policies set a maximum of two search boxes per page, so this is fine as long as neither is pre-populated. Not every unusual-looking layout is a violation: knowing the actual limit matters. See search box monetisation.