Report March 2025

Submitted

Your organisation description

Advertising

Commitment 1

Relevant signatories participating in ad placements commit to defund the dissemination of disinformation, and improve the policies and systems which determine the eligibility of content to be monetised, the controls for monetisation and ad placement, and the data to report on the accuracy and effectiveness of controls and services around ad placements.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 1.1 Measure 1.2 Measure 1.3 Measure 1.5 Measure 1.6

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

If yes, list these implementation measures here

N/A

Do you plan to put further implementation measures in place in the next 6 months to substantially improve the maturity of the implementation of this commitment?

If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?

N/A

Measure 1.3

Relevant Signatories responsible for the selling of advertising, inclusive of publishers, media platforms, and ad tech companies, will take commercial and technically feasible steps, including support for relevant third-party approaches, to give advertising buyers transparency on the placement of their advertising.

QRE 1.3.1

Signatories will report on the controls and transparency they provide to advertising buyers with regards to the placement of their ads as it relates to Measure 1.3.

Google sets a high bar for information quality on services that involve advertising and content monetisation. Given that many bad actors may seek to make money by spreading harmful content, raising the bar for monetisation can also diminish their incentives to misuse Google services. For example, Google prohibits deceptive behaviour on Google advertising products.

Google Ads also provides advertisers with additional controls and helps them exclude types of content that, while in compliance with AdSense policies, may not fit their brand or business. These controls let advertisers apply content filters or exclude certain types of content or terms from their video, display, and search ad campaigns. Advertisers can exclude content such as politics, news, sports, beauty, fashion and many other categories. These categories are listed in the Google Ads Help Centre.

Measure 1.5

Relevant Signatories involved in the reporting of monetisation activities inclusive of media platforms, ad networks, and ad verification companies will take the necessary steps to give industry-recognised relevant independent third-party auditors commercially appropriate and fair access to their services and data in order to: - First, confirm the accuracy of first party reporting relative to monetisation and Disinformation, seeking alignment with regular audits performed under the DSA. - Second, accreditation services should assess the effectiveness of media platforms' policy enforcement, including Disinformation policies.

QRE 1.5.1

Signatories that produce first party reporting will report on the access provided to independent third-party auditors as outlined in Measure 1.5 and will link to public reports and results from such auditors, such as MRC Content Level Brand Safety Accreditation, TAG Brand Safety certifications, or other similarly recognised industry accepted certifications.

Google partakes in audits including those conducted by independent accreditation organisations such as the Media Rating Council (MRC) and maintains this accreditation via participation in annual audit cycles conducted by the MRC.

The current MRC accreditation certifies that:

Google's Google Ads display and Search Clicks measurement methodology and AdSense ad serving technologies adhere to the industry standards for click measurement.
Google Ads video impression and video viewability measurement as reported in the Video Viewability Report adheres to the industry standards for video impression and viewability measurement.
The processes supporting these technologies are accurate. This applies to Google’s measurement technology which is used across all device types: desktop, mobile, and tablet, in both browser and mobile apps environments.

For more information about what this accreditation means, please see this help page.

QRE 1.5.2

Signatories that conduct independent accreditation via audits will disclose areas of their accreditation that have been updated to reflect needs in Measure 1.5.

See response to QRE 1.5.1.

Measure 1.6

Relevant Signatories will advance the development, improve the availability, and take practical steps to advance the use of brand safety tools and partnerships, with the following goals: - To the degree commercially viable, relevant Signatories will provide options to integrate information and analysis from source-raters, services that provide indicators of trustworthiness, fact-checkers, researchers or other relevant stakeholders providing information e.g., on the sources of Disinformation campaigns to help inform decisions on ad placement by ad buyers, namely advertisers and their agencies. - Advertisers, agencies, ad tech companies, and media platforms and publishers will take effective and reasonable steps to integrate the use of brand safety tools throughout the media planning, buying and reporting process, to avoid the placement of their advertising next to Disinformation content and/or in places or sources that repeatedly publish Disinformation. - Brand safety tool providers and rating services who categorise content and domains will provide reasonable transparency about the processes they use, insofar that they do not release commercially sensitive information or divulge trade secrets, and that they establish a mechanism for customer feedback and appeal.

QRE 1.6.1

Signatories that place ads will report on the options they provide for integration of information, indicators and analysis from source raters, services that provide indicators of trustworthiness, fact-checkers, researchers, or other relevant stakeholders providing information e.g. on the sources of Disinformation campaigns to help inform decisions on ad placement by buyers.

Note: The below QRE response has been reproduced (in some instances truncated in order to meet the suggested character limit) from the previous report as there is no new information to share now.

Google Ads also provides its advertising partners with features that enable them to maintain control over where their ads appear, the format in which their ads run, and their intended audience.

Since April 2021, advertisers have the ability to use dynamic exclusion lists that can be updated seamlessly and continuously over time. These lists can be created by advertisers themselves or by a third party they trust, such as brand safety organisations and industry groups. Once advertisers upload a dynamic exclusion list to their Google Ads account, they can schedule automatic updates as new web pages or domains are added, ensuring that their exclusion lists remain effective and up-to-date.

QRE 1.6.2

Signatories that purchase ads will outline the steps they have taken to integrate the use of brand safety tools in their advertising and media operations, disclosing what percentage of their media investment is protected by such services.

Not relevant for Google Ads (intended for Signatories that purchase ads).

QRE 1.6.3

Signatories that provide brand safety tools will outline how they are ensuring transparency and appealability about their processes and outcomes.

Not relevant for Google Ads (intended for Signatories that provide brand safety tools).

QRE 1.6.4

Relevant Signatories that rate sources to determine if they persistently publish Disinformation shall provide reasonable information on the criteria under which websites are rated, make public the assessment of the relevant criteria relating to Disinformation, operate in an apolitical manner and give publishers the right to reply before ratings are published.

Not relevant for Google Ads (intended for Signatories that rate sources).

SLI 1.6.1

Not relevant for Google Ads (intended for Signatories that purchase ads).

Commitment 2

Relevant Signatories participating in advertising commit to prevent the misuse of advertising systems to disseminate Disinformation in the form of advertising messages.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 2.1 Measure 2.2 Measure 2.3 Measure 2.4

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

Yes

If yes, list these implementation measures here

In July 2024, Google updated the Disclosure requirements for synthetic content under the Political Content Policy, requiring advertisers to disclose election ads that contain synthetic or digitally altered content that inauthentically depicts real or realistic-looking people or events by selecting the checkbox in the ‘Altered or synthetic content’ section in their campaign settings. Google will then generate an in-ad disclosure based on that checkbox, for certain types of formats.
After joining the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), a cross-industry effort to help provide more transparency and context for people on AI-generated content, in February 2024, Google recently announced that it had begun integrating C2PA metadata into their ads systems. Google aims to use CP2A signals to inform how it enforces key policies.

Do you plan to put further implementation measures in place in the next 6 months to substantially improve the maturity of the implementation of this commitment?

If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?

N/A

Measure 2.2

Relevant Signatories will develop tools, methods, or partnerships, which may include reference to independent information sources both public and proprietary (for instance partnerships with fact-checking or source rating organisations, or services providing indicators of trustworthiness, or proprietary methods developed internally) to identify content and sources as distributing harmful Disinformation, to identify and take action on ads and promoted content that violate advertising policies regarding Disinformation mentioned in Measure 2.1.

QRE 2.2.1

Signatories will describe the tools, methods, or partnerships they use to identify content and sources that contravene policies mentioned in Measure 2.1 - while being mindful of not disclosing information that'd make it easier for malicious actors to circumvent these tools, methods, or partnerships. Signatories will specify the independent information sources involved in these tools, methods, or partnerships.

Note: The below QRE response has been reproduced (in some instances truncated in order to meet the suggested character limit) from the previous report as there is no new information to share now.

All newly created ads and ads that are edited by users are reviewed for policy violations. The review of new ads is performed by either, or a combination of:

Automated mechanisms; and
Manual reviews performed by human reviewers.

For more information on how the ad review process works, please see the ‘About the ad review process’ page.

Measure 2.3

Relevant Signatories will adapt their current ad verification and review systems as appropriate and commercially feasible, with the aim of preventing ads placed through or on their services that do not comply with their advertising policies in respect of Disinformation to be inclusive of advertising message, promoted content, and site landing page.

QRE 2.3.1

Signatories will describe the systems and procedures they use to ensure that ads placed through their services comply with their advertising policies as described in Measure 2.1.

See response to QRE 2.2.1.

SLI 2.3.1

Signatories will report quantitatively, at the Member State level, on the ads removed or prohibited from their services using procedures outlined in Measure 2.3. In the event of ads successfully removed, parties should report on the reach of violatory content and advertising.

Number of own-initiative actions taken on advertisements that affect the availability, visibility, and accessibility of information provided by recipients of Google Ads services, by EEA Member State billing country and policy in H2 2024 (1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024). These actions taken include enforcement against ads and ad assets that violate any of the policy topics in scope for reporting.

Content moderation actions taken at Google’s ‘own initiative’ are considered to be actions taken on content shown to or because the content violates Google Ads policies, or where the content is illegal but action is not taken in response to an Article 9 order or Article 16 notice, as defined by the Digital Services Act (DSA). These can encompass both proactive and reactive enforcement actions. Proactive enforcement takes place when Google employees, algorithms, or contractors flag potentially policy-violating content. Reactive enforcement takes place in response to external notifications, such as user policy flags or legal complaints.

To ensure a safe and positive experience for users, Google requires that advertisers comply with all applicable laws and regulations in addition to the Google Ads policies. Ads, assets, destinations, and other content that violates Google Ads policies can be blocked on the Google Ads platform and associated networks.

Ad or asset disapproval

Ads and assets that do not follow Google Ads policies will be disapproved. A disapproved ad will not be able to run until the policy violation is fixed and the ad is reviewed.

Account suspension

Google Ads Accounts may be suspended if Google finds violations of its policies or the Terms and Conditions.

For more information on what happens when an ad or account is violating Google Ads policies, please see the 'What happens if you violate our policies' page.

Policies in scope:

Destination Requirements (Insufficient Original Content);
Inappropriate Content (Dangerous or Derogatory Content, Shocking Content, Sensitive Events);
Misrepresentation (Unacceptable Business Practices, Coordinated Deceptive Practices, Misleading Representation, Manipulated Media, Unreliable Claims, Misleading Ad Design, Clickbait Ads, Unclear Relevance, Unavailable Offers, Dishonest Pricing Practices).

Country	Number of actions taken, for Destination Requirements	Number of actions taken, for Inappropriate Content	Number of actions taken, for Misrepresentation
Austria	7,422,101	60,174	66,717
Belgium	12,660,562	59,045	116,586
Bulgaria	6,971,115	88,399	155,851
Croatia	2,727,827	34,436	37,895
Cyprus	52,668,089	113,444	963,259
Czech Republic	22,154,687	309,514	219,848
Denmark	156,943,475	136,645	395,612
Estonia	2,021,982	16,377	108,880
Finland	2,956,655	43,135	60,524
France	196,126,998	540,361	2,367,010
Germany	131,475,890	955,572	2,443,336
Greece	2,720,410	30,688	135,403
Hungary	4,030,059	87,838	138,459
Ireland	40,613,267	1,040,422	25,643,951
Italy	55,368,074	328,135	2,220,113
Latvia	1,961,748	49,753	127,796
Lithuania	7,357,129	149,638	198,308
Luxembourg	1,904,111	48,285	639,716
Malta	2,342,282	3,807	153,093
Netherlands	75,660,484	540,200	1,733,070
Poland	19,165,056	714,955	2,112,907
Portugal	2,438,751	44,576	183,139
Romania	5,415,231	118,864	343,813
Slovakia	3,671,184	32,633	101,007
Slovenia	5,550,505	28,316	53,231
Spain	107,768,933	380,582	5,457,434
Sweden	19,021,742	343,419	248,193
Iceland	90,480	1,296	25,059
Liechtenstein	1,220,132	322	1,442
Norway	3,432,920	18,154	128,489
Total EU	949,118,347	6,299,213	46,425,151
Total EEA	953,861,879	6,318,985	46,580,141

Measure 2.4

Relevant Signatories will provide relevant information to advertisers about which advertising policies have been violated when they reject or remove ads violating policies described in Measure 2.1 above or disable advertising accounts in application of these policies and clarify their procedures for appeal.

QRE 2.4.1

Signatories will describe how they provide information to advertisers about advertising policies they have violated and how advertisers can appeal these policies.

Note: The below QRE response has been reproduced (in some instances truncated in order to meet the suggested character limit) from the previous report as there is no new information to share now.

Notification

Ads that do not follow Google Ads policies will be disapproved or (if appropriate) limited in where and when they can show. This will be shown in the ‘Status’ column as ‘Disapproved’ or ‘Eligible (limited),’ and the ad may not be able to run until the policy violation is fixed and the ad is re-reviewed. By hovering the cursor over the status of the ad, there is additional information, including the policy violation impacting the ad. For more information on how to fix a disapproved ad, see the external Help Centre page.

Appeal process

Advertisers have multiple options and pathways to appeal a policy decision directly from their Google Ads account, for instance the 'ads and assets' table, the Policy Manager, or the Disapproved Ads and Policy Questions form. For more information about the appeal process, check the Help Centre page. For account suspensions, advertisers can also appeal following the submit an appeal process.

SLI 2.4.1

Signatories will report quantitatively, at the Member State level, on the number of appeals per their standard procedures they received from advertisers on the application of their policies and on the proportion of these appeals that led to a change of the initial policy decision.

Number of content moderation complaints received from advertisers located in EEA Member States during H2 2024 (1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024), broken down by EEA Member State and by complaint outcome. Advertiser complaints were received via Google Ads standardised path for appealing policy decisions.

Complaint outcomes include initial decision upheld and initial decision reversed. An ‘initial decision’ refers to the first enforcement of Google’s terms of service or product policies. These decisions may be reversed in light of additional information provided by the appellant as part of an appeal or additional automatic, manual review of the content.

Policies in scope:

D estination Requirements (Insufficient Original Content);
Inappropriate Content (Dangerous or Derogatory Content, Shocking Content, Sensitive Events);
Misrepresentation (Unacceptable Business Practices, Coordinated Deceptive Practices, Misleading Representation, Manipulated Media, Unreliable Claims, Misleading Ad Design, Clickbait Ads, Unclear Relevance, Unavailable Offers, Dishonest Pricing Practices).

Country	Number of Ads Appeals	Number of Successful Appeals	Number of Failed Appeals
Austria	14,234	4,207	10,027
Belgium	18,261	10,279	7,982
Bulgaria	15,513	4,350	11,163
Croatia	5,071	2,472	2,599
Cyprus	113,836	39,665	74,171
Czech Republic	46,001	9,706	36,295
Denmark	48,601	32,199	16,402
Estonia	14,257	6,882	7,375
Finland	4,739	2,199	2,540
France	66,428	20,094	46,334
Germany	200,343	47,937	152,406
Greece	3,758	1,407	2,351
Hungary	15,212	5,850	9,362
Ireland	23,656	13,854	9,802
Italy	93,382	32,128	61,254
Latvia	5,108	1,555	3,553
Lithuania	55,362	23,029	32,333
Luxembourg	1,215	440	775
Malta	31,292	8,573	22,719
Netherlands	323,775	137,084	186,691
Poland	141,849	37,149	104,700
Portugal	14,029	5,704	8,325
Romania	34,736	13,454	21,282
Slovakia	8,169	6,016	2,153
Slovenia	32,944	9,524	23,420
Spain	130,730	36,745	93,985
Sweden	39,057	12,096	26,961
Iceland	68	22	46
Liechtenstein	1,748	248	1,500
Norway	3,172	1,127	2,045
Total EU	1,501,558	524,598	976,960
Total EEA	1,506,546	525,995	980,551

Commitment 3

Relevant Signatories involved in buying, selling and placing digital advertising commit to exchange best practices and strengthen cooperation with relevant players, expanding to organisations active in the online monetisation value chain, such as online e-payment services, e-commerce platforms and relevant crowd-funding/donation systems, with the aim to increase the effectiveness of scrutiny of ad placements on their own services.

We signed up to the following measures of this commitment

Measure 3.1 Measure 3.2 Measure 3.3

In line with this commitment, did you deploy new implementation measures (e.g. changes to your terms of service, new tools, new policies, etc)?

If yes, list these implementation measures here

N/A

Do you plan to put further implementation measures in place in the next 6 months to substantially improve the maturity of the implementation of this commitment?

If yes, which further implementation measures do you plan to put in place in the next 6 months?

N/A

Measure 3.1

Relevant Signatories will cooperate with platforms, advertising supply chain players, source-rating services, services that provide indicators of trustworthiness, fact-checking organisations, advertisers and any other actors active in the online monetisation value chain, to facilitate the integration and flow of information, in particular information relevant for tackling purveyors of harmful Disinformation, in full respect of all relevant data protection rules and confidentiality agreements.

QRE 3.1.1

Signatories will outline how they work with others across industry and civil society to facilitate the flow of information that may be relevant for tackling purveyors of harmful Disinformation.

Google Advertising works across industry and with civil society to facilitate the flow of information, relevant to tackling disinformation. For example, Google participates in the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation Permanent Task-force’s dedicated Working Groups. These working groups focus on Integrity of Services, Crisis Response, and Advertising, all of which Google takes part in, and which involve civil society and Industry Signatories discussing relevant trends and technological developments.

Measure 3.2

Relevant Signatories will exchange among themselves information on Disinformation trends and TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures), via the Code Task-force, GARM, IAB Europe, or other relevant fora. This will include sharing insights on new techniques or threats observed by Relevant Signatories, discussing case studies, and other means of improving capabilities and steps to help remove Disinformation across the advertising supply chain - potentially including real-time technical capabilities.

QRE 3.2.1

Signatories will report on their discussions within fora mentioned in Measure 3.2, being mindful of not disclosing information that is confidential and/or that may be used by malicious actors to circumvent the defences set by Signatories and others across the advertising supply chain. This could include, for instance, information about the fora Signatories engaged in; about the kinds of information they shared; and about the learnings they derived from these exchanges.

Note: The below QRE response has been reproduced (in some instances truncated in order to meet the suggested character limit) from the previous report as there is no new information to share now.

Google takes part in the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation Permanent Task-force’s Working Groups on Crisis Response, Integrity of Services, and Advertising - as mentioned in response to QRE 3.1.1. In addition, as Google has publicly communicated, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) continues to engage with other Industry Signatories to the Code in order to stay abreast of cross-platform deceptive practices, such as operations leveraging fake or impersonated accounts.

Measure 3.3

Relevant Signatories will integrate the work of or collaborate with relevant third-party organisations, such as independent source-rating services, services that provide indicators of trustworthiness, fact-checkers, researchers, or open-source investigators, in order to reduce monetisation of Disinformation and avoid the dissemination of advertising containing Disinformation.

QRE 3.3.1

Signatories will report on the collaborations and integrations relevant to their work with organisations mentioned.

Google Advertising frequently engages with third-party organisations in order to explain, collect feedback on, and improve Google Advertising policies. Google Advertising has also exchanged views with experts at numerous policy roundtables, conferences, and workshops - both in Brussels and in the EU capitals.

Please also see QRE 3.1.1 for additional information on the collaboration with third party organisations and government entities.