Google will be updating its Other restricted businesses: Government documents and services policy on October 5, 2026. There are a lot of changes coming to this policy, so if you are in the business that promote direct acquisition of government documents and services, then read on.
Google wrote:
Authorized providers may run ads that promote direct acquisition of government documents and services. An authorized provider is an advertiser that has been given explicit permission by a government to provide a specific government document or service. In order to qualify as an authorized provider who may run ads under the Government documents and services policy, you must comply with the following criteria:
a) your domain must be linked from an official, publicly accessible government website and explicitly referenced as authorized by the relevant government entity responsible for a document or service to provide that specific government document or service.
Examples of valid government authorization may include (non-exhaustive):
- Government-managed directories of accredited commercial partners who have been vetted to manage application filing and document retrieval
- Official regulatory portals designed to help the public identify qualified specialists who are sanctioned by the government to handle complex administrative and compliance processes
Google will not accept the following examples as a valid form of government authorization (non-exhaustive):
- Commercial contracts;
- Business/trade licenses;
- Registrations or entries on business registries, irrespective of whether they are government-managed;
- Articles or blog posts, even if they are hosted on websites owned by the government
b) your domain must promote only the specific document or service corresponding to the government’s authorization(s);
c) your ads must exclusively target the geographic region(s) matching the government’s authorization, with the exception of categories of government documents and services that are inherently transnational, such as:
- Electronic travel visas and authorizations
- Border entrance travel documents
- U.S.-based Trusted Traveler programs
Please note: In addition to the criteria outlined above, you are required to maintain compliance with all other Google Advertising policies, such as the Misleading representation policy.
Google reserves the right to deny or revoke your certification at any time if your domain violates any of Google’s policies.
Google will begin enforcing the policy update on October 5, 2026.
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