Google Ads is replacing its child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) ad rules with a standalone Child Safety policy. Google posted the change on its Advertising Policies Help page on October 22, 2026, and enforcement of the new policy starts January 11, 2027.
What’s new
The old rule sat inside Google’s Inappropriate Content policy. The new Child Safety policy stands on its own and splits into two parts. Egregious Child Safety Violations cover anything that promotes or enables child sexual abuse or exploitation. Google says accounts are suspended on detection, without warning, and those advertisers can’t use Google Ads again unless Google reinstates the account after an appeal.
Other Child Safety Violations cover content that Google says isn’t necessarily illegal or harmful but could be misused. Its listed example is non-sexual images of child nudity. These cases don’t trigger an immediate suspension; Google says it will send a warning at least seven days before suspending an account. The policy applies to audio, text and images, including cartoon, simulated and AI-generated content.
Who it affects
The egregious part has nothing to do with legitimate businesses. The second part is where ordinary advertisers should look. Brands that sell baby and children’s products, family and newborn photographers, swim schools and kids’ clothing stores often use photos of young children in ads and on landing pages. Google says the policy covers ads, websites and other destinations, so a product page counts as much as the ad itself.
Our take
For most small businesses this changes nothing. If you advertise anything for babies or young kids, spend an hour before January going through your ad images, your Performance Max asset groups and the landing pages they point to, and swap out any image showing a child without clothing, even an innocent bath-time or beach shot. Google recommends removing in-scope ads before enforcement begins, and that’s cheaper than a warning in the middle of a sale. We covered another Google Ads policy deadline recently in our post on financial services verification.
If you’d like us to check your account and product pages, our PPC management and ecommerce teams can review them together.
