Google Ads splits Child Safety policy into two tiers, enforcement from 11 January 2027

Google posted a notice in its Advertising Policies Help Center on 22 October 2026 saying that in January 2027 the "Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation" (CSAE) ads policy will be renamed "Child Safety", pulled out of the Inappropriate Content policy as a standalone policy, and split into two labels with different penalties: "Egregious Child Safety Violations", which carry permanent suspension on detection without warning, and "Other Child Safety Violations", which get a warning at least 7 days before any suspension. Enforcement of the new policy starts on 11 January 2027. The notice applies to every Google Ads account, including Thai advertisers, and it contains no country-specific exception.

What Google changed in the Child Safety ads policy

The notice, titled "Update to the 'Inappropriate Content: Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation' (CSAE) policy (January 2027)", opens with one sentence of intent: "In January 2027, we will update language in the 'Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation' (CSAE) ads policy as part of a redesign of the policy, and to improve protections, clarity and transparency." Three structural changes follow.

• The policy header becomes "Child Safety".
• The policy "will be restructured as a standalone policy, outside of the Inappropriate Content Policy". Today it sits as a sub-section of Inappropriate Content.
• "A broad spectrum of related violations will be incorporated within the policy, across two expansive policy labels." Those labels are the two tiers described below.

The definition of a minor does not move. Google restates that it prohibits content that "harms, exploits, or endangers minors (anyone under 18)". The published future text keeps the format coverage already in the current CSAE policy: the protections "cover all content formats including audio, text, and visual media such as imagery and videos, whether real, fictional, simulated, cartoon, AI-generated, or photoshopped." The words "AI-generated" and "photoshopped" are in the policy text itself, so synthetic imagery is explicitly in scope.

Tier 1: Egregious Child Safety Violations

The first label, "Egregious Child Safety Violations", is the part of the policy that most closely resembles the existing CSAE rule. Google writes: "We do not allow any content that promotes or facilitates child sexual abuse or exploitation (CSAE)." The notice gives seven examples and labels the list "non-exhaustive":

1. Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
2. Offering, advertising, or soliciting CSAM
3. Instructions on how to create CSAM or how to abuse, groom or sexually extort a child
4. Content that sexualizes minors, or that promotes, encourages or glorifies child sexual abuse and exploitation
5. Grooming a child for sexual purposes
6. Sextortion
7. Trafficking of a child

The penalty paragraph is the same wording used in the current CSAE policy. "If we find violations of this policy, your Google Ads accounts will be suspended. This suspension occurs upon detection and without prior warning. You will not be allowed to advertise with Google Ads again." Note the plural "accounts"; the notice does not say which linked accounts are covered. Google also says it "may review information from multiple sources including your ad, website, accounts, and third-party sources" when deciding whether an advertiser or destination violates the policy, which means a landing page or a connected account can trigger action even when the ad creative itself is clean.

An appeal path exists but is framed narrowly: "Accounts are only reinstated in compelling circumstances, and when there is good reason so it's important that you take the time to be thorough, accurate, and honest."

Tier 2: Other Child Safety Violations

The second label is the genuinely new part for ordinary advertisers. "Other Child Safety Violations" covers content "that, while maybe not inherently illegal or harmful, has a heightened vulnerability to being misused or repurposed for sexually exploitative purposes." The notice gives exactly one example, again marked non-exhaustive: "Non-sexual depictions of child nudity".

The penalty is different in kind. "Violations of this policy won't lead to immediate account suspension without prior warning. A warning will be issued at least 7 days prior to any suspension of your account." In practice this creates a tier where an advertiser receives notice and a window to fix the ad before losing the account, which the egregious tier does not offer.

For anyone adding Google Ads child safety policy compliance to a creative checklist, this is the tier that matters. The egregious tier describes material no legitimate business produces. The second tier describes material a legitimate business might produce without thinking about it, such as a bath-time product shot, a swimwear catalogue, a newborn photography portfolio or a paediatric clinic page. The source does not list any of those; it lists only child nudity. But the stated test is vulnerability to misuse, not intent, so advertisers in those categories should read their own assets against it.

Timeline: what happens when

The table below collects the dates and penalties stated in the Google notice.

By Relevant Audience's count (Google does not state a figure), advertisers have 81 days from the posting date to review creatives before 11 January 2027. Google's instruction is direct: "Review this policy update to determine whether or not any of your ads fall in scope of the policy, and if so, remove those ads before this date."

What the notice does not say

Several questions a compliance lead would ask are left open.

• No side-by-side with the current policy. The notice publishes the future text but does not mark what is added, removed or reworded relative to the CSAE policy in force today. Advertisers who want a diff will have to compare the two pages themselves.
• Only Google Ads is named. The penalty text refers to "your Google Ads accounts". The current CSAE policy page states that "Display & Video 360 users must comply with this Google Ads policy"; the January 2027 notice does not say whether that carries over.
• One example for the second tier. "Non-sexual depictions of child nudity" is the only illustration of "Other Child Safety Violations". The notice does not say whether swimwear, underwear, medical, or artistic depictions of minors fall in or out.
• No statement on re-review of running ads. The notice tells advertisers to remove in-scope ads before 11 January 2027 but does not say whether Google will proactively re-review already-approved ads on that date.
• No country carve-out. There is no mention of regional variation. The English version of the Help Center is, per Google's standing note at the top of the page, "the official language used to enforce Google Ads policies".
• No reporting mechanism described. The notice does not mention reporting to child-protection organisations or law enforcement. It focuses on advertiser-side penalties. The current CSAE page says action "may also include reporting to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children"; that line is absent from the January 2027 text.

Background: CSAI to CSAE to Child Safety

This is the second rename in just over a year. Google posted a notice on 19 August 2025 saying the policy header would change from "Child Sexual Abuse Imagery" (CSAI) to "Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation" (CSAE) in October 2025, and that from 22 October 2025 violations would be considered egregious. Google said the CSAE name gave advertisers transparency about "the policy's comprehensive scope, which covers various forms of abuse and exploitation". The October 2026 notice drops the abuse-specific title altogether in favour of "Child Safety". The January 2027 notice does not reference the 2025 rename.

What this means for Thai marketers

The policy is global and Thai accounts are covered on the same terms and the same date as everyone else. In RA's reading (Google names no sector), sectors whose assets could fall under the second tier include: baby and children's products on marketplaces, kids' swimwear and clothing, family and newborn photography studios, paediatric and dental clinics, international schools and tutoring, and parenting media. None of those is named in the notice, and none is banned by it. What changes is that an asset showing a partly unclothed child, however innocent in context, now sits under a named policy label with a defined 7-day warning path rather than a general "inappropriate content" catch-all.

Practical steps before 11 January 2027, based only on what the notice states:

• Export every image and video asset in the account, including Performance Max asset groups and Demand Gen creatives, and flag any that depict minors.
• For flagged assets, check them against the stated test: could the content be "misused or repurposed for sexually exploitative purposes"? Bath, beach, changing-room and medical contexts deserve a second look.
• Check landing pages too. Google says, for the egregious tier, that it reviews "your ad, website, accounts, and third-party sources", so a product page gallery is in scope even if the ad is not.
• Remember that AI-generated and edited imagery is explicitly covered; synthetic child imagery in creatives gets no exemption.
• Note the plural "accounts" in the egregious tier. Agencies managing a manager account should ask Google how the plural applies to linked accounts.

A managed Google Ads service should treat this as a scheduled creative audit with a hard date, not as a legal abstraction. For brands whose organic visibility also leans on child-related imagery, the same asset review is worth extending to pages that an SEO programme is promoting, since Google states it looks at the website, not only the ad.

FAQ: Google Ads Child Safety policy

When does the new Google Ads Child Safety policy take effect?

Google will begin enforcing the new Child Safety policy on 11 January 2027. The policy text itself is updated in January 2027, and the pre-announcement was posted on 22 October 2026, which, by RA's count, gives advertisers 81 days of notice.

What are the two tiers in the Child Safety policy?

The two labels are "Egregious Child Safety Violations" and "Other Child Safety Violations". The egregious tier covers content that promotes or facilitates child sexual abuse or exploitation and leads to suspension of all Google Ads accounts on detection, with no prior warning and no return. The other tier covers content that is not inherently illegal but is vulnerable to misuse, and a warning is issued at least 7 days before any suspension.

Does the Google Ads Child Safety policy apply in Thailand?

Yes, the notice states no country exception and applies to every Google Ads account. Google also notes that the English Help Center text is the official language used to enforce its ads policies, so Thai advertisers should read the English version as the controlling text.

Does AI-generated imagery count under the policy?

Yes, the published text says protections cover visual media "whether real, fictional, simulated, cartoon, AI-generated, or photoshopped". Synthetic or edited depictions of minors are treated the same as photographs.

Will Google re-review ads that are already approved?

The notice does not say. It instructs advertisers to review their own ads and remove any in scope before 11 January 2027, which places the responsibility on the advertiser rather than promising a proactive re-review.

Source: Google Advertising Policies Help, "Update to the 'Inappropriate Content: Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation' (CSAE) policy (January 2027)", posted 22 October 2026.

If your account carries creatives with children in them and you want a documented review before the January deadline, the Relevant Audience Google Ads team can run the asset audit and the landing-page check together.