# Acceptable Use Policy Last modified: October 3, 2025 \| [Previous versions](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging/terms-and-policies/aup#previous) ## About our policies We offer certain calling and messaging services ("Communication Services") for businesses that allow them to engage their customers and users in ways that are interactive, useful, and create business trust. To ensure that our users have a safe and positive experience when using our Communication Services, our acceptable use policy provides a guideline of prohibited and restricted content and practices that you must adhere to when using our Communication Services. If you encounter content or a business that you believe violates any of the following policies, please report it immediately by emailing [business-comms-support@google.com](mailto:business-comms-support@google.com). Please note that most transactions-related issues or questions (such as refunds for products and services) need to be resolved directly between users and businesses. We will not arbitrate disputes. Our Communication Services are provided by Google LLC, referred to as "Google" in this policy. Google reserves the right to modify these policies at any time. Google will also exercise its sole discretion in the interpretation and enforcement of these policies in conjunction with the Terms of Service applicable to the Communication Service(s) you use ("TOS"). As between the parties, these policies are deemed a part of, and integrated with, the TOS. ## Profile and registration You agree to use your publicly branded business name (for example, XYZ Company) in your business profile to help build trust with the users that you and/or your agents communicate with. Your business name, logo, description, and assets shown to users cannot feature content that is mature, offensive, or illegal. All of the business information provided to end users (such as business name, branding assets, website, and contact information) must be accurate and up-to-date. If you have a developer and/or aggregator partner who will be managing your agent's use of our Communication Services on your behalf, we require that you must have a direct, contractual relationship with that partner that grants your partner all necessary rights to manage your agent's messaging content and branding assets. Your partner will be subject to applicable TOS and related policies. Google reserves the right to reject any partner that Google has previously found to be in violation of the applicable TOS and related policies. ## Privacy and security Google wants users to trust that information about them will be respected and handled with appropriate care. All businesses using our Communication Services must be transparent in how they handle user data (for example, information provided by a user, collected about a user or user's device). If our Communication Services lets you provide a link to your privacy policy, you must provide a link to your privacy policy and comprehensively disclose how your messaging service collects, uses, and shares user data, including the types of parties with whom you shared user data. You must limit your data collection and use to the activities described in your disclosure. Please note that we prohibit collection and use of personal and confidential information, such as national identification number or social security number, payment and financial data (for example, credit card and bank account numbers), answers to security questions, or passwords outside of a secure flow. When agents are sending such information, they must appropriately obfuscate or mask it (for example, only displaying the last 4 digits of a credit card number). Do not use any information about the user's online or offline state for any reason except to directly provide the services to the user, and under no circumstances in a manner that may surprise or disturb a user (including, but not limited to, sending a promotion or advertisement based on them coming back online). Using or sharing user data without specific user consent for the specific use of that data is strictly prohibited. ## Abuse of the product Do not misuse our Communication Services. We want our Communication Services to be useful, relevant, and safe for users, so we do not allow the following: - **Practices that violate the [Google Search Essentials](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769)** - **Account hijacking** Do not access another user's account without their permission. We may take appropriate action if we are notified of account hijacking, which may include removing access to some of our products or disabling your Google Account. - **Circumvention** Do not engage in actions intended to bypass our policies or subvert restrictions placed on your account. This includes the creation or use of multiple accounts or other methods intended to engage in a behavior that was previously prohibited. - **Deceptive practices, fraud, and scams** Do not deceive, mislead, or confuse users for financial gain or personal harm. This includes providing instructions on, recruiting for, or facilitating scams and fraud. Deceptive content includes, but is not limited to, fake reviews, "get rich quick" schemes, advance fee, romance, sweepstakes, and investment scams. - **Malware and similar malicious content** Do not transmit malware or any content that harms or interferes with the operation of the networks, servers, end user devices, or other infrastructure. This includes the direct hosting, embedding, or transmission of malware, viruses, destructive code, or other harmful or unwanted software or similar content. This also includes content that transmits viruses, causes pop-ups, attempts to install software without the user's consent, or otherwise impacts users with malicious code. See our [Safe Browsing policies](https://safebrowsing.google.com/#policies) for more information. - **Phishing** Do not use this product for phishing. This includes soliciting or collecting sensitive data such as passwords, financial details, and social security numbers. - **System interference and abuse** Do not abuse this product and do not harm, degrade, or negatively affect the operation of networks, devices, or other infrastructure. This includes degrading, disabling, or negatively interfering with any aspect of the product or its services. ## Misrepresentation and impersonation Do not impersonate a person, organization, or governmental entity or misrepresent yourself. This includes impersonating any person, organizations or governmental entity you don't represent; providing misleading information about a user/site's identity, qualifications, ownership, purpose, products, services, or business; or falsely implying affiliation with, or endorsement by, another individual, organization or governmental entity. This also includes content or accounts misrepresenting or concealing their ownership or primary purpose such as misrepresenting or intentionally concealing your country of origin or other material details about yourself when directing content about politics, social issues, or matters of public concern to users in a country other than your own. Avoid content that is likely to mislead your audience about your true identity. **Message content must not**: - Be misleading (for example, making false statement about the business or qualification, falsely affiliating with other individuals, organizations, products and services, or making false claims which position improbable results are likely outcomes even if they are technically feasible). - Conceal or misstate information about the business, product, or service (for example, using a false identity, business name or contact information, content obfuscation or cloaking, offers for products or services that are normally offered for free or falsely affiliating with a political organization). - Contain information which is not clearly relevant to the actual product or service on the destination page. - Fail to disclose the payment model and full expense that a user will bear (for example, shipping costs and other billing related information; recurring subscription costs). - Prompt users to initiate a purchase, download, or other commitment without first providing all relevant information and obtaining the user's explicit consent. - Feature content that is provably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in civic, electoral, or democratic processes such as census participation or public voting procedures. ## User notice and consent You must first provide end users with notice and obtain consent prior to soliciting any end user. In addition to the requirements in the applicable TOS and unless expressly prohibited by applicable laws, we recommend that your notice and consent include the following. ### Transparent notice Notice to users should make clear how their data (whether identifiable or pseudonymous data) is used and/or processed through the entire data lifecycle. For example, to send a business-to-consumer message, the user should be informed that you intend to use their phone number to send them messages about a specific product, service, or topic in addition to obtaining consent in accordance with the following requirements. ### Consent requirements Acceptable consent should comply with the following parameters: - **Informed** To obtain informed consent, notice should be transparent, as described earlier. - **Layered** Where necessary, you should take a layered approach to your consent, placing key information in the first layer, with supplemental information in the second layer. - The first layer should include information that has the most impact on the user and notice about any processing that may surprise the user (such as the identity of the data controller(s), the purpose(s) of the proposed data processing, the type(s) of data collected/used, and the mechanism to withdraw consent). - The second layer should be easily accessible (for example, "learn more about..." link) and provides supplemental information that would be useful to the user. - **Framed as a free choice** - Consent options should be presented equally. - Core aspects of a product should not be blocked if a user does not agree. Declining should not have a significant negative consequence. - It should be clear to users that consent is optional. - **Unambiguous and specific** - Use simple, concrete language. - Obtain clear, affirmative indication of consent from the user (for example, "I agree" or "I consent", "Decline" or "Refuse"). - Request consent for specific purpose(s) and clearly separate requests for consent from information about other things. - **Revocable** Include a specific destination that allow users to withdraw their consent at any time. - Give users a simple means to revoke consent. This means making revocation easily accessible and possible for the user to revoke their consent in the relevant Communication Product (for example, replying "STOP" to an SMS or RCS for Business message). - Brands must comply with a user's revocation of consent across all of their promotional agents. - **Recorded** Each instance of consent (and consent withdrawal) record should be centralized and auditable. - **Regional variation** Certain jurisdictions may include variations or additional requirements to notice and consent. It is your responsibility to ensure that your notice and consent practices comply with all applicable laws. ### Additional measures We may request documentation or records related to your notice and consent practices from time to time, which you must provide to us within a reasonable timeframe. If we reasonably determine that your consent and notice practices are insufficient (even if such practices comply with applicable laws), we may require that you implement additional measures to ensure that the user has clear notice and can provide informed consent and/or revocation of such consent, which you must promptly implement. ## Spam Don't spam users. Examples of spam include unsolicited promotional or commercial content, unwanted, repetitive, or nonsensical content, or any content or agent behavior that results in user spam reporting. Please keep in mind that a user's definition of spam may differ from yours, so please exercise judgment when sending messages to one or multiple users, even if they've elected to receive messages from you in the past. To ensure that you do not spam or facilitate transmission of spam, please follow these guidelines: - Ensure that you only communicate with users who have explicitly opted into receiving your messages. - Do not send unsolicited content or aggressively message users. - Do not sell, purchase, exchange, or distribute user phone numbers to a third party without the user's consent. - Abide by any applicable local regulations, such as specific opt-in requirements before messaging mobile subscribers, record keeping, and opt-out requirements. ## Editorial and technical requirements To facilitate high quality user experiences, you must ensure that your content conforms with editorial and professional standards, including: - **Grammar, spelling, and spacing**: All business content must use commonly accepted spelling, basic grammar, and be written in logical sentence form. - **Symbols**: No excessive use of numbers, letters, punctuation marks, or emoticons. - **Capitalization**: Business content must not contain excessive or incorrect capitalization. - **Gimmicky text**: Business content must avoid repetition of words, phrases, and punctuation and should not include any unnecessary or irrelevant text. - **Image and video quality**: Image and video should not be low quality, unclear, or appear sideways or upside down. ## Content policies Our content policies are categorized into two groups: [Prohibited content](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging/terms-and-policies/aup#prohibited-content) and [Restricted content](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging/terms-and-policies/aup#restricted-content), each as detailed next. You may not operate, feature, or otherwise engage with Prohibited content using our Communication Services. You may not (a) exclusively promote products or services in Restricted content areas using our Communication Services or (b) send promotional updates, advertisement, or commercial content that exclusively promote the Restricted content. Always remember to comply with local laws and regulations. ### Prohibited content Our Communication Services prohibits unlawful, offensive, or inappropriate content. This is a non-exhaustive list of content we do not allow. #### Child sexual abuse and exploitation Do not create, upload, or distribute content that exploits or abuses children. This includes all child sexual abuse materials. To report content on a Google product that may exploit a child, click **[Report abuse](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2463296)** . If you find content elsewhere on the internet, please [contact the appropriate agency in your country directly](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/148666). More broadly, Google prohibits the use of our products to endanger children. This includes but is not limited to predatory behavior towards children such as: - 'Child grooming' (for example, befriending a child online to facilitate, either online or offline, sexual contact and/or exchanging sexual imagery with that child) - 'Sextortion' (for example, threatening or blackmailing a child by using real or alleged access to a child's intimate images) - Sexualization of a minor (for example, imagery that depicts, encourages, or promotes the sexual abuse of children or the portrayal of children in a manner that could result in the sexual exploitation of children) - Trafficking of a child (for example, advertising or solicitation of a child for commercial sexual exploitation). We will remove such content and take appropriate action, which may include reporting to the National Center for Missing \& Exploited Children, limiting access to product features, and disabling accounts. If you believe a child is in danger of or has been subject to abuse, exploitation, or trafficking, contact the police immediately. If you have already made a report to the police and still need help, or you have concerns a child is being or was being endangered on our products, [you can report the behavior to Google](https://support.google.com/families/contact/report_child_grooming). [Learn more about Google's efforts to combat child sexual abuse](https://support.google.com/transparencyreport/answer/10330933). #### Dangerous and illegal activities Do not use this product to engage in illegal activities or to promote activities, goods, services, or information that cause serious and immediate harm to people or animals. We will take appropriate action if we are notified of unlawful activities, which may include reporting you to the relevant authorities. #### Harassment, bullying, and threats Do not harass, bully, or threaten others. We also don't allow this product to be used to engage or incite others in these activities. This includes singling someone out for malicious abuse, threatening someone with serious harm, sexualizing someone in an unwanted way, exposing private information of someone else that could be used to carry out threats, disparaging or belittling victims of violence or tragedy or harassing in other ways, or inciting others to carry out these activities. Keep in mind that online harassment is illegal in many places and can have serious offline consequences for both the harasser and the victim. We may take appropriate action if we are notified of threats of harm or other dangerous situations, which may include reporting you to the relevant authorities. #### Hate speech Do not engage in hate speech. Hate speech is content that promotes or condones violence, discrimination, disparagement, or has the primary purpose of inciting hatred against an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization. #### Misleading content Do not distribute content that deceives, misleads, or confuses users. This includes: - **Misleading content related to civic and democratic processes**: Content that is demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in civic or democratic processes. This includes information about public voting procedures, political candidate eligibility based on age, birthplace, election results, or census participation that contradicts official government records. It also includes incorrect claims that a political figure or government official has died, been involved in an accident, or is suffering from a sudden serious illness. - **Misleading content related to harmful conspiracy theories**: Content that promotes or lends credibility to beliefs that individuals or groups are systematically committing acts that cause widespread harm. This content is contradicted by substantial evidence and has resulted in or incites violence. - **Misleading content related to harmful health practices**: Misleading health or medical content that promotes or encourages others to engage in practices that may lead to serious physical or emotional harm to individuals, or serious public health harm. - **Manipulated media**: Media that has been technically manipulated, including using artificial intelligence (AI), or doctored in a way that misleads users and may pose a serious risk of egregious harm. #### Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) Do not share or distribute private nude, sexually explicit, or intimate images or videos without the subject's consent. If someone has sent a private nude, sexually explicit, or intimate image or video of you, please [report it to us](https://support.google.com/groups/answer/7540088). #### Sexually explicit content Do not share or distribute content that contains or promotes sexually explicit material, such as nudity, graphic sex acts, and pornographic content, or non-explicit sexual material, such as partial nudity or other sexualized content. This includes driving traffic to commercial pornography sites. #### Tobacco Content, products or services that promote sales or consumption of tobacco, products containing tobacco, component parts of tobacco, or products designed to simulate smoking behaviors. #### Unauthorized images of minors Do not share or distribute images of minors without explicit consent from the child's parent, guardian, or legal representative. If someone has shared or distributed an image of a minor without necessary consent, please [report it to us](https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2463296). #### Violence and gore Do not share or distribute violent or gory content involving real-life people or animals that's primarily intended to be shocking, sensational, or gratuitous. This includes ultra-graphic material, such as dismemberment or mutilation, and graphic material. Lastly, don't encourage others to commit specific acts of violence. #### Violent organizations and movements Known violent non-state organizations and movements are not permitted to use this product for any purpose. Do not distribute content that facilitates or promotes the activities of these groups, such as recruiting, coordinating online or offline activities, sharing manuals or other materials that could facilitate harm, promoting ideologies of violent non-state organizations, promoting terrorist acts, inciting violence, or celebrating attacks by violent non-state organizations. Depending upon the content, we may also take action against the user. #### Vulgar language and profanity Do not use obscene, profane, or vulgar language. #### Copyright infringement Respect copyright laws. Do not share copyrighted content without authorization or provide links to sites where people can obtain unauthorized downloads of copyrighted content. It is our policy to respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement. Repeated infringement of intellectual property rights, including copyright, will result in account termination. If you see a violation of Google's copyright policies, [report copyright infringement](https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905). #### Political content Business to consumer messages (for example, RCS for Business) may not include content or services related to political campaigns such as those that promote or undermine a political figure or party, conduct opinion polls or political surveys, discuss election integrity, or predict election results. Any other political content that is not prohibited by this policy must comply with local laws and regulations. ### Restricted content The following policies cover content that is sometimes legally or culturally sensitive. Our Communication Services can be a powerful way to reach customers, but in sensitive areas, it's important to avoid showing this content when and where they might be inappropriate. For that reason, we allow the promotion of the following content, but on a limited basis. These promotions may not show to every user in every location, and advertisers may need to meet additional requirements before their messages are eligible to be sent. Note that not all messaging products, features, or networks are able to support this restricted content. #### Regulated goods and services Regulated goods and services include but are not limited to alcohol, gambling, healthcare related products and services, or fireworks. ## What happens if you violate our policies Depending on the type of violation of our policies, Google may respond in several different ways. In some cases, we may allow an appeals process for the agents to fix the policy violation. If you believe that your access and/or your account has been suspended in error, you may request an appeal by emailing us at [business-comms-support@google.com](mailto:business-comms-support@google.com). Following is a list of various ways we enforce policies, without limiting Google's rights under applicable law. ### Services suspension We may suspend businesses or other entities from using the Communication Service(s) if they violate our product policies. This means that the suspended business or entity can no longer use Communication Service(s) until the problem is fixed and has passed a policy review. Suspensions for the most severe policy violations are permanent. ### Account suspension We may suspend your account if you have several violations or a serious violation. If this happens, the relevant Communication Services service(s) will be disabled. Any related accounts, including your new account, may be automatically suspended. We may report any illegal activity if required by law. ## Messaging requirements The following requirements apply to your use of Google's RCS for Business, which allows businesses to initiate messages to users ("business-initiated messages") and users to initiate messages to businesses ("user-initiated messages"). ### Agent use case category \& content declaration When creating an agent(s), you must use the legal business name (for example, XYZ Company LLC) of the brand that owns the such agent(s). You must ensure that the agent use case category and associated content are accurately described upon registration and launch in accordance with the applicable requirements in the Communication Services documentation (including the [RCS for Business developer documentation](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging/guides/learn/agent-use-cases), which may be modified by Google from time to time). All agents must comply with a user's request to opt-out (for example, "STOP" message or equivalent in agent's language) and be able to promptly process and adhere to users' request to opt-out. You will cooperate with Google to ensure compliance with the applicable TOS and related policies in accordance with applicable law. ### User-initiated messages When responding to user-initiated messages, the business should only respond to the user with communications that are relevant to users' inquiry. Businesses must clearly inform users at the point of entry, before a user starts the conversation (for example, QR code, tap to chat button), of the type of content and interactions they should expect from the agent. ### Agent requirements \& content changes Agents must comply with the requirements provided in the Communication Services documentation. Failure to comply with the requirements in the Communication Services documentation will be considered a material violation of this policy. You may change the content of a registered agent throughout its lifecycle if the change is consistent with the registered agent use case category and user consent. However, if you make changes, you must first notify the approver in writing (email to suffice) for reapproval (at the approver's sole option), of all changes to an agent (including the updated versions of consent validity, agent information, and content) before such changes may be implemented. You may only have one agent delivering the same content type to the same user, even if you use multiple developers (for example, the same promotional message should not be sent to a user from different agents of the same brand). It is the responsibility of brands and developers to adhere to the agent's use case and [terms and policies](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging/terms-and-policies/tos) across all agents. ### Agent suspension In addition to the other remedies Google may pursue, we may immediately suspend an agent if we become aware of a violation of our Communication Services policies. The agent may be reactivated if you establish the agent's compliance with our Communication Services policies within a reasonable timeframe of such agent being noncompliant. If you have a suspended agent(s), Google will not approve any additional agent(s) until all suspended agent(s) are corrected (according to the Communication Services documentation and any other requirements provided by Google) and reactivated by Google following such correction. If you fail to correct a noncompliant agent(s) within the required timeframe and/or has multiple agent noncompliance violations, we may immediately suspend your account and all of your agents without any warning. ## Previous versions - [September 18, 2025](https://developers.google.com/business-communications/rcs-business-messaging/terms-and-policies/aup/index-20250918)