Privacy Policy for Google AdSense: What Google Requires You to Say

The short answer

Google asks AdSense publishers to have a privacy policy that says third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a visitor's earlier visits, that Google's advertising cookies let it and its partners show those ads, and that visitors can opt out of personalised ads through Google's Ads Settings (or aboutads.info for other vendors). The Privacy Policy Generator writes most of this when you switch on its ads option; this guide shows what it covers and the two or three lines you should add yourself.

This guide explains what Google's help page asks for. It is not legal advice.

What Google's AdSense help page asks for

Google's AdSense help article on required content lists the points your privacy policy should cover. In plain words:

Third-party cookies: Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to your website or other websites.

Google's advertising cookies: Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visits to your site and/or other sites on the Internet.

Opt-out through Google: Users may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings.

Opt-out for other vendors: Alternatively, you can point users to aboutads.info to opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalised advertising.

There is one more point if you allow other ad networks to serve on your pages (that is, you have not opted out of third-party ad serving in AdSense). In that case Google asks you to name those vendors and ad networks, link to their websites, and tell users they can opt out of personalised advertising cookies on those sites where the vendor offers it.

Google's page also links to its guidance on cookie consent notices. If you have visitors from the EU, UK or similar regions, a privacy policy alone is usually not enough; you will also need a consent mechanism. That is a separate task from writing the policy text.

What the generator writes for you

The Lazyblink generator builds a plain-text policy from a few inputs: website, company name (optional), contact email, which data you collect (emails, names, phones, payments, usage data), and two checkboxes, "Uses analytics" and "Shows ads". The policy appears as soon as you type a website address.

When you tick "Shows ads", the policy gains a section like this:

• 4. ADVERTISING: says the site shows ads served by third-party ad networks such as Google AdSense, that these networks may use cookies to show ads based on prior visits to this or other websites, and that visitors can opt out of personalised advertising at www.aboutads.info.
• Cookies section: says the site uses cookies and similar technologies for functionality and analytics, and that visitors can control cookies in their browser.
• How we use information: adds that information is used to display relevant advertising.

The remaining sections are filled in automatically: information collected, data sharing ("we do not sell your personal information"), data security, your rights (with a mention of GDPR, CCPA and India's DPDP Act), children's privacy (under 13), changes to the policy and contact details. The "Last updated" date is set to the day you generate it.

How the generated text maps to Google's list

Google's point	Covered by the generated policy?	What to do
Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies based on prior visits	Mostly: it names Google AdSense and cookie-based ads on prior visits	Add Google's own sentence for an exact match
Google's advertising cookies let it and partners serve ads	Not stated in these words	Add one sentence (below)
Opt-out via Google's Ads Settings	Not included	Add the Ads Settings link
Opt-out via aboutads.info	Included	Nothing
Names of other ad networks	Not included	Add if you allow third-party ad serving

So the generator gives you a solid base, and two short additions close the gap.

The lines to add by hand

After you copy the policy, paste these sentences into the Advertising section (adjust the wording to your site):

• "Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites."
• "Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visits to this site and/or other sites on the Internet."
• "You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings at https://www.google.com/settings/ads."

If other ad networks show ads on your site, add a short list such as "We also work with the following advertising partners:" followed by each network's name and a link to its website and opt-out page.

Step by step: making an AdSense-ready policy

Open the Privacy Policy Generator.

Type your website address, your name or company name, and a contact email you actually read. Visitors and Google reviewers will use it.

Under "What do you collect?", tick only what you really collect. A blog with a newsletter form collects emails; a contact form usually collects names and emails. Do not tick payments unless you take them.

Leave "Uses analytics" ticked if you use Google Analytics or a similar tool, and tick "Shows ads".

Click Copy Policy and paste the text into a page on your site, for example /privacy-policy.

Add the three sentences from the previous section to the Advertising part.

Link the page from your footer so it is reachable from every page. Reviewers and visitors look for it there.

Re-generate or edit the date whenever you add a new ad network, analytics tool or form.

Common mistakes

• Copying another site's policy. It will name tools you do not use and miss ones you do. It is also someone else's text.
• Ticking every data type. A policy that says you collect phone numbers and payment details when you do not is inaccurate, and it may worry visitors.
• Leaving the contact field blank. The generator then prints "[your contact email]" as a placeholder. Search your pasted text for square brackets before publishing.
• Hiding the page. A policy that exists but is not linked anywhere is hard for anyone to find. A footer link is the usual place.
• Forgetting consent for EU and UK visitors. Google's help page points publishers to cookie consent guidance. The generator does not create a consent banner.
• Never updating it. If you add YouTube embeds, a comments plugin or another ad network, your policy should say so.

Do you need a separate cookie policy?

Not necessarily. Many small sites keep cookies inside the privacy policy, which is what the generator does (a "Cookies" section). A separate cookie policy becomes useful when you use many different cookies and want to list them one by one. If you do create one, link it from the privacy policy so readers can find both.

What this tool does not do

• It does not check your site or detect which cookies it sets. It writes what you tell it.
• It does not produce a cookie consent banner.
• It does not tailor text to a specific country's law beyond a general mention of GDPR, CCPA and the DPDP Act.
• It is a template. The generated text itself ends with a reminder to review it with a legal professional for your situation.

For a broader look at the sections every small website policy should contain, read what to include in a privacy policy for a small website. If you are setting up a new site for AdSense, it is also worth getting your meta tags and favicon right while you build the footer and policy pages.