Policy clarification: sponsored ads with affiliate-tagged URLs

[Alexander Ostapenko]

Hi all,

I'd like to clarify how the Ads Policy and Affiliate Ads Policy apply to sponsored advertising in Chrome extensions.

An extension displays clearly labelled "Sponsored" tiles provided by an advertising network. The extension doesn't modify the URLs or add tracking parameters. However, some of the supplied URLs contain affiliate-related parameters, such as utm_medium=affiliate, or identifiers used to track clicks and conversions.

Would this type of advertising fall under the Affiliate Ads Policy in addition to the regular Ads Policy, even though the extension only displays sponsored ads using URLs provided by the network?

If so, would the requirement for a direct and transparent user benefit apply even when users intentionally click clearly labelled sponsored ads?

Thanks!

[Simeon Vincent]

I just re-read the Affiliate Ads Policy and Affiliate Ads FAQ. My impression is that "affiliate ad" refers to advertisements where an extension earns a commission on a transaction performed by the user after interacting with the advertisement. This is distinct from display ads, which typically pay out based on impressions or click-throughs. If that's correct, then showing the ad in a "Sponsored" tile wouldn't affect this policy's applicability. The "utm_medium=affiliate" may, though, since that's a strong signal about the compensation model being used.

That said, it would be great if we could get confirmation here. 

Simeon - @dotproto

incremental.software

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[Alexander Ostapenko]

Thanks, Simeon!

One more thing — what if an extension publisher receives CPC payments, while the ad network itself works with advertisers on different models, including CPA, and provides URLs containing affiliate attribution?

Would the classification depend on the publisher's compensation model or on the underlying attribution and payment model used by the ad network?

четверг, 24 сентября 2026 г. в 19:37:46 UTC+2, Simeon Vincent:

[Alexander Ostapenko]

Hi, just following up on this. Any updates?

Thanks!

пятница, 25 сентября 2026 г. в 16:59:35 UTC+2, Alexander Ostapenko: