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Blogger Content Policy Update Dec 16: What to Check
Blogger is showing a notice in the dashboard that says its content policy changes take effect on December 16, 2026. Google has not published a list of what is changing, so nobody outside Google can say for sure. What you can do now is check your blog against the policy as it reads today, focusing on the parts that hit money bloggers: fake reviews, income claims, spam, misleading identity, regulated products and unsafe scripts.
Key Takeaway: Do not panic and do not delete posts. Read the current policy, fix anything that clearly breaks it, take a backup, and save a copy of today's wording so you can compare it with the new version later.
What Blogger announced, and what it did not say
If you open your Blogger dashboard, you may see a yellow notice that says "Updates to the Blogger content policy." It says the changes are effective on December 16, 2026, and it links to the Blogger content policy page.
That page is the problem. When I read it on October 13, 2026, it had no "what's new" section, no list of edits and no preview of the new version. I could only read the policy as it stands today. So I cannot tell you which lines will change, and anyone who claims to know is guessing.
One small oddity. The menu at the top of the page lists 17 guidelines, but it does not include "Deceptive Practices, Fraud and Scams," even though that section is in the page body. That may mean the page is being updated, or it may mean nothing. Google has not said.
The sections that matter most for money bloggers
Blogger's policy has 17 guideline areas, and most of them, like child safety, hate speech and violence, do not affect everyday blogging. These six do. This table is a plain-words summary of the current text, with my notes on where bloggers can run into trouble.
| Section | What it says today | Where a blogger could run into it |
|---|---|---|
| Deceptive practices, fraud and scams | Do not mislead people for money. Examples include fake reviews, "get rich quick" schemes and investment scams | Affiliate reviews of products you never used, and make-money posts with big income promises |
| Spam | No unwanted promotional content, unwanted automated content, repetitive or nonsensical content, or mass solicitation | Bulk AI posts with no human review, and copied or near-identical posts |
| Impersonation and misrepresentation | Do not mislead people about your identity, qualifications, ownership or purpose. Pen names are allowed, but do not mislead readers about who you are | Fake expert bios, made-up credentials and hidden ownership |
| Misleading content | No content that deceives people. This includes harmful health practices and manipulated media that could cause serious harm | Health posts that push risky advice, and doctored images |
| Regulated goods and services | Do not sell, advertise or help sell alcohol, gambling, drugs, unapproved supplements, tobacco, fireworks, weapons or medical devices | Affiliate links to supplements, betting sites or vape products |
| Malware | No content that harms devices. This includes pop-ups and installing software without consent | Unknown third-party widgets, scripts and redirect code |
The policy also says it may make exceptions for artistic, educational, documentary or scientific reasons, or when the public benefits from leaving content up. Do not count on that for a normal money blog.
What happens if a blog breaks the rules
Blogger says a report does not automatically remove anything. The team reviews it first. If your blog breaks the rules, or Blogger sees other signs of abuse, it can do one or more of these things, depending on how serious the problem is:
- Put the blog or a post behind a sensitive content warning
- Unpublish a post so only you can see it
- Delete the post or the whole blog
- Disable your Blogger account or your Google account
- Report you to law enforcement
- Limit certain features, including lower usage limits
Unless a notice says otherwise, restrictive actions are global and permanent. If a blog is disabled, the policy says not to create a replacement that does the same thing.
You should get a notification explaining what happened and how to appeal, usually with an "appeal" or "request review" button. Blogger says appeals are typically decided within 10 business days, and complex cases can take longer. If your appeal is not approved, the restriction stays. Readers covered by the EU's Digital Services Act may also have an out-of-court dispute option.
A 20-minute check before December 16
- Look for income promises. Search your blog for phrases like "guaranteed," "get rich," "per day" and "passive income." Keep real numbers with context. Remove or soften anything you cannot back up.
- Review your affiliate posts. A review should come from real use or real research, and it should say which one. If you have not used a product, do not write as if you have. My guide to Black Friday affiliate programs is built around this rule.
- Check for regulated products. Look for affiliate links or ads for supplements, gambling, tobacco or vaping, alcohol, weapons and medical devices.
- Check your identity pages. Your About and author pages should be honest about who you are and what you know. My main content audit covers how to set up a real author page, and the Blogger policy backs up the same point on pen names.
- Review your scripts. Look at your theme code and widgets for anything you do not recognize, especially pop-ups, redirects or "download" scripts. Remove what you cannot explain.
- Check AI-written posts. Automated content that readers did not ask for falls under spam. Every AI draft needs a human check, which I explain in my fact-check checklist.
- Check screenshots. Look for other people's private details in your images. The policy names things like US Social Security numbers, and bank and card numbers.
What we do not know yet
- What exactly changes. The public page has no change list, and I could not find an earlier copy to compare it with.
- Whether enforcement changes. The current text describes the actions Blogger can take, but a notice does not tell us if any of that is different from December 16.
- How this relates to AdSense. AdSense has its own separate program policies. Following Blogger's rules does not by itself mean you meet AdSense's rules, and the reverse is true too.
Final thoughts
A policy notice like this is a good reminder, not a reason to fear. Most honest blogs will not be affected. The ones most at risk are those with income hype, unreviewed AI posts, hidden affiliate promotion of regulated products, or old scripts nobody remembers adding. Twenty minutes now is cheaper than an appeal later.
Pro Tip: Save a copy of today's policy page now, as a PDF or screenshot. On December 1 and December 16, open the page again and compare the section headings. If Google changes the text without announcing a list, your saved copy is the only way to see what changed.
Sources and limits: this article is based on Blogger's Content Policy page at blogger.com/content-policy, which I read on October 13, 2026, and on the dashboard notice that says the policy changes take effect on December 16, 2026. The page had no change list, so I could not compare old and new text, and this article describes the policy as it reads today. The table's notes on where bloggers could run into trouble are my own reading, not Google's guidance. I will update this post when Google publishes the new text. This is general information, not legal advice or a guarantee about how Blogger will enforce its rules.
