Google Terms of Service
Effective January 5, 2022 | Archived versions | update, manage, export, and delete your information.
Terms
Service provider
Google services are provided by, and you’re contracting with:
Google LLC
organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, USA, and operating under the laws of the USA
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, California 94043
USA
Age requirements
- apps and sites (like Search and Maps)
- platforms (like Google Shopping)
- integrated services (like Maps embedded in other companies’ apps or sites)
- devices (like Google Nest)
Many of these services also include content that you can stream or interact with.
Our services are designed to work together, making it easier for you to move from one activity to the next. For example, if your Calendar event includes an address, you can click on that address and Maps can show you how to get there.
Develop, improve, and update Google services
Some of our services are designed to let you upload, submit, store, send, receive, or share your content. You have no obligation to provide any content to our services and you’re free to choose the content that you want to provide. If you choose to upload or share content, please make sure you have the necessary rights to do so and that the content is lawful.
License
Your content remains yours, which means that you retain any intellectual property rights that you have in your content. For example, you have intellectual property rights in the creative content you make, such as reviews you write. Or you may have the right to share someone else’s creative content if they’ve given you their permission.
We need your permission if your intellectual property rights restrict our use of your content. You provide Google with that permission through this license.
What’s covered
This license covers your content if that content is protected by intellectual property rights.
What’s not covered
- This license doesn’t affect your privacy rights — it’s only about your intellectual property rights
- This license doesn’t cover these types of content:
- publicly-available factual information that you provide, such as corrections to the address of a local business. That information doesn’t require a license because it’s considered common knowledge that everyone’s free to use.
- feedback that you offer, such as suggestions to improve our services. Feedback is covered in the Service-related communications section below.
Scope
- worldwide, which means it’s valid anywhere in the world
- non-exclusive, which means you can license your content to others
- royalty-free, which means there are no monetary fees for this license
Rights
This license allows Google to:
- host, reproduce, distribute, communicate, and use your content — for example, to save your content on our systems and make it accessible from anywhere you go
- publish, publicly perform, or publicly display your content, if you’ve made it visible to others
- modify and create derivative works based on your content, such as reformatting or translating it
- sublicense these rights to:
- other users to allow the services to work as designed, such as enabling you to share photos with people you choose
- our contractors who’ve signed agreements with us that are consistent with these terms, only for the limited purposes described in the Purpose section below
Purpose
This license is for the limited purpose of:
- operating and improving the services, which means allowing the services to work as designed and creating new features and functionalities. This includes using automated systems and algorithms to analyze your content:
- for spam, malware, and illegal content
- to recognize patterns in data, such as determining when to suggest a new album in Google Photos to keep related photos together
- to customize our services for you, such as providing recommendations and personalized search results, content, and ads (which you can change or turn off in create a Google Account for your convenience. Some services require that you have a Google Account in order to work — for example, to use Gmail, you need a Google Account so that you have a place to send and receive your email.
You’re responsible for what you do with your Google Account, including taking reasonable steps to keep your Google Account secure, and we encourage you to regularly use the Copyright Help Center.
Google content
Some of our services include content that belongs to Google — for example, many of the visual illustrations you see in Google Maps. You may use Google’s content as allowed by these terms and any service-specific additional terms, but we retain any intellectual property rights that we have in our content. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any of our branding, logos, or legal notices. If you want to use our branding or logos, please see the Help Center page. If you believe your Google Account has been suspended or terminated in error,
About these terms
By law, you have certain rights that can’t be limited by a contract like these terms of service. These terms are in no way intended to restrict those rights.
These terms describe the relationship between you and Google. They don’t create any legal rights for other people or organizations, even if others benefit from that relationship under these terms.
We want to make these terms easy to understand, so we’ve used examples from our services. But not all services mentioned may be available in your country.
If these terms conflict with the service-specific additional terms, the additional terms will govern for that service.
If it turns out that a particular term is not valid or enforceable, this will not affect any other terms.
If you don’t follow these terms or the service-specific additional terms, and we don’t take action right away, that doesn’t mean we’re giving up any rights that we may have, such as taking action in the future.
We may update these terms and service-specific additional terms (1) to reflect changes in our services or how we do business — for example, when we add new services, features, technologies, pricing, or benefits (or remove old ones), (2) for legal, regulatory, or security reasons, or (3) to prevent abuse or harm.
If we materially change these terms or service-specific additional terms, we’ll provide you with reasonable advance notice and the opportunity to review the changes, except (1) when we launch a new service or feature, or (2) in urgent situations, such as preventing ongoing abuse or responding to legal requirements. If you don’t agree to the new terms, you should remove your content and stop using the services. You can also end your relationship with us at any time by closing your Google Account.
Definitions
affiliate
An entity that belongs to the Google group of companies, which means Google LLC and its subsidiaries, including the following companies that provide consumer services in the EU: Google Ireland Limited, Google Commerce Limited, and Google Dialer Inc.
business user
An individual or entity who is not a consumer (see consumer).
consumer
An individual who uses Google services for personal, non-commercial purposes outside of their trade, business, craft, or profession. (See business user)
copyright
A legal right that allows the creator of an original work (such as a blog post, photo, or video) to decide if and how that original work may be used by others, subject to certain limitations and exceptions (such as “fair use” and “fair dealing”).
country version
If you have a Google Account, we associate your account with a country (or territory) so that we can determine:
- the Google affiliate that provides the services to you and that processes your information as you use the services
- the version of the terms that govern our relationship
When you’re signed out, your country version is determined by the location where you’re using Google services. If you have an account, you can About Google