Google claims a "temporary issue" has been fixed after it blocked ads for Australian women's reproductive health clinics for about a week.

Abortion providers in Australia noticed a significant drop in bookings last week, and although the big internet company at first denied it was responsible.

"(Google) just basically brushed it off and said, 'ma'am all your ads are fine, everything's okay, it's approved, there's nothing we can do' - and that was it," said Cigdem Cimenbicer, who runs the Macquarie Street Abortion Clinic in Sydney.  "Then I started looking to see if I can see other clinics' ads were being published, and no they weren't."

Other providers noticed something was wrong as well.

"That's usually the response you get from Google when something like this happens," said Jacquie O'Brien, the director of public affairs and policy at the reproductive rights campaigner Marie Stopes International.  "When something like that happens quite suddenly, usually it's an issue with Google."

Eventually, a Google spokesperson said, "We identified a temporary issue affecting some advertisers in Australia, but the issue is now fixed.  We apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused."

The spokesperson denied suggestions last the blackout was deliberate or politically motivated.

"Abortion ads are allowed to run in Australia," said the Google rep.