Having your Google ads disapproved is frustrating and unfortunately, not uncommon

There are certain policies that are designed not only to abide by laws but to ensure a safe and positive experience for your users.


  1. Prohibited Content

  2. Prohibited Practices

  3. Restricted Content and Features

  4. Editorial and Technical



1.  Prohibited Content


  • Counterfeit Goods


Google Ads prohibits the sale or promotion for sale of counterfeit goods. Counterfeit goods contain a trademark or logo that is identical to or substantially indistinguishable from the trademark of another. They mimic the brand features of the product in an attempt to pass themselves off as a genuine product of the brand owner. This policy applies to the content of your ad and your website or app.


  • Dangerous Products and Services


Promotion of products or services that cause damage, harm, or injury is prohibited by Google. 


Example : Recreational drugs (chemical or herbal), psychoactive substances, equipment to facilitate drug use, weapons, ammunition, explosive materials and fireworks, instructions for making explosives or other harmful products, tobacco products.


  • Enabling Dishonest Behavior


Honesty and fairness are the integral part of advertising. Products or services that are designed to enable dishonest behavior are not allowed to be promoted.

Example : Hacking software or instructions, services designed to artificially inflate ad or website traffic,; fake documents, academic cheating services.


  • Inappropriate Content


Ads should value diversity and respect for others. Google doesn’t allow ads or destinations that display shocking content or promote hatred, intolerance, discrimination, or violence.


Example : Bullying or intimidation of an individual or group, racial discrimination, hate group paraphernalia, graphic crime scene or accident images, cruelty to animals, murder, self-harm, extortion or blackmail, sale or trade of endangered species, ads using profane language.


2.  Prohibited Practices


  • Abusing the Ad Network


Google doesn’t allow advertisers to run ads, content, or destinations that attempt to trick or circumvent the ad review processes.


Example : Promoting content that contains malware, using techniques to hide the true destination that users are directed to, promoting "bridge" or "gateway" destinations that are solely designed to send users elsewhere, advertising with the sole or primary intent of gaining public social network endorsements from the user, manipulating settings in an attempt to circumvent Google’s policy review systems.


  • Data Collection and Use


Advertising partners should not misuse this information, nor collect it for unclear purposes or without appropriate disclosures or security measures.


Examples of irresponsible data collection and use : Obtaining credit card information over a non-secure server, promotions that claim to know a user's sexual orientation or financial status.


  • Misrepresentation


Google doesn’t allow ads or destinations that deceive users by excluding relevant product information or providing misleading information about products, services, or businesses.


Example : Omitting or obscuring billing details such as how, what, and when users will be charged; omitting or obscuring charges associated with financial services such as interest rates, fees, and penalties; failing to display tax or licence numbers, contact information, or physical address where relevant; making offers that aren't actually available; making misleading or unrealistic claims regarding weight loss or financial gain; collecting donations under false pretenses; falsely purporting to be a reputable company in order to get users to part with valuable personal or financial information.


3. Restricted Content and Feature


Google doesn’t allow certain kinds of alcohol-related advertising and sexual content in ads and destinations. But they will only show in limited scenarios based on user search queries, user age, and local laws where the ad is being served. 

Advertisers should ensure to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, in addition to Google's advertising policies, for all of the locations where the ads are showing.


4. Editorial and Technical Requirements


  • Editorial 


In order to provide a quality user experience, Google requires that all ads, extensions, and destinations meet high professional and editorial standards. Ads need to be clear, professional in appearance, and lead users to content that is relevant, useful, and easy to interact with.


Example : Overly generic ads that contain vague phrases such as "Buy products here" and use of words, numbers, letters, punctuation, or symbols such as FREE, f-r-e-e, and F₹€€!! are not allowed.


  • Destination Requirements

 

Consumers’ experience is inevitable when they click on an ad, so ad destinations must offer unique value to users and be functional, useful, and easy to navigate.


Examples of promotions that don’t meet destination requirements :

  • - A display URL that does not accurately reflect the URL of the landing page, such as "google.com" taking users to "gmail.com"

  • - Sites or apps that are under construction, parked domains, or are just not working.

  • - Sites that are not viewable in commonly used browsers.

 

Steps to Handle Ad Rejection

If your ad is affected by policies not related to the destination, below are steps to fix the ad: 

  1. Find the ad or extension you want to fix on the Ads and Extensions page.

  2. In the status column you’ll see “Disapproved” or “Eligible (limited).”

  3. Hover over the status to see the policy violation.

  4. Click Read the policy under the disapproval reason to learn how to fix your ad.

  5. Click the pencil icon to edit your ad.

  6. Edit the ad or extension so that it complies with the policy.

  7. Click Save. Your ad will be automatically reviewed again. Check the ad’s status in the “Ads and extensions” page for updates.

Appeal Policy Decision

If you believe that the error is from google’s end or have fixed your destination, you can appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account. Start by clicking Ads and extensions in the left page menu. From here, there are two ways to appeal.

How to Appeal Policy Decision from the Ads and Extensions Table

  1. Select the ads you want to appeal.

  2. From the menu at the top, select Edit.

  3. Click Appeal.
    If any of the ads you selected aren’t eligible for appeal, you’ll see a message showing which ads aren’t eligible.

  4. Under "Reason for appealing," select Dispute decision or Made changes to comply with policy.

  5. Under "Appeal the following," select which ads you want to appeal.

  6. Click Submit.

How to Appeal Policy Decision from the Ads Status Column

  1. In the “Status” column of the ad you want to dispute, hover over the ad status, and click Appeal.

  2. Under "Reason for appealing," select Dispute decision or Make changes to comply with policy.

  3. Under "Appeal the following," select which ads you want to appeal to.

  4. Click Submit.

How to Check Appeal Status

After appealing, you can always check on the review status in the Policy Manager.

  1. Click the tool icon in the upper right corner of your account.

  2. Under "Setup," click Policy Manager.

  3. On the “Appeal history” tab, you’ll find details for all ads you’ve appealed.

    • The “Status” column shows whether the appeal is still in progress or complete.

    • The “Results” column shows the results of the appeal, including how many ads had their policy review status updated after the review. If you submit the same appeal too many times, you may see the status 'Exceeded appeal retry-limit' in the Appeals History tab within Policy Manager. Please contact customer support for assistance with filing a new appeal.