Why was my Google ad disapproved?

The four areas of Google Ads policy

Google sorts its advertising policies into four groups. A disapproval always points to one specific policy inside one of them.^[2]

• Prohibited content: things you can't advertise at all, such as counterfeit goods, dangerous products (recreational drugs, weapons, explosives), and products or services that enable dishonest behavior, like hacking tools or fake documents.
• Prohibited practices: how you advertise. This covers abusing the ad network (malware, cloaking, pages built only to show ads), careless data collection, and misrepresentation such as hidden charges or offers that aren't available.
• Restricted content and features: allowed with limits, sometimes only with certification or in some countries. Examples include alcohol, gambling, healthcare and medicines, financial services, political content, trademarks and dating.
• Editorial and technical requirements: ad quality rules, landing page rules and format limits.

The most common causes

Editorial problems

The editorial policy bans capitalization or punctuation used for effect rather than its normal purpose, gimmicky spacing and unsupported characters, and phone numbers in ad text.^[3] "FREE Quote!!!" fails for both caps and punctuation. Google's policy overview also gives vague ads, like "Buy products here", as an example of an editorial violation.^[2] Run headlines through the ad copy grader before you submit.

Destination problems

The landing page counts. Google requires the display URL to match the landing page, and the site must be finished, working and viewable in common browsers.^[2] A broken link, a page still under construction or a redirect to a different domain can each disapprove an ad that has nothing wrong with its text.

Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation covers hiding or misrepresenting information about your business, products or services, and promising offers in the ad that are unavailable or hard to find from the landing page.^[4] Treat it seriously: Google says some violations under this policy, such as unacceptable business practices, get the account suspended on detection, without prior warning.^[4]

Restricted categories

If you sell in a restricted category such as healthcare, gambling or financial products, the ad may need certification or may be limited to some countries.^[2] The status may show Eligible (limited) rather than Disapproved: the ad can run, but only for some locations, devices or audiences.^[1]

How to find the reason

1. Open Ads and hover over the Disapproved status, then select "Read the policy".
2. Or add the Policy details column, found under Attributes in the columns menu.
3. From a disapproval email, use "View and fix policy issues" to open Policy Manager.^[1]

The policy name tells you whether the problem is in the ad text, an asset such as an image or sitelink, or the landing page.

How to fix it or appeal

1. Fix the ad. Hover over the ad, select Edit, change the text or asset and save. The edit sends it for review again.^[1]
2. Fix the destination. Correct the landing page, or point the ad to a different, compliant page.^[1]
3. Appeal. From Policy Manager, or from the Ads page under Edit, choose "Dispute decision" if the review was wrong, or "Made changes to comply with policy" if you fixed it.^[1]

Google's appeal limits:^[1]

• Each ad gets 3 appeals. After 3 unsuccessful appeals, you must contact customer support.
• Wait at least 24 hours between appeals on the same ads, or they may be marked duplicate.
• Submit appeals in batches; too many unique appeals in 24 hours can pause processing.
• From July 21, 2026, policy decisions more than 6 months old can't be appealed in the account.
• Track results in Policy Manager under Appeal history.

Once an ad is approved, give it time to start serving. Google says review of new or edited ads takes 1 to 2 days.^[5]

Avoid the next one

• Write plain headlines: normal capitalization, no exclamation marks in headlines, no phone numbers in text (use a call asset).
• Only claim what the landing page proves. Prices, discounts and guarantees in the ad should appear on the page.
• Show business name, address or contact details, and policies such as returns, on the site.
• Check restricted-category rules before you build the campaign, not after the first disapproval.

Repeat violations matter. Google says it runs a strike system for repeat offenders and can suspend accounts for repeated or egregious violations.^[2]

RunAds grades every ad against Google's editorial rules before it goes live, and you approve the copy before anything is submitted. Signing up is free. Credit packs start at $25, and Google ad spend uses 5 credits per $1.

Sources

1. Fix a disapproved ad or appeal a policy decision, Google Ads Help. Checked Nov 9, 2026.A disapproved ad can't run until it is fixed and reviewed again. Appeal with 'Dispute decision' or 'Made changes to comply with policy'; each ad is limited to 3 appeals, and from July 21, 2026 decisions older than 6 months go to support.
2. Google Ads policies, Google Advertising Policies Help. Checked Nov 9, 2026.Four areas: prohibited content, prohibited practices, restricted content and features, and editorial and technical requirements. Repeat violations can lead to strikes and account suspension.
3. Editorial (Google Ads policy), Google Advertising Policies Help. Checked Oct 30, 2026.Bans capitalization or punctuation not used for its intended purpose, unsupported characters, gimmicky spacing, and phone numbers in ad text.
4. Misrepresentation (Google Ads policy), Google Advertising Policies Help. Checked Oct 30, 2026.
5. How to fix Google Ads campaigns not running or low traffic, Google Ads Help. Checked Nov 9, 2026.Ad review takes 1 to 2 days; check the common reasons if there are no impressions after 3 business days. Budget guideline: at least 10x expected CPC or 2 to 3x target CPA. Raise a limited Target CPA by 10 to 20%.

Every outside number on this page links to its source above, with the date we checked it.