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Ads and assets that don't follow Google Ads policies may be disapproved.
This article will help you find the disapproval reason for ads with policy violations, provide best next steps to address these issues, and clarify serving statuses related to Google Ads policies. You’ll also learn how to appeal a policy decision and check the status of your appeals.
For more information about how to address policy issues in Display & Video 360, refer to Find and fix rejected creatives.In this article
- Find the reason for disapproval
- Fix a disapproved ad
- Appeal a policy decision
- Track your appeal status in Policy manager
- About policy labels
Find the reason for disapproval
When you have an ad with policy violations, you’ll want to review the policy and fix the ad to get it running again. A disapproved ad won't be able to run until the policy violation is fixed and the ad is reviewed again.
Check the disapproval reason in Google Ads
Check detailed policy information of an ad or asset
You can add the "Policy details" column to the statistics tables on your Ads or Assets pages in Google Ads for more information about how a policy is affecting your ad or asset status.
- Select Ads or Assets in the Campaigns
menu.
- Select the Columns
icon above the statistics table.
- Select the Attributes section to expand it.
- Select Policy details.
- Select Apply.
The "Policy details" column will now appear in your statistics table when you review your Ads or Assets pages.
Check the disapproval reason from a disapproval email notification
- Select the View and fix policy issues link provided in the email.
- Select View ads for the flagged policy to review the affected ads in Policy Manager.
- In the "Status" column, hover over the "Disapproved" status for more information.
- Select Read the policy to learn more about the policy that’s affecting your ad.
Fix a disapproved ad
The steps to fix a disapproved ad depend on the type of policy violation affecting it. The disapproval can be caused by an issue with your assets, ads, or the landing page for your ad. You’ll need to update your content to comply with Google Ads policies and submit for review or appeal the policy decision to resolve the violation.
Fix violations related to your ads
To fix an ad with policy violations, you’ll need to update the content of your ad to comply with all Google Ads policies.
Examples of policy violations related to your ad (non-exhaustive):
- Your ad was disapproved under the Editorial policy for using repeated punctuation or symbols in the ad headline.
- Your ad was disapproved under the Dangerous products or services policy for mention of tobacco in your ad text.
Steps to fix your ads
- Go to Ads within the Campaigns
- Hover over the ad or asset and select Edit.
- Edit the ad to comply with the policy.
- Select Save to resubmit for review.
Your ad will automatically be reviewed again. You can check the status of your appeal by reviewing the "Status" column or using the Policy Manager.
Fix violations related to your destination
In addition to complying with all other Google Ads policies, the destination for your ad must be compliant with Google Ads’ Destination requirements. If your ad is disapproved due to issues with your destination, you’ll need to fix those issues or edit your ad to use a different destination and submit an appeal to initiate a new review.
Examples of policy violations related to your destination (non-exhaustive):
- Your ad destination was disapproved under the Destination not working policy because your landing page has a typo in the URL you provided.
- Your ad destination was disapproved under the Destination mismatch policy because your display URL doesn’t match the final URL of your ad.
- Your ad destination was disapproved under the Dangerous products or services policy because it promotes the sale of fireworks.
Edit your ad to change your landing page
If you can’t or choose not to update the content of your landing page, you can edit your ad to direct to a different landing page that complies with Google Ads’ Destination requirements.
- Go to Ads within the Campaigns
- Hover over the ad or asset and select Edit.
- Edit the ad or asset so that it complies with the policy.
- Select Save.
Appeal a policy decision
If you’ve fixed your ad and destination or believe there was an error during the initial review, you can appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account.
You can appeal ads in batches for specific ad groups or campaigns. If you attempt to appeal policy decisions for all ads in your account at the same time, the review may take longer to be completed.
Appeal limits
If Google Ads has indications that you may be misusing the appeals function, the processing of certain appeals will be suspended until you reach out to customer support.
Each ad is limited to 3 appeals. If you appeal an ad unsuccessfully 3 times, you won’t be able to file an appeal for that ad again until you reach out to customer support.
If you’re submitting an appeal for the same ads or campaigns, wait at least 24 hours between appeals to avoid having those appeals marked as duplicates. If you submit too many unique appeals within a 24-hour window, Google Ads may suspend processing of additional appeals during that window.
The option to appeal a policy decision directly from your Google Ads account is now available for most formats and policies. You can dispute policy decisions for any unsupported formats and policies using the Disapproved ads and policy questions form.
File an appeal from Policy manager
- Go to Troubleshooting within the Tools
menu .
- Select Policy manager.
- On the "Policy issues" tab, select Appeal on the affected ad.
- Under "Reason for appealing," select Dispute decision or Made changes to comply with policy.
- Select Submit.
File an appeal from the "Ads" page
- Go to Ads within the Campaigns
- Select any disapproved ads using the checkbox
.
- Select Edit, then select Appeal policy decision to submit your ads and their destinations for review.
- Under "Reason for appealing", select Dispute decision or Made changes to comply with policy.
Additional rights under the European Union (EU) Digital Services Act
Users and advertisers located in the EU may have additional redress options. Learn more about European Union Digital Services Act Resolution Options.
Track your appeal status in Policy manager
- Select Troubleshooting in the Tools
- Select Policy manager.
Learn more about Google Ads Policy manager
Policy manager provides the following information to support your compliance with Google Ads policies and track your current and past appeals.
Appeal history
Details for all of the ads you’ve appealed are available on the "Appeal history" tab. This includes the status and results of current and past appeals, including how many ads had their policy status updated after the review.
Status
The "Status" column shares the following status information related to your appeal:
- Review complete: Your review is complete and details are provided in the "Results" column.
- In progress: Your appeal is currently under review. Check back in 24 hours for an updated status.
- Not reviewed: Your appeal was not reviewed. Check the "Results" column for more information.
Results
The "Results" column shows the results of the appeal, including how many ads had their policy review status updated after the review.
| Appeal result | Description |
|---|---|
|
Successful |
Any ads included in this appeal are no longer restricted under the policy decision you appealed. You can appeal again if there are additional policies that are still restricting your ads’ serving. Make sure to thoroughly review any policy requirements and guidelines related to the policy that’s still affecting your ads before submitting a new appeal. |
|
Partially successful |
One or more ads included in this appeal have had the policy decision removed. You can appeal again if there are additional policies that are still restricting your ads’ serving. Make sure to thoroughly review any policy requirements and guidelines related to the policy that’s still affecting your ads and address any issues before submitting a new appeal. |
|
Error: Try again |
There was an error in processing your request. Submit your appeal again and if you continue to receive errors, reach out to Google Ads support for next steps. |
|
Failed |
None of the ads in your appeal are able to run. Review Google Ads policies and fix your ads and landing pages to comply and submit an additional appeal if required. |
|
Duplicate |
Your appeal has not been processed because it was submitted while a previous appeal on the same ad or ads was still being processed. Wait at least 24 hours before submitting additional appeals. |
|
Exceeded appeal retry-limit |
If Google Ads has indications that you may be misusing the appeals function, the processing of certain appeals will be suspended until you reach out to customer support. Each ad is limited to 3 appeals. If you appeal an ad unsuccessfully 3 times, you won’t be able to file an appeal for that ad again until you reach out to customer support. If you’re submitting an appeal for the same ads or campaigns, wait at least 24 hours between appeals to avoid having those appeals marked as duplicates. If you submit too many unique appeals within a 24-hour window, Google Ads may suspend processing of additional appeals during that window. Contact customer support for assistance with filing a new appeal. |
About policy labels
Policy labels may be applied to your ads, even if they’re compliant with Google Ads policies. These labels depend on the policy and can affect where your ads can serve. Any policy restrictions are permanent and any territorial restrictions apply globally unless stated otherwise.
Eligible (limited)
If your ad shows the status "Eligible (limited)", it can run but will be restricted on where it can serve to comply with our policies. These serving limitations can be based on location, the device being used to view the ad, the age of the person viewing the ad, or your eligibility to advertise restricted products or services.
Ads may be limited due to policy restrictions based on the content of your ad or website. This limitation can also apply if your website content contains terms associated with regulated industries, even if your products or services themselves are compliant.
Example (non-exhaustive)
If you’re running ads for a product or service that requires you to apply to advertise under a Google Ads policy and you’ve completed this application and received approval, your ads will serve.
- For example, if you’re running ads related to Complex speculative financial products and targeting users in Singapore, you’ll need to submit an application to advertise using Google Ads in this location. After your application has been approved, your Complex speculative financial products ads targeting Singapore will serve as "Eligible (limited)", provided that your ad and landing page are compliant with all other policy guidelines. If you run ads that target areas outside of Singapore, the status of those ads will be "Disapproved" until you apply to advertise in the locations you’re targeting.
If your ad is labeled for a policy, but is targeting countries/regions where these policies don’t apply, your ad would serve.
- For example, an ad labeled for Alcohol Information, targeting the US, would have the "Eligible Limited" status. The ad would serve as normal to US users, in line with our Alcohol policy’s Ad network, platform, and format requirements.
For ads labeled as "Eligible (Limited)", if the ad is incorrectly labeled (for example, the ad is labeled for Healthcare & Medicines but is not for a product or service governed by that policy), follow the below steps to appeal.
File an appeal from Policy manager
- Go to Troubleshooting within the Tools
- Select Policy manager.
- On the "Policy issues" tab, select Appeal on the affected ad.
- Under "Reason for appealing," select Dispute decision or Made changes to comply with policy.
- Select Submit.