Fix ads with policy violations (2024)

Google provides translated versions of our Help Center, though they are not meant to change the content of our policies. The English version is the official language we use to enforce our policies. To view this article in a different language, use the language dropdown at the bottom of the page.

This article explains how to find out if your ad is disapproved or limited by policy, why your ad is disapproved or Eligible (limited), and how to edit your ads and resubmit your ad for review. Additionally you will learn how to appeal a policy decision. To appeal DV360 ads, refer to this page.

Ads can be compliant with policies, and still receive policy labels.

• 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 (non-exhaustive): 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.
• If your ad is labeled for a policy, but you are appropriately certified to serve ads for that policy, your ad will serve.
  • For example (non-exhaustive): An ad labeled for Complex Speculative Financial Products, serving in Singapore, run by an account with Complex Speculative Financial Products certification for Singapore, will have the “Eligible: Limited” status. The ad will serve to users in Singapore, provided the ad and landing page are compliant with all other Complex Speculative Financial Products guidelines.

However, there may be other scenarios where you’ll need to appeal your ad for further review.

• If your ad is disapproved due to issues in your destination, you’ll need to fix your destination, and then appeal.
• If you’ve reviewed the policy and believe your ad is compliant with the policy, you’ll want to appeal.

This article also explains how to take these steps. To learn more about how to check ads for policy violations and what different ad statuses mean, read Check your ad’s policy review status.

How to check ads for policy violations

Check for policy violations from your Google Ads account

Check the status of an ad or group

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Ads or Ad groups.
4. Review the "Status" column for the current status of your ad or ad group.

Check the status of an asset

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Review the "Status" column for the current status of your asset.

Check detailed policy information of an ad or asset

The "Policy details" column provides information about why a disapproved ad isn't "Eligible", or why an "Eligible (limited)" ad is limited to a certain audience. You can add the “Policy details column” to the Ads or Assets table by following the steps below.

1. From the table on the Ads or Assets page in your Google Ads account, click the Columns icon above the statistics table.
2. Click to expand the Attributes section.
3. ClickPolicy details.
4. Click Apply. The “Policy details” column will now appear in your statistics table.

Check for policy violations from an ad disapproval email notification

1. Click the View and fix policy issues button provided in the email.
2. Click View ads for the flagged policy to see more information in Policy Manager.
3. To check an ad or asset status, review the “Status” column. If you hover over each status, you’ll notice a more detailed explanation of the policy violation.
4. Click Read the policy under the disapproval reason to learn how to fix your ad.

The steps to fix your ad depend on the policy violation impacting your ad.

Your ad itself may be non-compliant with specific Google Ads policies:

• For example (non-exhaustive): Your ad is disapproved for punctuations and symbols under the Editorial policy because repeated punctuation or symbols were used in the ad headlines.

Or there may be issues with your destination:

• For example (non-exhaustive): Your destination has content that’s not allowed.
  • Note: In addition to complying with all other policies, ad destinations must meet our Destination Requirements. If all content on your destination is compliant, check your destination to determine if a technical issue is causing the disapproval and work with your webmaster to make any necessary changes before proceeding.
    • For example (non-exhaustive): Your destination is not working, or your destination is not crawlable.

First, check which policy is affecting your ad, and then follow the applicable steps below.

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

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Campaigns drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Ads.
4. Hover over the ad or asset and click Edit.
5. Edit the ad or asset so that it complies with the policy.
6. Click Save.

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.

1. You may appeal ads in batches for specific ad group(s) or campaign(s). If you attempt to appeal all ads in your account at once, you may experience longer review times.
   1. Follow the instructions here to submit an appeal for an entire campaign.
2. Please also ensure that an appeal for the same ad group(s) or campaign(s) or for all ads in your account is made 24 hours after the previous appeal to avoid appeal requests from being marked as duplicate.
3. If we have indications that you may be misusing our appeals function, we will suspend the processing of certain appeals until you reach out to customer support. For example, the appeal limit for each ad is 3 times. If you appeal 3 times unsuccessfully, we will not process additional appeals on the same ad. If you still believe your ad is policy compliant, please reach out to customer support. In addition, if you submit too many unique appeals within a 24-hour window, we will suspend processing of additional appeals during that window.

Tip: Appeals via “Made changes to comply with policy” are reviewed by the system and “Dispute decision” are reviewed by our ad reviewers.

• For example (non-exhaustive): If you’ve made changes on your landing pages to comply with policies such as Destination not working and Restricted Drug Terms, you would select “Made changes to comply with policy” under "Reason for appealing".
• For example (non-exhaustive): If you believe that we’ve made an error on the disapproval, you would select “Dispute Decision” under "Reason for appealing".

How to appeal policy decisions from the “Policy manager”

How to appeal policy decisions from the Assets page

How to appeal policy decisions from an ad's "Status" column

Related link

• About Google Ads policies