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Ad Policies and Disapprovals in Google Ads

Redaktion ·

When your ad suddenly stops serving, there’s almost always a policy behind it. Google reviews every ad automatically and sometimes manually against a rulebook. A violation triggers a disapproval or a serving restriction. That’s normal account life, not a reason to panic — once you understand how the system ticks.

The four policy categories

Google’s advertising policies sort into four blocks. Keep the grid in your head and you’ll classify any rejection faster.

Prohibited content. Things that can’t be advertised on Google’s network at all: counterfeits, dangerous products like weapons, explosives or recreational drugs, and content that enables dishonest behaviour — hacking tools or fake documents, for example.

Prohibited practices. This isn’t about the product but about your behaviour as an advertiser: cloaking (showing the crawler something different from the user), distributing malware, misleading claims, hiding fees, or impersonating well-known brands.

Restricted content. Legally or culturally sensitive topics that only run with conditions: alcohol, gambling, certain healthcare products, financial services or crypto exchanges. Often you need a certification or approval from Google first.

Editorial and technical requirements. Quality standards for the ad itself: no gimmicky formatting (FREE!!!), a working landing page, a display URL that matches the actual destination, and compliance with character limits and image sizes.

Disapproved vs. limited — the key difference

Many people confuse these. The two statuses don’t mean the same thing.

Disapproved. The ad doesn’t run at all. It stays blocked until you fix the violation and it’s reviewed again. No impressions, no clicks, nothing.

Eligible (limited). The ad runs, but serving is restricted. The limit can relate to location, device, the viewer’s age, or your eligibility to advertise a restricted product. In practice this often means you only qualify for a small share of available impressions. So the ad isn’t dead, just throttled — and that’s easy to miss because it technically “runs”.

Remember: disapproved costs you everything, limited costs you reach. You want to fix both.

The appeal and review process

You have two ways to address a rejection. Either you edit the ad (adjust the text or destination URL) — it then goes into a fresh review automatically. Or you file an appeal if you believe the violation is wrong.

In the appeal you pick one of two reasons: “Made changes to comply with policy” or “Dispute decision” (you contest that there’s any violation at all). The appeal button sits directly in Policy Manager or on the Ads page.

Two limits are worth knowing (as of June 2026, per Google Ads Help): each ad allows a maximum of three appeals. After that, only the support route remains. And between two appeals for the same ad you should wait at least 24 hours, otherwise they get flagged as duplicates. Ad-level rechecks often complete within 24 hours, some in under an hour. Account-suspension appeals typically take longer (three to five business days).

Trademark complaints

Trademark is its own arena. Brand owners can file a trademark complaint with Google when their mark appears in someone else’s ad text. For context: bidding on a brand term as a keyword is allowed in many regions; using the mark in a third party’s visible ad text usually isn’t. If a complaint hits you, check whether you can remove the term from your creatives, or prove an authorisation (e.g. authorised reseller).

Pitfalls and a level-headed approach

The most common own goals: confusing an ad-level disapproval with an account problem, resubmitting the same ad every minute (duplicate flag), or ignoring a “limited” status and then wondering about thin reach.

Repeated or severe violations can lead to account suspension — that’s the escalated tier and the real pain. A single disapproved ad, by contrast, is routine. Read the specific policy reason, fix it precisely, and resubmit cleanly. Working through it calmly beats blindly appealing three times in a row.

For measuring your running campaigns, solid conversion tracking is the foundation — independent of policy questions.

FAQ

What’s the difference between disapproved and limited? Disapproved means the ad doesn’t run at all until you fix the violation. Eligible (limited) means it runs but serving is restricted — often only a small share of possible impressions, filtered by location, device or age.

How do I appeal a rejection? Through Policy Manager or the Ads page in your Google Ads account. You pick either “Made changes” or “Dispute decision”. Alternatively you edit the ad directly, which triggers a fresh review automatically.

How many times can I appeal an ad? Up to three appeals per ad (as of June 2026). After that, only support can help. Wait at least 24 hours between appeals for the same ad, or it counts as a duplicate.

Can I bid on competitors’ brand names as keywords? In many regions, yes — using a mark as a keyword is often allowed. Using someone else’s mark in the visible ad text usually isn’t. Brand owners can file a trademark complaint against that.

When does my whole account get suspended? On repeated or severe violations, not on a single disapproved ad. A suspension is the escalation tier; appealing it takes longer (three to five business days) than a normal ad recheck.

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