Have your text ads been disapproved for editorial or trademark violations? If you did everything correctly, why are you getting yelled at by Google? AdWords never immediately informs you, too many text ads to review at one time. They have algorithms that will detect your text ad if you have violated their policy. The detection is always after the fact and with not much information on why. Very frustrating!
Of course, you receive a friendly email from Google with the subject line; Your Google Ads account has multiple violations! Don’t ignore this email, because AdWords will disable your account if the violation continues. The best way to avoid this heartache, and account downtime, is to thoroughly understand the Google Ads Policy. Below are some tips that should be top of mind for all PPC experts.
Google Advertising Policy
Google’s ad policy outlines a set of guidelines that advertisers must follow when creating and running ads on Google’s platform. Some common violations of Google’s ad policy include:
- Misleading or deceptive content: Ads that contain false, misleading, or deceptive claims are prohibited. This includes ads that promote fake products or services, make false claims about prices or discounts, or use misleading headlines or images.
- Inappropriate content: Ads that promote illegal or harmful products or services, such as drugs, tobacco, or weapons, is prohibited. Ads that contain adult content or hate speech are also prohibited.
- Trademark infringement: Ads that use trademarks or copyrighted material without permission from the owner are prohibited.
- Unfair targeting: Ads that target specific groups based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or other protected characteristics are prohibited. Ads that discriminate against individuals or groups are also prohibited.
- Landing page violations: Ads that lead to landing pages that are misleading, contain malware, or violate Google’s policies are prohibited.
- Ad placement violations: Ads that are placed on websites that contain inappropriate or offensive content, or that violate Google’s policies, are prohibited.
Violations of Google’s ad policy can result in ads being disapproved, accounts being suspended or terminated, and legal action being taken against advertisers who violate the policy. To avoid violating Google’s ad policy, advertisers should carefully review the policy and ensure that their ads and landing pages comply with all guidelines and restrictions.
Google Policy Change Log
AdWords has volumes upon volumes of both global and country-specific policies that govern every type of advertising offered. Add to that the fact that policy changes frequently in order to keep up with the breakneck pace of the industry. In our modern adult world, wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could install a scrolling alert system in your browser that would keep you apprised of advertising policy changes as they occur?
Guess what: Google has something almost as cool. It’s called the Policy Change Log, and if you aren’t already familiar with it I highly recommend adding a bookmark.
It’s a page that lists advertising policy changes as they occur, or even slightly ahead of their launch. By making it a habit to check this periodically, you can stay ahead of the curve and prevent ads from coming down thanks to unexpected changes in AdWords Policy.
Factor Policy Issues into your PPC Game Plan
The key is to learn how to effectively troubleshoot policy issues, resolve them as quickly as possible, and structure your account so as to prevent ads from coming down in the future.
When you’re undertaking any PPC account improvements, you shouldn’t gut all of your ads and replace them with new ones unless you’re prepared to have everything out of commission for a little while.
Understanding this, as well as the fact that many ads will need to undergo review prior to being eligible to run, you should expect that there could be downtime (either due to review or disapproval of ads) before your new ads are up and running to their full potential. So, if you don’t want to halt all of your advertising, the smart thing to do is to keep a few of your current ads up while you undertake your account ‘renovation.’
So simple, yet it’s amazing how the excitement of an ad overhaul can cause hiccups when an overzealous PPC account manager ‘spring cleans’ everything too early.
Trademark Policy
In the United States, the first thing to note about AdWords Trademark Policy is that it only governs ad text, and does not affect keywords. As they mention frequently, Google wishes to allow advertisers as much freedom as possible in the selection of their keywords, and they do not monitor trademarked terms in keywords in this country. This means that if you are a trademark owner and are upset that a competitor’s ad is showing up when your trademarked term is entered into the Google search bar—sorry, you’re out of luck.
The next question to answer is how Google monitors trademarks in the ad text. If you have not registered your trademarked term with Google and requested that they monitor it, your trademark will not be monitored. Period! Due to what I assume is a limitation of resources, Google does not proactively search out trademarked terms to keep on file for monitoring, and therefore you must submit a TM complaint in order to begin the monitoring process.
Google Advertising and Trademarks
Be sure to keep up on Google Advertising Policy and it’s continued changes, especially if you’re working across countries and in specific industries.
Just ran across this article this morning. I’d like to share my experience from last week with Google, and hear if anyone has had something similar happen to them…
I am new to this job, only having worked full time now for 2 weeks (part time for 2 months before that). I achieved “qualified individual” status from Google a week ago.
Last week after having danced around their trademark policies for the time I have been working here, I reached the breaking point. I had several new ads rejected that were not substantially different in their use of trademark terms than other ads that had already been approved. I sent an email, asking for clarification as to why these ads were disapproved while the others had been ok’d.
Like you commented about keywords, my understanding is that keywords are a separate issue from ad text. Yet when I received a reply from Google regarding my query, here is what they said to me about some keywords that I had in these ad groups:
“Some of the keywords are low search volume and these can impact the final decision on your ads, therefore, I suggest you remove these keywords from your keyword list.”
When I wrote again to ask for clarification on this topic and could they please point me to material I could read to help avoid the problem in the future, they offered no help. I was told twice to remove low search volume keywords and activate paused keywords as these would sometimes have an effect on ad approval. Why?
Just ran across this article this morning. I’d like to share my experience from last week with Google, and hear if anyone has had something similar happen to them…
I am new to this job, only having worked full time now for 2 weeks (part time for 2 months before that). I achieved “qualified individual” status from Google a week ago.
Last week after having danced around their trademark policies for the time I have been working here, I reached the breaking point. I had several new ads rejected that were not substantially different in their use of trademark terms than other ads that had already been approved. I sent an email, asking for clarification as to why these ads were disapproved while the others had been ok’d.
Like you commented about keywords, my understanding is that keywords are a separate issue from ad text. Yet when I received a reply from Google regarding my query, here is what they said to me about some keywords that I had in these ad groups:
“Some of the keywords are low search volume and these can impact the final decision on your ads, therefore, I suggest you remove these keywords from your keyword list.”
When I wrote again to ask for clarification on this topic and could they please point me to material I could read to help avoid the problem in the future, they offered no help. I was told twice to remove low search volume keywords and activate paused keywords as these would sometimes have an effect on ad approval. Why?
My Google Adwords account was inactive for about a year. But I finally deposited $10 into my adwords account, created an ad for my new website. And the next day Google suspened my account. I emailed them and asked why they suspened it, and they wrote back and said they were unable to unsuspend it, and gave me know reason why. I read their advertising policy etc., and I see nothing wrong with my ad or website. The ad links directly to my sales page, and I am selling honest products that cost me a couple thousand dollers to have created by programmers. Maybe Google Adwords no longer allows people to link to a sales page? I can’t figure this out. I did include the price of my product in the Ad so only people who could afford it would click the link. Did the price in the Ad get my account suspended? This is confusing trying to figure it out. I might have to cancel the account, lose the $10, and start over with a new account. But in the terms it says if the account is suspended any other new accounts I create will forever be suspended, and I won’t be able to advertise with them anymore. This is very confusing.
You are 100% right about utilizing targeted ad copy and keyword structure – we have a client in the automotive tires/rims business and it is mostly about long tail for them with specific radius and wheel width sizes doing really well in aggregate. If you’d like me to look at your account and brainstorm some suggestions email me at simon.b@resultsdriven.org. or we can setup a quick call if you prefer phone 302-401-4478.