If any of your ads are flagged, or limited by Google, you'll get to see "Disapproved" or "Eligible (limited)" in the "Status" column. And your ad may not be able to run any further.
In this article, we'll go over how to fix your disapproved Google ads. Also, you will learn the causes for your ad's disapproval and how to determine it.
So, let's get started...
Let's begin with what disapproved ads are.
Any ad that violates Google Ads policies is stopped or limited by Google, which is called disapproved ad. Once your ad is disapproved, it will not appear to your user.
Google may altogether reject an ad or grant limited approval depending on the issue. Limited approval usually, although not always, means that your ad will receive only a small percentage of available impressions. On the other hand, a disapproved advertisement will not run at all.
If your ad has been disapproved, worry not! There are ways you can fix the ad. It will be re-evaluated and become Eligible.
Hover your cursor over the "Status" column of your ad to learn why your ad has been disapproved. Also, check the policy violation that is affecting your ad. Once you know the cause why your ad has been disapproved, you can take appropriate steps to fix it.
#1. Your ad contains references to topics that Google deems inappropriate. If your ad contains adult-oriented content, counterfeit goods, dangerous products (such as fireworks), offensive content, etc., your ad will be disapproved.
#2. Your advertisement mentions copyrighted content. If another company owns the rights to certain words, Google will penalize you for using them. The best is to use a synonym for the same.
#3. Your advertisement has your business phone number in the ad text. Google immediately flags ads that include a business phone number in the ad text.
#4. Your advertisement claims that your company is the "best in business." Such statements are not permitted in ad text unless a third party supports them.
#5. Your ad copy is far too long. Yes, this is also one of the reasons Google may disapprove of your ads. The best is to follow the guidelines before you actually finalize your ad text. The best is to keep your ads brief and to the point.
#6. Your advertisement contains vague phrases. If your ad text includes the phrase "click here" or "Buy from here," it will be flagged immediately. The best way is to use a different call to action, such as "Shop Now!"
#7. Your advertisement contains all-caps words. All cap words like "FREE," "SHOP NOW," etc., are flagged immediately. You can only have your promotional codes in bold letters, and the rest of the matter should be small. For example, 50% off – Use code: SAVE50.
Aside from these, there are many other causes; Google will flag your ad. So, it is advised that you be aware of all the causes so that you can avoid the pain that comes with appealing, re-appealing, editing of an offending ad.
Let's now see the different steps you can take to fix the issue.
Here we go...
The first and most important thing you can do is make an appeal without any updates. Google, more often than not, makes mistakes and rejects your ad. They might mistakenly believe you're offering something that's restricted based on a specific phrase in your ad copy. For example, if your ad copy includes an ambiguous phrase like "Buy products here," Google may flag it as in violation of the rules.
In this case, you may continue to appeal to the affected advertisements without making any changes. This works some of the time and doesn't work other times. If this does not work, you can proceed to the next step or contact Google support for a manual review.
The next thing that you can do is edit the offending ads and then appeal, implying that you've made changes to comply. You can endear a specific ad, an ad group, a campaign, or the entire account in any appeal.
Selecting the entire account is okay; however, submitting an appeal for ads that are directly related to the problem at hand is best. Choosing ads with other issues may result in the entire appeal being denied.
Ad appeals usually take a couple of days, sometimes even more. In the policy manager, you can keep track of the status of your various appeals.
All you have to do is explain how your ad complies when you contact them. They will forward your concern to the ad review team, who will usually respond within two business days. While manual reviews are frequently successful, this does not avert updated or new ads with much the same problem from being rejected. This means you may have to submit your ads for manual review on a regular basis, which is both inconvenient and time-consuming.
In this case, you should determine whether you should have the specific ad copy approved or simply remove the offending problem.
If you already have too many approved ads in the ad group, the simplest solution is to cease unapproved ads simply. There is nothing to worry about it as your other ads are already running - it is best to cease the one with the offending problem.
The only proviso with pausing ads is that these will be marked as having issues in the policy management tool. You have no way to clean up all of your limited or disapproved ads completely, which makes the management a little more difficult.
If your ad is completely stuck in the "disapproval string," and you want that specific ad to run, the only way is to duplicate and get it approved in the new version. The main issue with doing so is that you lose your ad history as well as any previously built-up optimization.
So, these are the 5 ways you can fix disapproved Google Ads. Hopefully, this article has been informative and enlightening for you and will help you create ads that are not flagged.
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