- Google's policy has ten parts, covering your ads, your landing pages and how you present your business.
- Two are treated as egregious: unacceptable business practices and coordinated deceptive practices. Google says these lead to suspension without warning.
- Google says accounts are only reinstated in compelling circumstances, so an appeal should be thorough, accurate and honest.
- Fix the cause across your ads and your site before you appeal.
What Google's policy covers
Google's Ads misrepresentation policy is about whether people are misled, by your ads or by where they lead. It's broader than Merchant Center's because it also covers how the ad itself looks and what it promises.
| Part of the policy | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Unacceptable business practices | Hiding or misrepresenting your business, products or services: implying support you don't have, offering what you can't deliver, or impersonating another brand. |
| Coordinated deceptive practices | Hiding your identity while coordinating with other sites or accounts on political, social or public-concern content, or misrepresenting your country of origin. |
| Misleading representation | Misleading statements, or leaving out material information about who you are, your affiliations or qualifications. This includes a business name in your ads that isn't accurate. |
| Dishonest pricing practices | Not making the payment model or full cost clear, or pricing that gives a false impression of what people will pay. |
| Clickbait ads | Sensational text or images, or ads that use fear or guilt about negative life events to push people to act. |
| Misleading ad design | Ads that don't look like ads: fake buttons, imitation system alerts, misleading icons, or an ad that doesn't match its landing page. |
| Manipulated media | Editing images or video to deceive or mislead. |
| Unreliable claims | Inaccurate claims, or presenting an unlikely result as the likely outcome. |
| Unclear relevance | Promoting something that isn't relevant to where the ad leads. |
| Unavailable offers | Promising products, services or deals that aren't available, or aren't easy to find, on the landing page. |
Google treats unacceptable business practices and coordinated deceptive practices as egregious. It says accounts are suspended upon detection, without prior warning, and the advertiser won't be allowed to advertise with Google Ads again. That makes an honest, well-prepared appeal especially important.
How it differs from Merchant Center
- Merchant Center's policy is mainly about your shop and product data. The Ads policy also covers the ads themselves: their text, images and design.
- Google Ads checks that the ad and the landing page match. An offer, price or claim in the ad that isn't on the page can be enough.
- The business name shown in your ads has to accurately represent the business being advertised.
- If you run both, a problem on your website can affect both accounts, and Google says a suspended Google Ads account linked to Merchant Center can affect Merchant Center too.
What to check before you appeal
- 1
Read your ads like a stranger
Check every live and recent ad: would someone know who's advertising, what's being offered and roughly what it costs? Remove urgency or fear-based wording and anything you can't back up.
- 2
Click through to every landing page
Each offer, price and claim in an ad should be easy to find on the page it leads to. Remove or fix ads for products that are out of stock or deals that have ended.
- 3
Check your business name and details
The business name in your ads, your account and your website should match, and your website should make it clear who runs the business and how to contact you.
- 4
Make costs clear
Show the full price, including delivery, fees and any recurring charges, before people commit. For subscriptions, show the billing interval and how to cancel.
- 5
Check claims and endorsements
Remove claims of results you can't support, and any badges, logos or wording that suggest an affiliation you don't have.
- 6
Appeal once, with specifics
Submit an appeal from the account and explain what you've changed, or why you believe the decision is wrong. Google says accounts are only reinstated in compelling circumstances and appeals should be thorough, accurate and honest.
Common questions
- Google Ads: Misrepresentation policy
- Google Ads: Circumventing systems policy
- Google Merchant Center: Linked account suspensions
Certanza is independent and not affiliated with Google. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and Google's policies can change.