Navigate Beyond Your Suspension with Confidence
We have seen businesses improve their chances of reinstatement by adhering to the following guidelines. It’s not just about following rules; it’s about positioning your appeal for success.
Don’t yell at Google
It’s incredibly frustrating to be told that you can’t advertise and to get zero details about why or how you can fix it.
But — yelling at Google via phone or email will hurt your case.
The Google representatives you interact with are NOT the people who decided to suspend your account, and they are also NOT the people who will decide to reinstate it.
They’re just trying to do their job, sometimes with limited training about Google’s policies.
So always try to approach the situation with respect.
Be Careful about Hiring an “Expert” from Fiverr, Upwork, etc.
There are individuals who advertise via gig platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork that they will help get Google Ads accounts unsuspended.
Some of these individuals may be legitimate, but we’ve also seen some suspension problems compounded by “experts” from these platforms who have tried and failed to get clients back on Google.
Approach with care, and vet anyone you work with in this space. Look for reviews from real businesses they helped get back online.
Don’t Submit Appeal after Appeal
Google doesn’t have an official limit on the number of appeals that you can submit, but the more unsuccessful appeals you submit, the less likely it is that your next appeal will be reviewed.
Google expects you to submit new, relevant information if you resubmit an appeal. “Spamming” the appeal form will make your life worse.
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Why Does Google Suspend Google Ads Accounts?
Google is trying to protect users.
There are a tremendous number of bad actors who want to use Google’s traffic to harm and scam people. Google invests billions of dollars into preventing this from happening, and frankly, we should be grateful that they do.
Unfortunately, the safeguards Google has in place against illegitimate advertisers often mistakenly flag legitimate businesses.
Advertisers also sometimes aren’t careful to read Google’s policies and understand what is required to advertise on the platform.
And sometimes something out of an advertiser’s control, such as getting hacked and having malicious links added to their website, will create a situation where Google was right in suspending the account in order to protect users, but the advertiser also did nothing malicious.
But Google won’t tell me why they suspended my account.
Yeah, that’s the rub.
Google will technically give you a reason, such as “Suspicious Payment Activity” or “Circumventing Systems”, and link you to a general policy that covers that topic, but it can be very hard to figure out specifically why your account was flagged. They don’t give you a simple “Quality score” to reference.
To some extent, we believe this vagueness is intentional.
Google doesn’t want to give step-by-step instructions about what went wrong to illegitimate businesses that have an ads account suspended so that they can game the system.
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The Most Frequently Flagged Policies
Google has many policies, but there are a handful of “frequent fliers” that we most commonly see when businesses reach out to us looking for help with an account suspension issue.
Suspicious Payment Activity
Common reasons for this suspension include:
- Entering incorrect billing information
- Declining a charge from Google or issuing a chargeback
- Using a virtual address as your business address
- Using the same credit card across multiple Google Ads accounts
This can be one of the most frustrating suspensions to deal with because Google does not provide any indication of what they think is suspicious about your payments.
This suspension also often occurs prior to you making any payments in an account. We’ve seen many brand-new Google Ads accounts be suspended for suspicious payments out of the gate, sometimes even before a campaign has even been created in the account.
We’ve also seen instances where this policy was referenced by Google but the actual problem was something unrelated to billing, so watch out for this policy being a “catch-all” for Google concerns that don’t fit cleanly under a different policy heading.
Overturning a Suspicious Payments suspension requires clarity in your appeal to Google. You need to figure out what flagged the system initially and fix the issue, and then explain in clear terms to Google what you did and why your payment method is not suspicious.
Circumventing Systems
Violating this policy is what Google calls an “egregious” violation. That means it’s even harder to come back from a Circumventing Systems suspension than from other “non-egregious” violations.
Common reasons for this suspension include:
- Creating a new Google Ads account when you already have a suspended account
- Using a redirect on the landing page in your ads
- Having malicious links on your website (e.g. after a hack)
If you’re flagged for this policy, Google is essentially saying that you are trying to trick users and/or get around Google’s systems.
It’s not hard to unintentionally and unknowingly violate this policy. A few examples we’ve seen of this are:
- Businesses migrating their website to a new domain and redirecting their old domain to the new site but not removing ads from their account that point to the previous domain period.
- Companies creating a new Google Ads account or hiring an agency to do so without realizing that there is already an existing Google Ads account for their business/website.
There are a host of reasons why you might be flagged for Circumventing Systems. To get reinstated, you need to make sure your site is clean of redirects, provide accurate and comprehensive information about your business and pricing practices on your website, and identify and cancel other ad accounts that may be linked to the suspended account.
Unacceptable Business Practices
With this suspension, Google is saying that they think there is something fishy about your business practices/model.
Common reasons for this suspension include:
- Google thinking that you are pretending to be a business other than your own
- A high volume of negative reviews about your business on third-party review websites
- False advertising
Just as with Circumventing Systems, violating the Unacceptable Business Practices policy is an “egregious” violation in Google’s eyes.
Businesses who are using logos and brand names that are associated with other websites are in particular danger of being flagged under this policy. For example:
- Franchisees
- Resellers
- Authorized dealers
- Companies with multiple websites/ad accounts for different geographic regions
The key to getting reinstated is identifying what problem Google has with your business and then clearly explaining to Google why it’s not a problem, along with any appropriate documentation.
Business Operations Verification Failure
This has become more common as Google rolls out Business Operations Verification to advertisers globally.
Common reasons for this suspension include:
- Not answering questions clearly
- Not providing sufficient documentation
- Creating confusion in Google’s mind about your relationships with third parties
This suspension reason is tricky because Google continues to make changes to their appeal form and the questions they ask of businesses.
You need to be very careful when filling out this form to be accurate but also to not create confusion with how you answer the questions.
This can be particularly challenging for businesses that don’t fit cleanly into the categories Google provides (e.g. auction houses, mortgage brokers, etc.).
Counterfeit Goods
Google has a zero tolerance policy for the sale of counterfeit products through its ad platform. This is an “egregious” policy violation.
Common things that trigger this suspension include:
- Reselling brand items (e.g. Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton)
- Steep discounts across a website
Documentation is key when it comes to recovering from this suspension. If you’re using third-party brand names on your website, you need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt to Google that every campaign, ad group, ad, and keyword in your account is legally authorized to do so and that the products you are selling are genuine. If you’re selling your own brand, then you need to prove to Google that the products are your own and that you’re not mimicking another brand.
Google Merchant Center Suspensions
A Google Merchant Center is required in order to run Shopping campaigns, so the suspension of your GMC removes your ability to run Shopping campaigns and sometimes also results in the suspension of the linked Google Ads account.
There are a number of Google policies for Google Merchant Center that are self-explanatory, and for which Google will give you advanced notice of a problem you need to fix before the account will be suspended.
Examples of “straightforward” suspensions include:
- Inaccurate tax information
- Incorrect shipping prices
- Incomplete checkout process
- Incorrect product pricing in the feed
In addition to those policies, however, there is a “Misrepresentation” policy which is often not straightforward.
Google has strict policies about what information ecommerce businesses need to provide on their website, and how they need to display that information.
The rise of scam artists and terribly-run drop shipping businesses caused Google to crack down heavily on Google Merchant Centers.
You need to have clear, comprehensive policies visible on your website and you need to accurately fill out the required policy information within Google Merchant Center itself.
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Monday-FridayFrequently Asked Questions About Google Ads Suspensions
You need to identify what Google has flagged as a problem, fix that problem, and then submit a respectful and detailed appeal to Google.
That sounds easy but it can be incredibly hard because Google won’t tell you exactly what the problem is. That’s why StubGroup offers our expertise to help get legitimate advertisers reinstated.
It’s common for Google to suspend websites for tactics that are being used by competitors, and for those competitors to keep advertising with Google while you are dead in the water.
Google can be very inconsistent in how they enforce their policies. Unfortunately, the argument “but my competitors are doing this” doesn’t bear weight when you submit an appeal. Once you are suspended, all that matters is you convincing Google that you have fixed the problem and that your account is in accordance with Google’s policies.
There is no official limit, but from our experience, the more appeals you submit, the harder it will be to get Google to continue to review them.
That’s why you need to be thorough to fix every potential problem before you submit an appeal, and be detailed in the appeal that you submit to explain exactly what you did to address the problem.
Google offers phone support for technical problems, but those representatives are not on the policy team and they don’t have access to details about why your account was suspended.
Phone support can be helpful for things like following up to request the status of a ticket you filed, or having them check your website for any links that are flagged as malicious. But when it comes to decision makers and people who know why your account is suspended, Google has built a firewall between that team and Google partners and advertisers.
Since 2013, StubGroup’s expert team of suspension specialists have been helping suspended advertisers get back online with Google Ads. We understand how “life and death” having a healthy, active Google Ads account can be for many businesses, so if your account is suspended and you’re looking for immediate help to get back online, let’s talk.
Because every suspension and advertiser is unique, we evaluate each suspension situation independently. Sometimes that means we have to tell you we don’t see a path forward for you to advertise with Google again. Other times the root problem is solvable and we’re able to work with you and Google to resolve Google’s concerns and get you back online.
Throughout the entire process, we will be direct and transparent with you and ask that you be the same with us. We don’t have time for advertisers who are trying to trick Google and who knowingly violate Google’s policies. But if you’re operating a legitimate business and simply need help navigating and resolving Google’s sometimes complex policy requirements, we’re here to help!