Editorial violations are the most common type of Google Ads disapproval — and the easiest to fix. Unlike egregious policy violations, editorial issues never result in immediate account suspension. Google will issue at least a 7-day warning before any account-level action. In most cases, fixing the specific ad and requesting a re-review is all that is needed.
You do not need to complete every section. Work through the sections that match your disapproval reason. If your disapproval says "Excessive capitalization," go to Section 2. If it says "Image quality," go to Section 5. The full checklist is here for reference — focus on what applies to you.
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Some Critical Items Are Still Pending — Report Downloaded Anyway
Understand Your Disapproval Before Fixing Anything
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Find the exact editorial disapproval reason in your Google Ads account
Go to your Google Ads account → Ads & assets → find the disapproved ad → look at the "Status" column. Click on the "Disapproved" link next to the ad. Google will show the specific editorial reason — for example "Capitalization," "Punctuation and symbols," "Style and spelling," "Unclear relevance," or "Image quality." The exact label tells you which section of this checklist to work through first.
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Read Google's official Editorial Standards policy page in full
Go to support.google.com/adspolicy and search "Editorial." The policy is split into multiple sub-sections: Style and spelling, Punctuation and symbols, Capitalization, Repetition, Unacceptable spacing, and Phone numbers in ad text — plus separate sections for Display ads, responsive ads, image requirements, and destination policy. Reading the relevant section takes less than 5 minutes and shows you exactly what to change.
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Understand that editorial violations are usually fixed within minutes — but only if you fix the right thing
Most editorial disapprovals are quick wins. The key mistake advertisers make is guessing what the problem is rather than reading the exact disapproval reason. A capitalization error takes 30 seconds to fix — but only if you know that is what is flagged. An image dimension problem takes 2 minutes — but only if you know it is the image, not the copy. Always start with the exact disapproval reason and fix that specific issue.
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Note the difference between editorial disapprovals and policy disapprovals — they need completely different approaches
Editorial standards violations — capitalization, punctuation, image quality — are quality issues that you fix in the ad itself. Policy violations — restricted products, prohibited content — are content issues that may require certification or account-level changes. Make sure your disapproval reason is actually an editorial standards issue before working through this checklist. If your disapproval mentions a product type, content category, or restricted area, use the appropriate policy-specific checklist instead.
Capitalization Rules
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Remove all-caps words used for emphasis — writing in ALL CAPS anywhere in your ad is not allowed
Writing entire words or phrases in capital letters for emphasis — like "BEST PRICE," "FREE DELIVERY," "BUY NOW," or "LIMITED TIME OFFER" — is an editorial violation. You can use title case (Best Price) or sentence case (Best price) but not all-caps words unless the word is an acronym or brand name that is genuinely always written in capitals (like NASA, HMRC, or BMW).
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Ensure not every single word is capitalised — Capitalising Every Word Like This Is Also A Violation
Capitalising the first letter of every single word in your ad — "We Offer The Best Prices On All Products In Our Store" — is also an editorial violation. Google allows sentence case (capitalise only the first word and proper nouns) or standard title case for headlines, but not blanket capitalisation of every word throughout the ad. Check your headlines and descriptions and apply consistent, natural capitalisation.
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Remove non-standard capitalisation mid-word unless it is genuinely part of a trademarked brand name
Capital letters in the middle of words — like "GrEaT DeaLs" or "BeSt pRiCeS" — are obvious violations. More subtly, applying iPhone-style camelCase to non-brand words — like "eCommerce" or "eLearning" in contexts where it is not a genuine product name — can also trigger this flag. Standard capitalisation rules apply: start of a sentence, proper nouns, and brand names that are genuinely written in a non-standard way.
Punctuation & Symbols
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Remove exclamation marks from headlines — they are not permitted in headlines and only allowed once in description text
Exclamation marks (!) are completely banned from ad headlines in Google Ads. They are allowed only in the description lines, and only once per ad — not multiple times across descriptions. If you have "Best Prices!" as a headline, you must remove the exclamation mark. If your description has "Shop now! Great deals! Fast delivery!" you must reduce it to a single exclamation mark across the entire description.
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Remove all repeated punctuation used for effect — multiple question marks, ellipses, or exclamation marks
Repeated punctuation — "Amazing deals???" or "Don't miss out!!!" or "Shop now..." (used as a gimmick) — is a direct editorial violation. Use punctuation once, correctly, and for its actual grammatical purpose. If you are using ellipsis (...) at the end of a description purely as a style choice, remove it. Google wants professional, clean ad copy — not aggressive or clickbait-style punctuation.
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Remove decorative symbols, emojis, and non-standard characters used as decoration in ad copy
Symbols used decoratively — ★, ♥, ☞, ©, ® (when not legally required), ™ (when the term is not trademarked), arrows (→, ↓), and emojis — are not permitted in standard text ads. These may be allowed in some ad formats such as responsive display ads when used correctly, but in text ad headlines and descriptions they are banned. Remove all decorative characters and replace with plain text.
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Remove phone numbers from your headline and description text — use a call extension or call asset instead
You cannot include a phone number in your headline or description text. This is both an editorial standard and a functional requirement — Google provides the Call extension (also called Call asset) for this purpose, which displays the number in a dedicated spot and tracks calls. If your disapproval mentions a phone number in the ad text, remove it from the copy and add it as a Call extension under Assets in your Google Ads account.
Style, Spelling & Ad Clarity
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Fix all spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and improper word usage in your ad copy
Google requires ads to use correct spelling and standard grammar. Run every headline and description through a spell checker and read them aloud to catch awkward phrasing. Common mistakes: "recieve" instead of "receive," "your" instead of "you're," missing apostrophes in contractions, run-on sentences, and sentence fragments that do not make sense in isolation. Each headline and description should be independently readable and make grammatical sense.
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Remove gimmicky or unacceptable spacing — words with spaces between each letter or double spaces between words
Placing spaces between the letters of a word — like "F R E E" or "C A L L U S" — is an editorial violation. Extra spaces between words — "Shop Now" with two spaces — are also not permitted. Your ad copy must use standard word spacing. Do not use spacing as a design trick to make words stand out or take up more visual space.
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Remove sensationalist, clickbait, or vague language that does not clearly describe your actual product or service
Phrases like "You won't believe this," "Shocking results," "This will change your life," "Doctors hate this," or any language designed to provoke curiosity without describing the product are editorial violations. Your ad must make clear what you are selling — a user reading it should immediately understand what they will find when they click. Vague, teaser-style language that relies on mystery to generate clicks is not permitted.
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Remove unnecessary word repetition — do not repeat the same word or phrase multiple times across your ad
Repeating the same word or phrase unnecessarily — for example using the word "free" or "best" in every headline and description — is flagged as repetition. Each headline and description should add new information, not restate what another line already says. Review your complete ad and remove any word or phrase that appears more than once without good reason. "Free delivery" in headline 1 and "We offer free delivery" in description 1 is unnecessary repetition of the same content.
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Ensure your ad clearly tells users what you are offering and what action they should take
An ad that is grammatically correct but still unclear about what it is promoting will be flagged for "Unclear relevance." Your ad should clearly state: (1) what the product or service is, (2) what the user gets or why they should care, and (3) what they should do — a call to action like "Shop now," "Get a quote," or "Book today." Ads that are ambiguous about what is being offered fail the clarity standard even if they have no spelling errors.
Image Quality & Specifications
ℹ️Image rules apply to Display, Responsive Display, Performance Max, Shopping, and Discovery ad formats. Standard Search text ads do not have image requirements — if your search text ad was disapproved, go to Section 2–4 for copy-based issues.
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Replace any sideways, upside-down, or incorrectly oriented images
Images that appear sideways or upside down — even if the content itself is correct — are an immediate editorial disapproval. This happens most often when images taken on a phone are uploaded without checking their rotation, or when images are exported from design tools with incorrect metadata. Before uploading, open your image in a viewer and confirm it displays correctly at the right orientation. If it is off, rotate it and re-export before uploading.
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Replace blurry, pixelated, or low-resolution images that are difficult to see clearly
Images that are blurry, unclear, or pixelated are an editorial violation. Google's minimum image size for responsive display ads is 600 × 314 pixels for landscape images and 300 × 300 for square, but this is a minimum — you should use the highest resolution available. Images that look fine at thumbnail size but become blurry when displayed at full ad size must be replaced with higher-quality versions. Use at least 1200 × 628px for landscape where possible.
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Replace images that do not fill the entire ad image space — no white borders, letterboxing, or excess padding around the subject
Images that have a white or coloured border around them — where the actual image content does not fill the full frame — are disapproved for not taking up the full image space. This is a common mistake when images are exported with padding or when small images are placed on white backgrounds. The image content must fill the entire frame of the uploaded file. Recrop or export your image so there is no border.
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Replace images or animated GIFs that contain strobing, flashing, or distracting visual effects
Animated images that flash, strobe, or rapidly alternate colours are prohibited for both editorial reasons and accessibility reasons. These effects can be harmful to users with photosensitive epilepsy and are considered intrusive. Static images or smoothly animated GIFs with no rapid flashing are permitted. Check any animated image ad you are running and replace it if it contains flash or strobe effects.
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Remove text overlays that are illegible or cover more than 20% of the image area
Text overlaid on images in Display and Responsive Display ads must be legible and must not cover more than 20% of the image. Images where the text is so small it cannot be read, or where a large text block covers the majority of the image, are disapproved. If you need to include text, keep it to a minimal, readable amount — or include the text in the ad's copy fields instead of baked into the image itself. This gives Google's responsive ad system more flexibility too.
Video Ad Quality Standards
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Replace videos that are blurry, pixelated, or recorded in very low resolution
The same quality standards that apply to images apply to video — Google requires video ads to be visually clear and professional. Videos that look very grainy or pixelated when played at full size on a monitor or TV will be disapproved. The minimum recommended video resolution is 720p (1280 × 720) but 1080p (1920 × 1080) is strongly preferred. Re-export your video at a higher resolution before uploading if your current version is low quality.
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Ensure your video clearly shows or communicates what you are advertising within the first 5 seconds
For skippable YouTube video ads, users can skip after 5 seconds. If your video does not establish what you are advertising, your brand, or the core value proposition within those first 5 seconds, it is considered poor editorial quality — even if the rest of the video is excellent. Lead with your product, brand, or key offer in the opening seconds. Do not start with a slow build-up, unrelated footage, or a long logo animation.
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Ensure your video audio is clear and free from distortion — and that the video has no strobing or flashing visual effects
Distorted, clipped, or extremely low audio quality in video ads is an editorial violation — particularly for video ads where audio is part of the primary content. Similarly, rapidly flashing or strobing visual effects in video are prohibited for the same reasons as in static images. Check your audio levels, remove any distortion, and eliminate any strobing sequences from your video before uploading.
URL & Display URL Standards
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Ensure the display URL domain matches the final URL domain exactly
The domain shown in your display URL (the visible URL in your ad) must be the same as the domain your final URL (the actual link) sends users to. If your display URL shows "yourbrand.com" but your final URL links to "shop.yourbrand.net" or a third-party domain, the ad will be disapproved. The display URL and final URL must share the same root domain. Path fields in the display URL (the two optional folders after the domain) can differ from the actual URL path — but the domain must match.
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Remove promotional or misleading text from your display URL path fields
The two optional path fields in your display URL (e.g., yourbrand.com/summer/sale) must be relevant to the content of your landing page — they cannot be purely promotional phrases that have nothing to do with the destination. Paths like yourbrand.com/BEST/DEALS or yourbrand.com/Free/Offer are editorial violations. Use paths that describe what the user will find — yourbrand.com/shoes/womens or yourbrand.com/services/plumbing.
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Ensure your final URL leads to a page that actually loads — not a 404, error, or maintenance page
A final URL that returns a 404 error, a "page not found" message, a generic maintenance page, or that redirects to a completely different domain is an editorial destination violation. Test your final URL in a private/incognito browser right now. If it loads correctly, you are fine. If it shows an error or redirects unexpectedly, update the final URL to a working page before requesting a re-review. This is one of the most common reasons for disapprovals after landing page changes.
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Use proper URL format — include https:// in your final URL and do not put a URL in your headline or description text
Your final URL must start with http:// or https:// — URLs without the protocol prefix will not be accepted. Also, do not include URLs, website addresses, or domain names in your headline or description text (e.g., "Visit www.yourbrand.com today" in your headline). The URL belongs in the URL field, not in the copy. Google provides the display URL field specifically for this — do not duplicate it in your text.
Fix the Ad & Request a Review
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Fix the specific issue identified in the disapproval reason before requesting a re-review
Do not click "Request review" until you have actually made the change that addresses the specific editorial issue. Requesting a review without making any changes is a waste of your review allowance and will result in another rejection. Make the specific edit — remove the exclamation mark from the headline, fix the capitalisation, replace the blurry image — then save the ad and request a review. Google can tell if the ad has not changed since the previous disapproval.
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Use Ads & assets or the Ad Review Centre to request a re-review after making your fix
After editing the disapproved ad, go to Ads & assets in your Google Ads account. Find the corrected ad — it will show as "Disapproved" until reviewed. Click on the status and look for the "Request review" option, or click the three-dot menu next to the ad. Select "Request review." For editorial issues, Google's automated system typically re-reviews within 1 business day. You do not need to contact support or submit a formal appeal for standard editorial disapprovals.
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Use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool to check how your ad appears before resubmitting
After fixing your ad, use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool (found in Tools & settings in your Google Ads account) to see how the ad looks on a search results page — without it actually running and spending budget. This lets you verify the ad copy looks correct, the display URL is right, and nothing unexpected is appearing. This step takes 2 minutes and can save you another rejection and a day's wait for re-review.
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If you genuinely believe the disapproval is an error, submit a manual appeal explaining clearly why the ad complies with the policy
Google's automated review system sometimes flags ads incorrectly — particularly for capitalisation in brand names, technical terms, or abbreviations that are legitimately always capitalised. If you are confident your ad complies and the disapproval is an automated error, click "Appeal" (instead of "Request review") on the Ads & assets page. Explain specifically why the flagged element is compliant — for example "GDPR is an official acronym and is always written in capitals, not an instance of excessive capitalisation." Manual appeals are reviewed by a Google policy specialist.
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Set up a simple pre-submission checklist for your team to prevent future editorial violations before new ads are created
The best way to handle editorial violations is to prevent them from occurring. Before any new ad goes live, run through: (1) No all-caps words unless acronyms. (2) No exclamation marks in headlines. (3) No repeated punctuation. (4) No phone numbers in copy. (5) Images fill the full frame and are sharp. (6) Display URL domain matches final URL domain. (7) Final URL loads correctly. This 60-second check before submission prevents the majority of editorial disapprovals.
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