Google Ads Other Restricted
Businesses Checklist

There are three options: (1) Government provider — you are a federal, state, or local government running ads for your own services. (2) Authorised non-government provider — you have been explicitly given permission by a government to provide a specific government service, AND your domain is linked from an official government website as an authorised provider. (3) Regional or business exclusion — your ads are not actually within scope of this policy. Choose the right path before applying — applying under the wrong category causes delays and rejection.

Complete the Advertiser Verification programme first (if not already done), then apply via the Government Documents and Services certification form in the Google Ads Help Centre. You must select the appropriate certification option and provide supporting evidence. For authorised providers, this means supplying the link to the official government website that names your domain as an authorised provider. Without this link, your application will be rejected.

To qualify as an authorised non-government provider, two conditions must both be met: (1) your domain must appear on an official .gov or government authority website, AND (2) that page must explicitly state that your domain is authorised to provide that specific government document or service. A general listing or directory entry is not sufficient — the authorisation must be explicit. Gather the exact URL of this government page before applying.

If you were previously restricted because you advertise road vignettes or e-vignettes across Europe, the February 2025 policy update removed the certification requirement for this specific category. You can now run these ads without going through the government documents certification process — provided your ads and landing pages comply with all other Google Ads policies. If your ads were disapproved for this reason before February 2025, request a fresh review.

The February 2025 update also created a special path for advertisers promoting business identifiers in France only. You do not need to qualify as a government or authorised provider — but you do still need to apply for a policy exclusion to prevent your ads from being incorrectly disapproved under this policy. This is a separate and simpler process than full government documents certification.

Promotion of live event ticket sales — including ticket resale platforms, secondary market ticket sites, and event booking services — is only allowed if Google has confirmed your eligibility. This is not the same as full certification; it is a confirmation process. Apply through the eligibility request form in the Google Ads Help Centre. Running ticket sale ads without this confirmation will result in disapproval.

One of the specific landing page requirements for event ticket platforms is that the total cost — including service fees, booking fees, and any delivery charges — must be clearly visible before the user enters the checkout process. Hidden fees revealed only at the payment stage are treated as misrepresentation and can result in both a ticket policy violation and a separate misrepresentation policy violation.

Ticket sites that present themselves as official sellers when they are actually secondary market resellers risk violating both the event ticket policy and the Misrepresentation policy. If you are a resale platform, state this clearly on your homepage, in your ad copy, and during the checkout process. Do not use branding or language that could lead users to believe they are buying directly from the event organiser.

Google restricts promotion of free desktop software to sites that have been approved as authoritative distribution sites. This means your site must be either the official developer's website for the software or a well-known, reputable download platform. You must apply through the Free Desktop Software policy form in the Google Ads Help Centre. Advertising free software downloads without this approval results in automatic disapproval.

This is a hard requirement for free software ads: the ad must contain the name of the software being promoted. Generic ads like "Download the best free antivirus" without naming the actual software product are not permitted. Your ad headline or description must include the specific software name — for example "Download Avast Free Antivirus" or "Get VLC Media Player Free." Without the software name, the ad will be disapproved.

A key reason Google restricts free software advertising is the risk of users downloading malware, adware, or unwanted programs bundled with the software they wanted. Your landing page must clearly show what the user will be downloading. If your installer includes any additional software, users must be given a clear, prominent option to decline it — not a hidden checkbox that is pre-ticked. Deceptive download pages are a policy violation.

Google only allows fundraising ads from three types of entities: (1) individual politicians or candidates, (2) registered political parties, and (3) tax-exempt charitable organisations. Crowdfunding platforms, personal GoFundMe campaigns, non-registered NGOs, business fundraising, or any solicitation that does not fall into one of these three categories cannot be advertised on Google Ads. If you are not one of these, your fundraising ads will not be approved regardless of how worthy the cause.

Google requires that the ad's destination clearly indicates the tax-exempt status of the organisation by including a charity number or tax exemption number. This means your landing page — the page your donation ad links to — must visibly show your charity registration number (e.g., Charity Commission number in the UK, EIN in the USA, or ABN charity status in Australia). A general statement like "We are a registered charity" without the actual registration number does not satisfy this requirement.

Platforms that host multiple individual fundraising campaigns — even if the individual causes are genuine and worthy — cannot advertise the solicitation of donations via Google Ads unless the platform itself is a registered tax-exempt charity. If you operate a crowdfunding platform, you cannot advertise donation requests for individual campaigns on it via Google Ads, even if each campaign is for a legitimate charitable purpose.

Google bans all advertising for third-party technical support services for consumer technology. This means: if you are advertising that you can fix, troubleshoot, or provide support for products made by another company — Windows computers, Apple devices, internet routers, printers, smart home devices — those ads are not permitted. There is no certification or appeal path for genuine third-party tech support businesses. The policy applies regardless of how legitimate your service is.

A key reason this policy exists is that consumers are often misled into thinking they are contacting the official manufacturer's support team. Ads using language like "Official Microsoft Support," "Apple Help Centre," or "Call Dell Customer Service" when you are not that company are both a violation of this policy and a separate Misrepresentation policy violation. Remove all brand names that could imply an official relationship you do not have.

Selling consumer technology products — even products that come with support — is permitted. The line is: if your ad's primary offer is a product for sale, that is fine. If your ad's primary offer is a support or repair service for a product made by another company, that is not permitted. Review your ads carefully. If the headline or description is primarily about a support or troubleshooting service, rewrite it to focus on product sale or a first-party service you provide.

HFSS (High in Fat, Sugar, and Salt) is defined using government-approved nutrient profiling models — in the UK, the NHS Nutrient Profiling Model; in the EU, the relevant national models. The classification is based on nutritional content per 100g, not on subjective perception of how unhealthy a product is. If you are unsure whether your products qualify as HFSS, check with a nutritional regulatory advisor or test your products against the public NHS scoring tool before assuming you are restricted or not restricted.

If your food or beverage products are classified as HFSS and you are running Display or YouTube campaigns targeting users in the UK or EU, those campaigns must be paused or restructured. You cannot run HFSS food advertising on Google's Display Network or YouTube in these regions regardless of the ad's content or audience targeting settings. This restriction applies to the product being advertised — not just to the creative content.

The HFSS restriction explicitly does not apply to Search ads. If you sell HFSS food products, you can still run Google Search campaigns for those products targeting UK and EU users — the restriction only covers Display and YouTube placements. If you have both Search and Display/YouTube campaigns for HFSS products, pause only the Display and YouTube ones. Pausing your Search campaigns is unnecessary and would reduce your reach without any compliance benefit.

Google completely bans advertising for bail bond services — services that offer to act as surety in order to secure bail for a defendant. This ban applies globally, regardless of whether bail bonds are legal and licensed in your jurisdiction. Even if you are a fully licensed and regulated bail bond agent, you cannot advertise these services on Google Ads. Remove all such ads and do not attempt to appeal — there is no path to compliance for this category.

Promotions for call directory services, call forwarding services, and call recording services are completely banned on Google Ads. This ban exists because these services have historically been used to mislead consumers — for example, paid number lookup services or misleading call routing services that charge per call. Even legitimate, properly licensed services in this category are prohibited. Remove all such ads immediately.

As of February 22, 2024, Google restricted plumbing service ads targeting the Netherlands on all ad formats including Search, Display, and YouTube. This followed consumer protection concerns about misleading pricing and rogue traders in the Dutch plumbing market. If you run plumbing ads targeting the Netherlands, those ads will not serve regardless of their content. This is a geographic restriction, not a content one — changing your ad copy will not resolve it.

Google's reviewer checks your live website and your account when processing an appeal or certification application. If the issues are still present — prohibited content on your landing page, missing charity numbers, incorrect ad copy, untouched disapproved ads — the appeal fails and future appeals become harder to get reviewed positively. Fix everything first. One well-prepared submission is worth ten rushed ones.

Different violations require different resolution paths: (a) Certification required (government docs, event tickets, free software) → submit the relevant certification or eligibility form first, then wait for approval before requesting ad review. (b) Ad-level disapproval (HFSS, misleading copy, donation without charity number) → fix the ad or landing page, then click "Request review" in Ads & assets. (c) Account-level warning or suspension → go to Tools → Policy Manager and submit an account-level appeal. Using the wrong channel delays resolution significantly.

Whether you are appealing an ad disapproval or an account-level warning, your appeal must be specific. Include: (1) the exact policy sub-category that was violated, (2) what specifically in your ad or landing page caused the issue, (3) every change you made to fix it — for example "removed charity solicitation from ad targeting entity that is not a registered charity," or "updated landing page to display charity number XXXXXXX," and (4) why your situation now complies. Generic appeals ("we have reviewed our ads and are now in compliance") almost always fail.

Ad reviews and appeals in restricted categories are processed manually and take longer than automated reviews. Submitting a new appeal while the previous one is still being reviewed does not accelerate the process — it moves you to the back of the queue. Wait for the current review to complete. If it is rejected, identify what additional changes are needed, make those changes, and submit again with a clear note explaining the additional steps taken.

Google's Advertiser Verification programme requires you to confirm your business identity, provide business registration documents, and verify your payment method. Most certification applications under the Other Restricted Businesses policy — including Government Documents — require you to have completed Advertiser Verification first. If you have not completed this yet, start there. It typically takes 3–7 business days and must be completed before your certification application can be reviewed.