Fix Your Google Ads
Unacceptable Business
Practices Violation

Some products are completely banned from Google Ads — like counterfeit goods, illegal drugs, weapons, or services that deceive users. If you're in a regulated industry (supplements, finance, legal), check if you need special certification first.

Selling items that copy a famous brand's logo, design, or name without permission (like fake Louis Vuitton bags or replica watches) is one of the fastest ways to get permanently suspended from Google Ads.

You cannot advertise something that doesn't exist yet, is permanently out of stock, or was discontinued. If you're advertising a service, you must be genuinely able to deliver it when someone enquires.

If your industry requires a government licence (healthcare, finance, legal, pharmacy), you need to have that licence and in some cases upload it to Google Ads. Operating without required certification is an unacceptable business practice.

Ads promising you'll "make $10,000 in a week from home" or "quit your job in 30 days" are considered deceptive business practices. If you offer an online business course or investment tool, the results you show must be typical, not exceptional.

A visitor landing on your website should immediately know: who you are, what you're selling, and how to get in touch. Vague websites with no business name or contact details are flagged as untrustworthy.

If your site collects any information from users — even just tracking their visits — you need a Privacy Policy. This is a hard requirement. Without it, your ads will be disapproved. It must be easy to find, not hidden in tiny text.

A website that's offline, showing a "403 Forbidden" or "404 Not Found" error, or is still showing a "Coming Soon" page will get your ads immediately disapproved. Test your site from a phone on mobile data before running ads.

For e-commerce and physical goods, Google expects you to clearly state whether customers can return items, how long they have, and how the process works. No refund policy on a shopping site is a red flag.

Pop-ups that cover the entire screen immediately on arrival, are impossible to close on mobile, or that trick people into subscribing by making "No Thanks" hard to find, are considered poor and deceptive user experiences.

If your ad says "$29/month" but the website shows "$49/month" (even with a tiny footnote), that's a violation. The price a user sees in your ad must be the same price they see when they land on your page — no bait and switch.

Artificially inflating the "original" price just to make a discount look bigger is a deceptive trade practice. For example, listing something as "Was $200, now $80" when it was always sold at $80. Google (and consumer protection laws) treat this as fraud.

Adding large unexpected fees at the end (like high booking fees, "processing charges", or mandatory insurance costs not mentioned earlier) is considered a deceptive business practice. Show the complete total price as early as possible.

Advertising "free trial" and then requiring a credit card with a complex cancellation process, or automatically charging a large amount after the trial, is an unacceptable practice. Free must mean actually free, with easy cancellation.

If you charge customers on a recurring basis (monthly, annually), the billing frequency, next charge date, and cancellation process must all be clearly stated before the user agrees. Hiding these details is a classic unacceptable business practice.

Using another company's name, logo, or style to make people think they're dealing with a famous brand is impersonation — one of the most serious violations. This includes being an Amazon reseller but making your ads look like they're from Amazon itself.

Creating an account under a fake name, a name that's different from your business, or using someone else's identity is a major policy violation. Google verifies business identities and mismatches trigger suspensions.

Creating a new Google Ads account after being suspended — whether under your name, a family member's, or a new business name — to bypass a ban is called "circumvention" and leads to a permanent ban across all accounts linked to you.

Invented reviews, paid fake reviews, or testimonials written by yourself or friends posing as customers are deceptive business practices. Only show reviews that come from genuine paying customers with honest experiences.

Claiming "20 years of experience" when you've been in business 2 years, or saying you're "Google Certified" without the actual certification, is misleading. Keep credentials accurate and provable.

Claims like "cures diabetes", "eliminates back pain permanently", or "FDA approved" (when it isn't) are extremely serious violations. Health and medical claims must be backed by clinical evidence or official approvals — or removed entirely.

Creating ads that look like news articles with fake headlines like "Shark Tank investor backs this product" or using a celebrity's photo without their permission to imply they endorse your product is a serious violation and potentially illegal.

Countdown timers that reset every time someone visits the page, or "Low stock" warnings that are never actually accurate, are manipulative tactics. Urgency must be real — if the sale ends Tuesday, the timer must end on Tuesday.

Showing "this customer made $50,000 in one month" when that's a 1-in-1,000 result is misleading. If you advertise results, you must also state whether those results are typical. "Results may vary" in tiny text doesn't exempt you.

A checkbox that's already ticked saying "Yes, I agree to receive marketing emails" is a deceptive design pattern. People must actively choose to opt in to anything beyond the service they're requesting — pre-ticked consent is not valid consent.

When a user enters their email or phone number, they must know what happens next. Will you call them? Email them? Sell their details to third parties? Whatever the answer — say it clearly. Surprise follow-ups are a trust violation.

If your website triggers any automatic downloads — software, apps, browser extensions, toolbars, or files — without the user explicitly asking for them, that is malware-level behaviour and will result in immediate account suspension.

If you collect leads through Google Ads and then sell those contact details to other companies, this must be clearly disclosed. Selling user data without consent is a violation of Google's policies and GDPR/data protection laws in most countries.

Some advertisers show Google a clean, compliant landing page during the review process, then switch it to something different after approval. This is called "cloaking" and results in permanent account bans. What Google sees must be what users see — always.

Domains like "apple-deals.com", "amazonhelpcenter.net", or "googlads-support.com" are designed to mislead users into thinking they're visiting official sites. This is called cybersquatting and is grounds for permanent suspension.

If clicking your ad sends someone to Page A, which then automatically forwards them to a completely different domain or website they didn't expect, Google treats this as deceptive. Every redirect must be relevant and expected by the user.

For regulated industries (finance, healthcare, legal) or if Google has specifically requested verification, you must complete their identity or business verification process. Ignoring verification requests will pause or suspend your account.