Fix Google’s Image Requirements
Policy Violation

Check the inbox of the email connected to your Google Ads account. Google sends a message naming the specific violation — "Image Requirements" — and listing the affected ads. Also log in to Google Ads, click the tools icon (wrench) and go to "Policy Manager" to see every disapproved ad and the exact reason given. Note: the reason given is often more specific than just "Image Requirements" — it may say "Image too small," "Too much text in image," "Unacceptable image content," or another specific sub-reason. Identify the exact sub-reason for each ad before attempting any fix.

Go to Policy Manager and open each disapproved ad. For every affected ad write down: the ad name, the campaign it belongs to, the image(s) used in that ad, and the specific policy sub-reason given by Google. The Image Requirements policy covers many different issues — size, resolution, content, text overlay, format, and more — and each issue has a different fix. Without knowing which specific issue applies to each ad, you risk fixing the wrong thing and having the ad disapproved again after appeal.

Google's Image Requirements policy covers: minimum and maximum image dimensions (size in pixels), minimum and maximum image file size (in kilobytes), required aspect ratios for different ad formats, image quality standards (no blurry, pixelated, or distorted images), text overlay limits (text cannot cover more than 20% of the image area in most cases), prohibited image content (inappropriate, misleading, shocking, or sexually suggestive images), animated image rules (GIF requirements), and the requirement that images must clearly relate to the product or service being advertised.

Different Google ad formats have different image requirements. Responsive Display Ads require both a 1.91:1 landscape image (minimum 600x314 pixels, recommended 1200x628 pixels) and a 1:1 square image (minimum 300x300 pixels, recommended 1200x1200 pixels). They may also use a 4:1 logo image. Discovery ads have similar requirements. Shopping ads pull images from your product feed. Display banner ads have their own fixed size requirements (such as 300x250, 728x90, 160x600). Make a list of every ad format in your campaigns so you know exactly which image dimensions are required for each.

Visit support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1725124 for image ad requirements and support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9975884 for responsive display ad image specifications. Also visit support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6298 for the broader Ads Policy on image content. Reading the official documentation before making any changes helps you understand the full scope of requirements for every format you use and prevents you from introducing new violations while trying to fix existing ones.

Every image used in Google Ads must meet the minimum dimension requirements for the format it is used in. For responsive display ads, landscape images must be at least 600 pixels wide by 314 pixels tall (though 1200x628 is strongly recommended). Square images must be at least 300x300 pixels (1200x1200 recommended). Logo images must be at least 128x128 pixels for square logos or 512x128 for landscape logos. If an image is smaller than the minimum, you must replace it with a larger version — you cannot simply resize a small image larger, as this will create a blurry, pixelated result. Always start with a high-resolution original image.

Google imposes maximum file size limits to ensure ads load quickly for users. For most display and responsive display ad images, the maximum file size is 5 MB. For image ads (banner ads), the maximum is 150 KB. Animated GIF ads have a maximum of 150 KB. If your image file exceeds the limit, reduce the file size by: exporting the image at a slightly lower quality setting in your image editor, reducing the image dimensions slightly, or using image compression tools such as tinypng.com, squoosh.app, or compressor.io. Always check the file size after compression to confirm it is within the required limit before uploading.

Aspect ratio refers to the proportional relationship between an image's width and height. Google requires specific aspect ratios for each image type: landscape images must have a 1.91:1 ratio (which means the image is approximately 1.91 times wider than it is tall), square images must have a 1:1 ratio (equal width and height), and logo images can be 1:1 or 4:1. If your image has a different ratio, you must crop it or recreate it at the correct ratio. Do not simply squash or stretch an existing image to change its ratio — this distorts the image and creates a different violation (distorted imagery).

Google Ads accepts only specific image file formats. For standard image ads and responsive display ads, accepted formats are JPG (also written as JPEG), PNG, and GIF. For animated ads, only GIF format is accepted. WebP, TIFF, BMP, SVG, HEIC, and other formats are not accepted and will cause your image upload to fail or your ad to be disapproved. If your image is in an unsupported format, convert it using your image editing software or a free online converter. When converting, choose the format that best preserves your image quality: PNG for images with text or sharp edges, JPG for photographs.

Google requires that all ad images are clear, sharp, and professionally presented. A blurry or pixelated image — which typically results from taking a small image and enlarging it — will be disapproved. If your current image is blurry or pixelated, you cannot fix it by sharpening it in an image editor. You must obtain the original high-resolution source file (from your photographer, designer, or stock image provider) and re-export it at the correct dimensions. If the original high-resolution file no longer exists, you must retake or recreate the image. A stock image from a reputable provider such as Unsplash, Pexels, or Getty Images is a quick alternative if original assets are not available.

Responsive display ads work best — and are most likely to be approved — when both a landscape and a square image are provided. Google uses whichever image fits the available ad slot. If you provide only one image type, your ads may not serve in many available placements, which reduces your reach and can trigger a "missing required image" notice. Go into each responsive display ad and confirm that both image types have been uploaded and that both meet the minimum size requirements. Using the recommended sizes (1200x628 for landscape and 1200x1200 for square) gives the best quality across all placements.

Google prohibits images that are graphic, disturbing, or designed to shock viewers. This includes images showing severe injuries, medical procedures in a graphic way, dead or dying people or animals, extreme accidents, or anything designed to provoke a strong negative emotional response. If your ad image falls into any of these categories, replace it with a clean, professional image that represents your product or service in a positive and appropriate light. Even if the shocking image is used to highlight a problem your product solves (for example, a "before" image showing a skin condition), it must meet professional presentation standards.

Google prohibits images that are sexually explicit, that show nudity (even partial or implied), or that are designed to be sexually suggestive. This includes provocative poses, revealing clothing used in a sexual context, or imagery that a general audience would find inappropriate for a public advertisement. Even if your business is in a legitimate health, beauty, or fitness category, your ad images must meet general audience appropriateness standards. Replace any such images with professional alternatives that show your product or service clearly and respectably without sexual framing.

Google prohibits before-and-after images in ads that depict dramatic physical transformations — particularly for weight loss, body shaping, skin treatments, or medical procedures. These are banned because they are often misleading about the typical results a customer can expect. If your current image shows a "before" state alongside an "after" state in the same image, or if a single image is framed to represent an extreme transformation, replace it. Use a professional image that shows your product or service in a positive, realistic, single-state representation without comparison framing.

Every image in a Google ad must clearly and honestly represent the product, service, or business being advertised. An image that has no relationship to what you are selling — for example, using a photo of a luxury yacht to advertise a small local business service, or using a stock photo of a smiling family to advertise an unrelated financial product — is considered misleading. Replace any generic or unrelated imagery with images that specifically and accurately depict your actual product, your actual service in action, or your actual business environment.

Images that include a fake "Play" button overlay designed to make users think the ad is a video, fake "Click here" buttons, fake notification badges, or any other interactive element designed to deceive users into clicking are prohibited. This technique is called "fake interactivity" or "misleading imagery." Replace any image that includes these elements with a clean image that represents your product or service honestly, without artificial elements designed to manipulate click behaviour. Genuine call-to-action text in the ad copy (not embedded in the image) is the correct way to encourage clicks.

Images that prominently feature weapons being used in a threatening or promotional manner, illegal activities, dangerous stunts without safety context, or content that could encourage harmful behaviour are prohibited. This applies even if the product being advertised is itself legal (such as sporting equipment). The image must not frame dangerous or violent content in an exciting or desirable way. Replace any such images with safe, positive imagery that shows your product or service in a responsible and lawful context that would be appropriate for a general audience.

Using another company's logo, brand name, character, or trademarked imagery in your ad image without explicit written permission from the trademark owner is a policy violation that can also result in legal action. This includes using competitor logos, celebrity faces (in some contexts), cartoon characters, sports team logos, movie or TV imagery, and well-known brand assets. If any image in your ads contains any such element, replace it with original imagery or properly licensed stock photography. If you believe you have a right to use the content (such as an official partnership or licence), ensure you have that licence documented before resubmitting.

Google requires that text overlaid on an image (text printed directly onto the image, not the separate ad headline or description) covers no more than 20% of the total image area. To check this: imagine dividing your image into a 5x5 grid of 25 equal squares. No more than 5 of those squares should contain text. If more than 20% of your image is covered by text, remove some text from the image, reduce the font size, or reposition text to a smaller area. Key information like your headline, offer, and call to action should be in the separate ad text fields, not embedded in the image itself.

Any text that appears within an image must be large enough and have sufficient contrast against the background to be clearly readable when the ad is displayed at its intended size. Text that is too small, positioned over a busy background that makes it hard to read, rendered in a very thin font weight, or in a colour that blends with the background will be flagged as illegible. If your image contains text, test how it looks at the actual sizes Google will display the ad (you can preview your ad in Google Ads before submitting). If any text is hard to read, increase the font size, improve the contrast, or simplify the background behind the text.

Specific price claims, "Sale ends in X hours" countdown timers, and urgency phrases embedded directly into an image create a problem: if the price changes or the sale ends, the image becomes inaccurate but may continue serving in the same ad. Google discourages embedding time-sensitive or variable information into images for this reason, and in some cases flags it as a policy issue. Move any price information, countdown, or offer-specific text to the ad's headline or description fields instead, where it can be updated without changing the image.

If the text embedded in your image says exactly the same thing as your ad headline or description (for example, your image shows "50% Off All Products" and your headline also says "50% Off All Products"), this is redundant and can be flagged as duplicate or excessive content. The image and the ad text should work together to convey complementary information. The image should show or suggest your product or brand visually, while the text fields carry the specific messaging. Remove any text from the image that simply repeats what is already written in the headline or description.

Logo images used in responsive display ads and other Google ad formats must not contain promotional text, slogans, taglines, or any marketing language embedded within the logo image itself. The logo slot is reserved for your brand's visual identity only — the logo graphic and your brand name as part of that logo design. Promotional messages, price claims, slogans like "Best in Town" or "Free Delivery," and any non-logo content must be removed from logo images. If your logo naturally includes a short tagline as part of its standard brand design, it is generally acceptable, but promotional add-ons specifically for the ad are not.

If your ad targets English-speaking users and the ad headline and description are in English, any text visible within the image must also be in English (or at minimum not in a language that contradicts or confuses the target audience). Text in images in a different language to the rest of the ad can confuse users and may be flagged as a language inconsistency or a quality issue. Review every image that contains embedded text and confirm the language matches your campaign's language targeting and your ad copy's language.

Google requires that the most important visual element of your image — your product, your face, your logo, or the central subject of the image — is fully visible and not cropped at the edges. An image where a product is partially cut off at the side, where a person's face is cut in half, or where the key visual element is positioned so close to the edge that it may be cropped by the ad display system will be flagged. Reframe the image to ensure all important content sits within the "safe zone" — a central area at least 80% of the image dimensions where important elements will not be cut off regardless of how the image is displayed.

Images that have black or white bars on any side — which happens when an image of the wrong aspect ratio is padded to fit a required size instead of being properly cropped — are not accepted by Google. For example, placing a square image inside a landscape frame with black bars on the sides (letterboxing) or a landscape image inside a square frame with bars on the top and bottom (pillarboxing) creates a poor user experience and will trigger a disapproval. Always crop and resize your image to exactly fit the required aspect ratio without adding bars, borders, or padding of any kind.

A distorted image — where the image has been non-proportionally resized, making people or objects look unnaturally tall, wide, thin, or squashed — is a quality violation. This commonly happens when someone resizes an image by dragging only one corner and accidentally changes the aspect ratio, or when converting an image to a different aspect ratio by stretching rather than cropping. To fix this, always maintain the original proportional dimensions when resizing: resize proportionally (with "constrain proportions" or "lock aspect ratio" enabled in your image editor) and then crop the image to the required aspect ratio from the proportionally resized version.

Animated GIF image ads have specific technical requirements: the animation must not flash more than 3 times per second (to protect users with photosensitive conditions), the total length of the animation must not exceed 30 seconds, and the file size must not exceed 150 KB. Additionally, the animation must stop after playing through once (or at most three times) — it cannot loop endlessly. If your GIF exceeds any of these limits, you must edit it in a video or image editor to reduce the frame rate, shorten the animation, optimise the file size, or set a loop limit. Use a tool like ezgif.com to check and edit GIF properties without specialist software.

Logo images used in Google ads should have either a transparent background (use a PNG file with transparency enabled) or a clean white background. A logo on a coloured background that does not match the ad's background colour can look unprofessional and may be flagged. Logo images must also meet their own size requirements: square logo images (1:1 ratio) must be at least 128x128 pixels (recommended 1200x1200), and landscape logo images (4:1 ratio) must be at least 512x128 pixels (recommended 1200x300). The logo itself should be centred within the image with a small amount of clear space around it to prevent it from being cut off by the display system.

Google holds ad images to a general professional quality standard. This means avoiding: images that are visibly taken on a phone in poor lighting, images with significant motion blur from an unsteady camera, images with distracting cluttered backgrounds that obscure the product, images with colour balance issues (overly yellow, blue, or washed out), and images that are visibly amateur in composition. If any image in your ads looks noticeably unprofessional compared to standard commercial advertising, replace it with a high-quality photograph, a professional design, or a high-quality stock image that represents your brand professionally.

In your Google Ads account, use the ad preview function to see exactly how each fixed ad will look before you submit it for Google's review. For responsive display ads, use the preview to check multiple ad size combinations and confirm the image looks correct in each one. Check that: the image is clear and undistorted, no important elements are cropped, the text (if any) is within the 20% limit and legible, the image is relevant to the ad content, and the overall ad looks professional and appropriate for a general audience. Fix anything that does not look right in the preview before submitting.

In Google Ads, go to Tools → Ad Preview and Diagnosis. Enter keywords, locations, and device types to see how your ads — including your images — appear in simulated real search results and display placements. This tool is more realistic than the basic ad editor preview because it shows your ads in the actual context they will appear in, including how images are cropped and sized by the display network. Check every relevant keyword or audience targeting that triggers your image ads and confirm the images appear correctly in every simulated context.

In your Google Ads account, go to Tools → Policy Manager. Find every ad that is still showing a "Disapproved" status due to Image Requirements. For each ad, click "Appeal" and briefly describe the specific change made: "Reduced text overlay from approximately 35% to under 15% of image area by removing headline text from image" or "Replaced 480x251 pixel image with 1200x628 pixel high-resolution version." Submit once per ad and wait. Google's review of image-related violations typically takes 1 to 3 business days. Do not submit the same appeal multiple times — wait for the result before appealing again.

To prevent future image violations, create a simple one-page reference document that lists the required specifications for every image type used in your campaigns: the required dimensions, aspect ratios, maximum file sizes, accepted file formats, text overlay limit (under 20%), and content rules. Share this with every team member, freelancer, or agency that creates or uploads images for your Google Ads. Having the specifications written down and easily accessible means images are prepared correctly from the start rather than being uploaded and then failing Google's review. Save this document in a shared folder where your whole team can access it.

Image requirements can change over time as Google updates its policies, and new images added to campaigns are not always checked as carefully as they should be. Set a monthly reminder to review all active ad images across your account. At each review: check that all images still meet the current size and format requirements, confirm that no new images have been uploaded with excessive text overlays, check that all images remain appropriate and professionally presented, and look for any "Limited" or "Disapproved" status indicators in Policy Manager. Catching image issues within a month of them appearing prevents significant wasted ad spend on disapproved or limited ads.