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Ad copy or sitelinks rejected by Google

Google reviews every ad. Google can disapprove individual ads or sitelinks even when it approves the campaign overall. First, read the disapproval reason. Google's reasons are specific. The reason tells you exactly what to fix.

Where to see the disapproval reason​

  1. Open Google Ads.
  2. Find the campaign.
  3. Open its ads or assets tab.
  4. Disapproved items show a "Disapproved" status with a reason.

The reason text is the most important thing on the screen. Match it to a section below.

Trademark in the headline or description​

Only the trademark owner, its authorized resellers, or informational sites about the trademark may use another company's trademark in ad text. A competitor's name in your headline or description sits outside those exceptions. The trademark owner can then file a complaint that triggers a disapproval. Google usually applies the disapproval to your whole domain on an ongoing basis, not just to one ad.

This catches comparison phrasing too. "Better than Salesforce," "Salesforce alternative," and "Switch from Salesforce" all use the Salesforce trademark and fall under the same rule, even though they are framed as a comparison. They often pass automated approval. The risk is the complaint that lands later.

If you ran the campaign through Hero Marketer's wizard and selected the Competitor type, the generated copy already avoids competitor names. If you are seeing this disapproval anyway, the trademarked term likely crept in through a manual edit. Or you built the campaign as Branded or Non branded with a competitor name in the seed. Check the campaign type you picked in the wizard.

To fix it:

  • Rewrite without the trademarked term. "Top alternative," "A faster legacy CRM swap," and "Switch in minutes" carry comparative weight without naming the competitor.
  • Ask Google to authorize the trademark only if you genuinely have written permission from the owner (rare). See Google's trademark help for advertisers.
  • Keep bidding on the competitor's name as a keyword. That stays allowed. Only the ad text is the problem.

Misleading or unverifiable claims​

For example, Google disapproves "Best CRM in the world," "Guaranteed to double your sales," or "10x faster than X," unless you can substantiate them. To fix it, remove the claim, soften it, or replace it with a verifiable specific. For example, use "Built for fast moving teams" instead of "Fastest CRM," or use "Used by 5,000 teams" if true.

Unreachable or broken landing page​

Google checks that your landing page loads, does not redirect to an unrelated page, and matches the ad's promise. A page that is down, slow, or failing Google's quality checks gets the ad disapproved. To fix it, open the URL in an incognito window. Confirm it loads, does not redirect to your homepage or an unrelated page, and matches the ad. For example, an ad about "pricing" should land on a pricing page, not the homepage.

Excessive capitalization or punctuation​

Google disapproves ALL CAPS headlines and excessive punctuation (for example, "Free!!! Sign up!!!"). Rewrite in sentence case or title case with normal punctuation.

Health, finance, or other regulated claims​

If your product touches healthcare, finance, legal, or another regulated category, Google applies stricter rules. Specific claims, for example medical outcomes, financial returns, or legal advice, need disclaimers or certification. Review Google's policy for your category, add the required disclaimers, or rewrite to avoid regulated claim language.

Restricted product or service​

Some categories are restricted outright, for example gambling, pharmaceuticals, or weapons. Others are limited to specific countries or require certification. Check Google's restricted products policies. If your product genuinely falls into a restricted category, you may need certification before ads can run.

How to fix a disapproved ad​

You have two paths: a fresh ad or a small edit.

  • Ask Hero AI for a replacement ad. The Ad Copy Agent pulls your product context, the ad group's keywords, and your existing copy, then drafts new headlines and descriptions. Confirm to apply, and Hero AI creates the new ad in the target ad group. This is the fit when the disapproval is about trademark, a claim, or relevance and a rewrite is the fix.
  • Edit the existing ad in Google Ads when you want a small change, not a new ad.

Either way, once the edit or new ad lands:

  1. The ad re enters review automatically.
  2. Re review usually finishes within hours, sometimes a day.
  3. Once approved, the ad starts serving.

Sitelinks are reviewed independently of the main ad. A disapproved sitelink stops showing but does not pause the campaign. Fix it in the assets section of Google Ads:

  1. Find the sitelink.
  2. Edit its text and destination URL.
  3. Save. Re review starts automatically.

For sitelinks Hero Marketer generated, you can also rebuild them with different copy through the campaign or asset picker. See Add sitelinks.

How to appeal a disapproval you think is wrong​

Google sometimes flags ads incorrectly. To request a manual review:

  1. Open the disapproved ad in Google Ads.
  2. Click Appeal or Request review.
  3. Explain why you believe the disapproval is incorrect.
  4. Submit. Manual review takes 1 to 3 business days.

Manual review reverses incorrect disapprovals roughly half the time. It will not reverse a disapproval that is policy correct. For those, the rewrite above is the path.

Most or all of my ads were disapproved at once​

When nearly every ad comes back disapproved, the cause usually affects the whole account, not one ad:

  • A landing page that is down.
  • A category Google does not allow ads in.
  • A suspension that affects the whole account and all its campaigns.

Check your account status in Google Ads first. If the account itself is suspended, resolve that with Google before troubleshooting individual ads.

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