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Ad copy or sitelinks rejected by Google

When Google reviews your campaign, individual ads or sitelinks can be rejected even if the campaign overall is approved. Rejection reasons are visible in Google Ads.

Where to see rejection reasons​

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

The reason text is the most important thing. Google's reasons are usually specific. Read them.

Common rejection reasons​

Trademark in headline or description​

Using a competitor's trademark in your ad copy gets rejected. "Better than Salesforce" with Salesforce as a trademarked brand may trigger this. Some trademarks are restricted only as keywords, not in copy; others are restricted in both.

Fix:

  • Rewrite without the trademarked term.
  • Use a generic descriptor: "Better than legacy CRMs" instead of "Better than Salesforce".
  • File a trademark complaint clearance with Google if you have authorization to use the trademark (rare, generally doesn't apply to competitor names).

Misleading or unverifiable claims​

Claims like "Best CRM in the world", "Guaranteed to double your sales", or "10x faster than X" trigger rejections unless you can substantiate them.

Fix:

  • Remove the claim, or
  • Soften it ("Built for fast moving teams" instead of "Fastest CRM").
  • Add specifics that can be substantiated ("Used by 5,000 teams" if true and verifiable).

Unreachable or broken landing page​

Google checks that your landing page loads, doesn't redirect to an unrelated page, and matches the ad's promise. If the page is down, slow, or fails Google's quality checks, the ad is rejected.

Fix:

  • Open the URL in an incognito window. Confirm it loads.
  • Make sure it doesn't redirect to a homepage or unrelated page.
  • Confirm the page content matches the ad's promise. An ad about "pricing" should land on a pricing page, not the homepage.

Excessive capitalization or punctuation​

ALL CAPS HEADLINES or excessive exclamation marks (e.g., "Free!!! Sign up!!!") get rejected.

Fix: rewrite in sentence case or title case with normal punctuation.

Health, finance, or regulated category claims​

If your product touches healthcare, finance, legal, or other regulated categories, Google has stricter rules. Specific claims (medical outcomes, financial returns, legal advice) need disclaimers or certification.

Fix: review Google's policies for your category. Add disclaimers where required, or rewrite to avoid regulated claim language.

Restricted product or service​

Some categories are restricted entirely (gambling, pharmaceuticals, weapons). Some are restricted to specific countries or require certification.

Fix: check Google's restricted product policies. If your product genuinely falls into a restricted category, certification may be required before ads can run.

Fixing a rejected ad​

Edits can be done in Google Ads directly. After editing:

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

You don't need to rebuild the campaign in Hero Marketer. Edits in Google Ads stick.

Sitelinks are reviewed independently of the main ad. A rejected sitelink stops showing but doesn't pause the campaign.

Fix in Google Ads' assets section:

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

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

Appealing a rejection​

If you believe a rejection is wrong (Google sometimes flags ads incorrectly), you can request a manual review:

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

Manual review reverses incorrect rejections about half the time. It doesn't reverse rejections that are policy correct.

Many rejections at once​

If most or all of your ads come back rejected, the issue is usually:

  • A landing page that's down.
  • A category Google doesn't allow ads in.
  • An account level suspension that's affecting all campaigns.

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

Still confused?​

Contact support with:

  • The exact rejection text from Google.
  • The ad copy or sitelink text.
  • The landing page URL.

We can read Google's policies with you and suggest a rewrite. We can't override Google's policies, but we can usually find phrasing that passes review.