Google Ads Updates Destination Requirements Policy

Google Ads is updating its Destination requirements policy in March 2022 to improve clarity for advertisers. The changes being made will not impact the current policies.

Changes to the Destination policies are officially going into effect on March 21, 2022.

If you’re unclear why Google  disapproved your ads in the past, these changes should benefit you.

What’s Changing?

When Google disapproves an ad it’s not always clear why it was disapproved, or what this means for the rest of an advertiser’s campaign.

The main objective behind Google updating the destination policy is to provide clear examples and updated language of disapprovals. Changes to the policy include:

• Clarifying guidelines for “Insufficient Original Content” policy
• Introducing new “Destination not accessible” policy
• Updating examples in the “Destination not working” policy

Insufficient Original Content

The first change will be within the “Insufficient Original Content” policy.

More specifically, websites that had error messages including “site under construction” will be categorized into this Insufficient policy.

Previously, those error messages corresponded with the “Destination Not Working” policy.

Now, destinations that will receive this error message include:

• Parked domains
• A website that is only intended to reserve a web address (no content on it)
• Websites that display “Coming Soon” or “Under Construction” messages.

An example of the updated language Google Ads will be using is below.

Destination Not Accessible

The second update is a new, independent policy from Google. This policy is called “Destination not accessible” and falls underneath the requirements of access limitations.

Image credit: Support.google.com, February 2022

For example, if your site showed a message of “Down for maintenance”, you would receive this error message from Google Ads.

Other examples where you would receive this disapproval from Google include:

• A site that displays a location based access limitation message in the targeted location
• A site that displays other messaging related to access limitations in the targeted location
  • Such as “You don’t have access to view this page”

Destination Not Working

Lastly, Google is updating its examples when showcasing the “Destination Not Working” policy. The reason for this update is to improve transparency and clarity for advertisers.

Google’s updated language around this policy will show as follows:

Image credit: Support.google.com, February 2022

If your site contains “http” or a server error code will receive this message.

Additionally, you may be at risk for receiving this disapproval if:

• Your website returns an authentication error
• Your website doesn’t work on common browsers or devices

Why Should Advertisers Care?

With Google providing more transparency and clarity around disapprovals, you’ll be able to troubleshoot ads faster. The quicker you can identify a disapproval issue, the quicker your ads will get back up and running.

These policy updates go into effect on March 21, 2022. You’ll want to make sure your website and accessibility to it is in good condition to avoid these disapprovals.

Source: Advertising Policies Help

Featured Image: Catleski/Shutterstock