Category: Google Ads Policies

Ever faced ads or extension that were disapproved for Destination Not Working policy in your Google Ads account? This policy can sometimes be a real mystery, when it seems like your landing pages are available when you try it yourself.

Destination Not Working : what is that?

We will see today how this policy can indeed be quite mysterious. But let’s clarify something right now : almost every time, Google Ads flagged these ads correctly.

First, I think it is essential to remind what this policy is about : Destination Not Working happens whenever your ad’s Final URL don’t function properly or have been incorrectly set up. This can be happening due to several technical reasons, but there is a trap : you can see your website functioning correctly, while in the end it is not !

This is why I came up with these testing tools, to figure that out. Indeed, it is possible that in your own context you can see your website work as intended. That doesn’t mean that it is currently accessible for other countries or for crawling robots (as Google require in its destination policies).

Let’s now take a close look at the different tools we can use to identify destination issues.

Uptrends

Uptrends’s Website Uptime tool is a very nice way to ensure, quickly, that your website is available in various location in the world. This is, in my opinion, the ideal first step to check, as Google hates when someone cannot access your website.

To use the tool, simply fill your website address (including “http://”, or even better “https://”) in the field, and click Start test.

When all the location are green, then it means that they are reachable from all these locations. On the opposite, if your website cannot be accessed from certain locations, you will quickly be able to detect it with locations being displayed in red, as follows :

From this test, you can use a VPN from an unreachable location, to confirm the issue. It can even help you troubleshoot the issue, as other locations can only be blocked by a confirmation page, such as a bot blocker, which makes it seems like unreachable for the robot.

GeoPeeker

GeoPeeker is a second tool, that looks a bit like Uptrends. Indeed, this website shows you direct rendering of your page (as well as IP address and Ping), from several locations around the globe. I consider that it can be a useful complement to Uptrends, in order to see, as previously mentioned, if there are any blockers on the website, such a captcha or confirmation page in certain countries.

Indeed, you’ll see straight away if they are rendering.

Don’t worry if some rendering, like in the example above, displays “Render Unavailable”. This is a common issue from this tool, but as long as you see an IP address and a Ping, it means it has been reached.

Httpstatus

Next in line is HTTPS Status. This tool is particularly useful if you have various URLs to check at once. Indeed, you can add all your URLs, one per line, to check if they will return an HTTP error, or an HTTP status 200 (OK).

That being said, let’s rewind a little, to understand what are HTTP statuses. To say it simply, it is the status in which your page reaches you. They are split in categories:

• 2xx : successful
• 3xx : redirection
• 4xx : client error
• 5xx : server error 

The complete list, and the meaning of each status, is in this Wikipedia article. You don’t have to know them at all. Indeed, what matters is to differentiate the 200 (OK), that Google wants for your page, from the other ones, that results in a Destination Not Working flagging.

Please note that Redirections are not permitted by Google, as it seems like tricking the user.

Robots.txt validator

robots.txt validator, by Merkle, is a very useful tool to see the robot.txt file detected on your website. A very cool feature is that you can pick the exact User Agent (robot) that you want to use. For this reason, this tool will directly show you the line that concerns this particular agent, and will confirm underneath, whether it is accessible or not.

I always recommend having a quick look at this tool. Indeed, it happens when you have a Destination Not Working issue (especially when you can see the website on your end) that some crawling bots are disallowed in your robot.txt.

Chrome inspector

The inspection mode from Google Chrome can be a powerful ally to understand a website’s issue. Even though it is mostly used by web developers (especially the Console tab, that we gonna look at), this tool is a quick way to see errors, such as HTTP 403 or 404, that can lead to a Destination Not Working.

To access this tool, you must :

• Go to your website
• Right-click somewhere
• Choose Inspect
• On the top bar of the popup, click on Console

Once there, you will find the errors in red. They are not all a cause for Destination Not Working, but if you see a lot of them, I’ll recommend you to see with your webmaster the issue to fix it.

In conclusion, if all of these elements are in the green, I highly recommend you to reach out to Google Ads support. They can have more insight on the issue, or helps you to re-enable your ads in case of error.

You can find the policy (amongst other destination policies) official article from Google by following this link. For an article about the different policy types, click here.

Let’s discover the different types of policies Google Ads has!

As one of the most popular digital advertising platforms, Google Ads allows businesses to reach their target audiences through a variety of ad formats and targeting options. However, in order to maintain a fair and safe advertising ecosystem, Google has established various policies that advertisers must adhere to. These policies are categorized into several categories, detailed below.

1. Prohibited content : Google Ads prohibits the promotion of certain types of content, including but not limited to adult content, counterfeit goods, illegal products or services, and misleading or deceptive content. This category also includes ads that promote discrimination or hate speech, as well as those that exploit sensitive events or issues.
2. Restricted content : While some types of content are outright prohibited, others are allowed under certain restrictions. Restricted content includes alcohol, gambling, healthcare products or services, and financial services. Advertisers promoting these products or services must adhere to specific requirements, such as providing proof of licensing or complying with local laws and regulations.
3. Prohibited practices : In addition to specific types of content, Google Ads also prohibits certain advertising practices. These include practices that are considered to be misleading, such as false claims or misleading information about products or services. Other prohibited practices include the use of unauthorized third-party trademarks and the manipulation of ad metrics or user behavior.
4. Ad format policies : Google Ads has specific policies related to the format and appearance of ads. For example, ads must be clearly distinguishable from other content on a page, and they cannot contain excessively flashy or distracting animations or sound effects. Additionally, ads cannot include certain types of content, such as auto-play videos or pop-ups that interfere with a user’s ability to navigate a website.
5. Landing page policies : Finally, Google Ads has policies related to the landing pages that ads direct users to. Landing pages must be relevant to the ad content and provide a clear and honest representation of the product or service being promoted. They must also provide a positive user experience, with fast loading times and easy navigation. Checkout, for instance, my article about Destination requirement here.

Overall, Google Ads policies are designed to ensure that advertisers create high-quality, relevant ads that provide value to users while maintaining a safe and trustworthy advertising ecosystem. Advertisers must carefully review and adhere to these policies in order to avoid ad disapproval or account suspension, and to create effective and successful ad campaigns.