Ads suspended by AdWords: Why did it happen and how to fix it

Ads are everywhere, and due to its widespread use, they have become gateways for hackers and attackers to enter into personal spaces and cause damage. With the use of ads, spreading malware and viruses is very easy. Moreover, to tackle such problems, ad checkers have become more stringent in checking for any discrepancies. Google AdWords is one of the most significant advertising services apart from Facebook and Yahoo/Bing Ads. Google AdWords regularly reviews for harmful ads and if needed suspends ads until you repair the ads. If you find your Google ads suspended then checking up with AdWords is a recommended option. Apart from this step, there are several other steps to take in order to bring back your disapproved Google ads.

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Warnings Google Show on Suspending Your Adwords Ads:

Your Google AdWords account has been suspended – We’ve detected suspicious payments in your account.
Your Google AdWords account has been suspended because your billing information in this or a related account could not be verified. If you believe your account was suspended in error, please contact us through the AdWords Help Center.
The Google Ads account has been permanently suspended for repeated violation of AdWords or Landing Page and Site policies in this or a related account.
Your Google AdWords account has been temporarily suspended due to suspected unauthorized access attempts.
Unfortunately, it appears that your site has been hacked. A hacker may have modified existing pages or added spam content to your site. You may not be able to easily see these problems if the hacker has configured your server to only show the spam content to certain visitors. To protect visitors to your site, Google’s search results may label your site’s pages as hacked. We may also show an older, clean version of your site.
Your Google AdWords account has been suspended because of a violation of our terms of service.
Malicious or unwanted software
Currently, we haven’t detected any security issues with your site’s content. If you want to learn more about security issues and how they could affect your site, review our resources for hacked sites.
Our system randomly and periodically scans the website and checks if the website complies with the Google policy. Therefore, recently your website was scanned and the most recent system scan detected that this advertiser’s primary declared landing page is affected by an unsafe domain [domain .com]
Your account has been deactivated for not complying with the Ads Grants Account Management Policy. Please review the policy and contact us after you’ve updated your account to bring it into compliance.

Google Ads suspended — Adwords campaign suspended due to malware

Why Google AdWords suspended your ads?

Policy Non- Compliance

Google suspends your ads if it deviates from the set policies. According to the official policy on ads by Google, copyrighted content, Sexually explicit content, substance abusive content, non-professional content, misleading content will be disapproved.

Low-Quality Ads

Google also disapproves ads which aren’t so professional looking. It considers image quality, content quality, video quality, proper formatting, etc before approving an ad. So, if your ads have been suspended, consider reviewing it for its quality. Poor content conveys that you are not committed to providing good user experience.

Account with infection or malicious content

Another reason for ad suspension is malicious pop-ups & redirecting ads. This signals that your site might have infections or malware in it.

Misleading Ads

Your ads misleading visitors. Google suspends such ads which are merely click-bait and does not add value. For instance, Ads claiming free services, but have a hidden rate to them.

Cloaking activities

Google suspends your ads if you are cloaking. Cloaking is an unethical way to improve SEO. If you cloak, you show different results to the search engine bots and the end-user.

How to check the reason for suspended Google Adwords Ads?

If you find your ads to be disapproved, the first step is to identify the reason for the suspension. Knowing the cause will help you correct the flaw. It will also quicken the process of fixing the ads since any downtime of your ads will result in a loss of revenue.

Ads Disapproved because of malware? Drop us a message on the chat widget and we’d be happy to assist you.

Find Google AdWords account suspension reason:

If the user fails to operate in accordance with any of the policies of AdWords, Google suspends them. The way to check the policies that you have violated is to click on the campaign tab and then click on the ads button. You can customize the column and then add the Policy Details matrix in the column. This will enable you to identify the exact policies which you have violated and thus the reason for the suspended ads.

Find hacked content by logging into Google’s Webmasters

Log into your website’s webmasters’ account. You will get a comprehensive report on your website and ads. If Google’s bot finds any harmful content in your ads, then they will disapprove it and prevent it from showing up in search results.

There are several tools and diagnostics that are available to find out the discrepancies and hacked content. By checking crawl errors and suspicious keywords in Google Index under the Content Keywords, you can quickly identify if any hacker has added any malicious content to your website and ads, getting your Google ads suspended.

If you want we can fix suspended AdWords malware problem for you. We assure that your ads are no more suspended & website remains secure 24×7 from all malware and attacks. Learn more here.

Possible causes of Google AdWords Suspension

There are several reasons for an AdWords account suspension. Here is a list of some of the usual reasons.

“UNACCEPTABLE_CONTENT” Ads suspension reason: This error may arise if the ad contains any links to a website or a page that contains malicious or unacceptable content. Moreover, if the ad leads any user to malware-infected websites, then Google will suspend the ad. In such cases, you will need to remove any malware or content and correct the landing page and then resubmit it for evaluation. If you have received an email from Google team about social engineering content detected check our detailed blog on how to fix it.

Unacceptable content reason for suspension of ads — Screenshot of ad suspended by Google AdWords

The website only displays ads: If your website contains too many ads for the sole purpose of attracting traffic, then Google might suspend the website and the Google ads. Google has very stringent checks for any such site whose primary goal is advertising. Make sure that the number of ads is moderate and has verified landing pages.

Due to malware: If the AdWords or the website has any malware present then Google will promptly suspend Ads. Google regularly verifies if the ads lead to any malware-infected website or assists in spreading the same. If Google finds such an ad, they will suspend it. If you find your Google ads suspended, then this might be a possible reason. There is a possibility of multiple types of malware, this guide on malware removal can help you.

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How to fix ads disapproved due to malware by Google

Fixing the ads is the top priority in such cases of suspension. After knowing about the causes, you will be able to take suitable steps to fix them. The following steps will guide you to bring back the ads online.

Scanning your website with a malware scanner. Since the presence of malware is the most common causes of ads suspension, this scan will reveal any hidden malware.
Repair the infected files. Once you scan your website, you will be able to identify the malware or viruses in your ads or website. Removing the malware and repairing the files will help you bring the ads back online.
Protecting your website with a web application firewall will not only protect it from future attacks and infections, but it will also remove any malware leftover or skillfully hidden. Astra is one of the most advanced services that provide complete protection for websites and solve all your security issues.
Once you remove all the infections, you need to resubmit your ads. If there is no infection on your website, the approval should be automatic. In case the approval is still not available, you need to click on the “Resubmit my ads” option in the “Disapproved” section available in the speech bubble beside the status. For your convenience, our security experts have created a detailed Request a review template that you can use.

In the majority of cases, the review takes place within a day. However, complicating reviews might take more than a day.

If you are not handy with the technicalities or the files of your website, I will recommend you take the help of security experts.

Google AdWords policy on malicious or unwanted software

Ads suspended due to violation of these policies — Screenshot of Google AdWords policies

These are the requirements that apply to any software and all your ads that the site or the app links to or hosts. Moreover, they are applicable even if the promotion is on Google advertising networks. Violating these can result in ads suspension for you. Google prohibits the following programs or tools:

Ransomware
Rogue security software
Trojan horses
Dialers
Keyloggers
Rootkits
Computer viruses
Worms
Malicious software, also known as malware that might damage or obtain unauthorized access to a device, computer or network

Identifying harmful content and keeping your website safe can be a bit difficult at times. Chat now with our security experts.

Sometimes, Adwords account is suspended if your ads lead to pishing(social engineering) pages.

Astra

At Astra, we have web security experts who tackle many similar issues daily. If you would like us to assist you with this drop us a message at the chat widget. Would be happy to help 🙂

Christian Glass CEO & Founder of VetusOnline.com, an e-commerce store in Denmark, reviews Astra Web Security by Czar. Hackers had injected codes that had Christian’s Google Ads suspended. He appreciates Team Astra efforts for securing his website.