Google Ads has a 3-Offense Policy Rule in place.

The account violation policies for Google Ads have been changed. In June 2022, a new three-strike rule will go into effect.

If you advertise on Google Ads, you've probably seen an unapproved ad at least once in your life.

Disapprovals are getting more automated and challenging to challenge without a Google representative's assistance.

Google announced improvements to the enforcement of recurrent disapproval violations in response to the increase in ad disapprovals. The first enforcements will begin in June 2022.

What is Altering

If you frequently break specific rules, Google will give your Google Ads account a strike.

To be clear, not every policy is subject to a strike. The strike system will be activated for the following policies:

• Compensated sexual acts
• Mail-order brides
• Clickbait
• Misleading ad design
• Bail bond services
• Call Directories, forwarding services
• Credit repair services
• Binary options
• Personal loans

Your Google Ads account is only allowed to receive a maximum of three strikes for the specific regulations that are subject to enforcement. Google stated that the penalties would rise progressively with each applied strike.

Strikes' Operation

Your account will be temporarily put on hold after the first and second strikes against it.

• First Offense: Temporary Hold for 3 Days
• A second strike results in a seven-day hold.

When your account receives three strikes, it will be suspended.

The strikes will be made at the level of each individual account, not the Manager account (MCC).

How to Communicate a Strike

You will be notified by email of the warning or suspension if you are on the particular account and have Google Ads set up to send you email notifications.

The interface of the warnings and strikes will also display an in-account notification.

Below is an illustration of a notification you might get:

How to Respond After Being Hit or Suspended

If your account is temporarily put on hold, you must correct the infractions and rejections. You will also have to submit an acknowledgement form.

According to Google's support article, you consent to the following by sending Google the acknowledgement form:

• The policy(ies) that resulted in the account receiving a strike are known to you, you have reviewed them, and you are aware that further violations of these policies may result in harsher punishments, up to and including account suspension.
• The assets and advertising in question have been removed, and you'll make sure that any new materials and ads follow our rules going forward.
• It is highly forbidden to create extra accounts or try to go around Google's policy enforcement; doing so may result in account suspension.

You can submit an appeal form, which is available here, if you believe you haven't broken any rules.

If your appeal is granted, the strike from your account will be revoked and the account hold will be released right away.

Summary

You will probably be exempt from the account infractions for accounts that don't fall under the aforementioned criteria. Nevertheless, it's still wise to regularly check your account notifications.

Be proactive if you see any account infractions. To maintain a good credit standing, the transgressions should be reviewed, changed, or appealed.