Ads are held to a higher standard than uploads
A video can sit on YouTube with no problem and still be refused as an ad. Uploading is governed by YouTube’s community guidelines. Advertising is governed by Google’s ad policies, which are stricter, because an ad is shown to people who did not choose it.
What gets flagged most often
- Adult or sexually suggestive content, including implied nudity
- Profanity and offensive slang
- Drugs, drug references and drug paraphernalia
- Alcohol and tobacco, which are restricted in many countries
- Weapons of any kind
- Violence, threats, and shocking or graphic imagery
- Hate speech, slurs and discriminatory content
- Content that uses a tragedy, disaster or conflict
- Misleading claims, clickbait and unsupported health claims
- Political and election content, which has its own rules
- Financial services, which are restricted
- Copyrighted music, footage or images you do not have the rights to
- A landing page that breaks the same rules
Google’s full advertising policies are published in its own help centre.
Limited instead of disapproved
Sometimes your ad is approved but limited, which means Google will only show it to a smaller audience. Subjects like alcohol, politics, housing, finance and anything judged not family friendly are the usual reasons. A limited campaign can deliver slowly or not at all.
Approval is not permanent
Google re-reviews videos that are already running. A campaign that has been live for days can be disapproved or limited later, and you will get an email if that happens.
Editing the video after it has been submitted also stops the campaign, because Google reviewed a version that no longer exists.
What the decision tells you
Google gives us the policy category. It does not tell us which second, word or image triggered it, and it will not tell us if we ask. Anyone who claims to know exactly which frame caused a disapproval is guessing.
What to do next
Read My ad was disapproved, what now? for your options and where your money went.