ReferenceGoogle Ads account suspension
Circumventing systems
Google suspends the whole account, without warning, when it decides the account tried to get around its review or enforcement: a new account after a suspension, disapproved ads sent back in slightly changed form, cloaking, or false verification details. Do not open another account. Find what Google could have read as evasion, fix it, then send one thorough, honest appeal.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- A banner across the Google Ads account and an email saying the account is suspended for Circumventing systems.
- What stops
- Every campaign in the account. Google says advertisers found in violation may not advertise with Google Ads again.
- How serious
- The most serious kind. Suspension on detection with no warning, and reinstatement only in compelling circumstances.
What it means
Circumventing systems sits under Google's Abusing the ad network policy. It covers practices that get around or interfere with Google's advertising systems and processes, and attempts count as well as success. Google treats it as egregious.
It is rarely about one ad. Google says it may review ads, websites, accounts and third-party sources, so the decision usually rests on a pattern across them: repeated near-copies of a disapproved ad, a second account, a landing page that changes depending on who is looking.
What actually triggers it
A new account after an earlier suspension
Google lists creating new accounts to get back in after a suspension. It does not matter who opens it: an owner starting fresh, or a new contractor setting up an account for a business whose old one was suspended. Google says suspensions on connected accounts have to be resolved through appeal first.
Disapproved ads sent back with small changes
Rewording around a flagged phrase again and again, instead of fixing the cause, matches Google's description of creating variations of disapproved ads, domains or content to get past review. One edit is normal. A run of near-identical resubmissions is the pattern.
Anything shared with a suspended account
Not on Google's help page
Treat the payment card, the sign-in, the website domain and the business details used on a suspended account as things that can tie a new account to it. Google asks every account to be connected to a real business with trusted payment methods, and wants an appeal to explain why several accounts exist.
A landing page that shows the reviewer something different
Cloaking is showing Google one page and people another. Google also lists intrusive interstitials that stop its crawler reaching the page, and click trackers that send people somewhere else. Redirects that depend on device or country, often added by a plugin or a tracking tool, deserve a look for the same reason.
Details in advertiser verification that do not hold up
Google lists submitting false or fraudulent information during verification. Use the legal business name and documents exactly as registered, and make sure the person verifying is who they say they are.
The same ads spread across several accounts
Running ads that break a policy across two or more accounts, or using several accounts to promote something that needs a certification the advertiser lacks, are both on Google's list.
Fix it in this order
- Do not open a new account, and tell anyone who works on the ads not to. A new account after a suspension is itself on the list of violations.
- List every Google Ads account the business, its staff or any past contractor has used, with the payment method and sign-in on each. If one of them was suspended before, that is the likely link.
- Open the landing pages from the ads with Chrome DevTools set to the Google AdsBot user agent, on a phone and a computer, and look for redirects, pop-ups or content that differs from what visitors see.
- Remove the cause: delete reworded copies of disapproved ads rather than editing them again, take out redirects and interstitials that hide the page, and correct any verification details that do not match the business's documents.
- If Google asks for advertiser verification before an appeal, complete it carefully. Google says that after three failed attempts the appeal is not allowed.
- Click Contact Us in the suspension banner and complete the appeal form: who runs the account, why any other accounts exist, what was found and what has changed.
Clicking Contact Us again shows Appeal pending, and the decision arrives by email. A rejected appeal can be sent again the same way, so keep the second one for when there is something new to say.
When to appeal
Appeal once the account is clean, not before. Google reinstates only in compelling circumstances, such as a genuine mistake, and asks for an explanation that is thorough, accurate and honest. Admitting a real cause and showing it is gone is stronger than insisting nothing happened.
If a contractor or company manages the account, Google says to check with them. They may hold the history the appeal needs, including other accounts they opened.
Often confused with
Suspicious payment activity or unpaid balance
A billing suspension. Google may ask for the payment method to be verified, and the fix is on the billing side, not in the ads or the website.
Misrepresentation
Also an account-level suspension, but about whether the business and its offer are presented honestly: hidden fees, missing business details, claims it cannot back up.