Google Ads Account Suspended? Here’s How To Fix It
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7-layers of Security for Your WordPress Site
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Having your Google Ads account get suspended out of the blue is a jarring experience to say the least. Especially, if everything is working great one day, and the next day you get an email saying that you can’t advertise your business anymore.
You are rapidly losing revenue, and you have no idea why. The biggest reason usually is compromised site security, so we will tell you how to solve the issue.
Your first step is to scan your site for malware.
We have seen plenty of these cases, and we will help you fix the Google Ads account suspended issue and get your account back online so that you can start generating ad revenue once again.
TL;DR: One of the most common causes for Google Ads Accounts to be suspended is malware on your website or landing pages. Scan your WordPress website, and follow our post-cleanup checklist (below) to get your Google Ads account unblocked and working again.
What happens when Google suspends your Ads account
When Google suspends your Ads account, your ads stop entirely. This means every campaign, every ad group and every individual ad stops running. They don’t get shown anywhere on the Google network, and they stop taking potential customers to your landing page, website or app. The suspension stops all ads, regardless if they were in violation of the policy. In addition, merchant accounts are also suspended.

In this flurry of suspension though, your organic traffic is unaffected. Advertisers tend to panic, thinking that they will lose their visitors as well. We want to allay this fear, organic traffic will remain unaffected except in one case: if there is malware on your website.
🚨 It is critical to scan your site for malware. Malware can hide in any corner of a website, and you need a deep scanner to find all traces.
Google suspends Adwords accounts if they detect malicious content on the website. We will go into more detail about it in the subsequent sections, but suffice it to say that this is not a trivial problem. We do have a solution though, so we can help you resolve it before it gets any worse.
So, the status quo at this point is that your ads are not working, and you may or may not know which policy you have violated unintentionally. We’ll walk you through how to get your Ads account reinstated, focusing especially on your website.
In our experience, malware is a top reason we have seen Ads accounts getting suspended. We will be focusing on removing malware from your website in this article because it is definitely the most serious.
Perhaps you have already tried to resolve the issue with Google’s support team, and gotten absolutely nowhere. Don’t stress though. The Google Ads suspensions aren’t restricted to small companies; even blue-chip companies spending millions of dollars per month can have their accounts suspended.
Step 1. Understand Google Ads policies
Google suspended your Ads account because your ads (or landing pages, website, or app) violated one of their policies. If you know which policy it was that you violated, great you’re heading in the right direction. However, if like a large majority of people the suspension took you by surprise, we’ll talk a little bit about Google’s policies.
There are 4 major categories of policies that cover Google ads suspensions.

Those are the policies in a nutshell. As you can see, there are a lot of places where you could inadvertently go wrong. If you are a legitimate business for pharmaceuticals, you need to comb through the small print to see how you can use Google for ads.
💡 Your takeaway after all that legalese should be that violations don’t necessarily need to be your fault. Malware on your website is a prohibited practice, even if it isn’t your fault. Google holds you responsible because they consider your website to be your property. Therefore, keeping it safe for their users now is your responsibility, otherwise, you cannot use ads to take their users to your website.
A word of caution here: our explanations are not meant to be exhaustive, and are merely indicative. Google’s policy documents are also indicative, so just because something isn’t listed in the policy, doesn’t mean that it can be promoted via Google Ads.
But you were running the same ads before, and Google didn’t suspend the account then!
Google doesn’t have to be consistent. They’re a company with lots of people working for them, so each policy can be interpreted in different ways by different people. Additionally, the AI that looks through the ads isn’t perfect; the intelligence is artificial, after all. It is still learning. Finally, there is a way to report ads, so there is a possibility a viewer deemed your ad unacceptable and flagged it to Google.
Frankly, it is not worth pursuing this line of thought. You are understandably aggrieved, but the important thing to focus on now is your Google Ads suspended account. You need to get it unsuspended as soon as possible.
Step 2. Figure out which Google Ads policy was violated
The key to getting your account back on track is to figure out what went wrong. Once you have that understanding, you can then move forward and figure out the fix. Here are the most common reasons for a Google Ads suspended account:
1. Your website is hacked
Your ads, website, landing page, or app has malware, unacceptable content, deceptive content, or redirects, which is harmful to visitors. In most cases, website owners are not aware of the presence of malware. Nevertheless, their AdWords account is suspended.

2. Misrepresentation
🚨 Misrepresentation may happen because of malware. Hackers can use your site to host phishing pages with authentic logos and trademarks. The only way to keep a check on this sort of misrepresentation is to have a scanner check your site daily.
3. Prohibited practices
4. Your payment is due or other billing issues
5. Egregious violations
There are two types of Google Ads policy violations: just violations or egregious violations. You can recover your suspended account from the former, but not the latter. Egregious violations are deemed so dangerous and/or unlawful that Google will not risk allowing their users to be exposed to the same advertiser again.
There are people who claim to be able to get you through even this permanent suspension. We have not seen evidence to this effect, so we will avoid commenting on the plausibility of upturning a permanent suspension. However, we do strongly advise caution.
If you’ve followed the content policies and are absolutely sure that your ads are squeaky clean, then in our experience, malware on your website is potentially the problem. That is what we are going to tackle in this article.
Step 3. What NOT to do because of your Google Ads suspended account
Before we even begin with the rectification and recovery process, this is a public service announcement of what not to do. We understand you are stressed and panicking, and if you are responsible for paid user acquisition, then you’re probably under tremendous pressure as well.
We get it, but please trust us when we say that doing any of the following things will only hamper the recovery process. And by hamper, we mean it may risk permanent suspension.
🚨 If your Google Ads account is permanently suspended, there is no way forward. So please don’t do any of this.
These are the top mistakes we see advertisers make when appealing a Google ads account suspension:
Step 4. Fix Google Ads account violation
Let’s talk about what Ads account suspended solutions or steps you need to take to get your account unsuspended. Overall, the approach is to be open to changing what needs to be changed and moving forward carefully and professionally. We will walk you through the major steps, and help you resolve the most serious and common issue we’ve seen: malware on your website.
Step 4.1. Review the violation carefully
We’ve listed some of the potential policy violations above, but it can still be daunting to figure out where exactly things have gone wrong. The first place to start is to check the email Google sent for clues.
The email notification might have some indication of which policy was violated, and that’s a good starting point. If the email doesn’t explicitly state what went wrong, they might link to the policy that was violated. That narrows down the field of possibilities considerably.
The most common email we have seen is for malicious or deceptive content on the website, and it is also the worst-case scenario. If your WordPress website has been hacked, then your suspended Google Ads account is only the tip of the iceberg. For now, your website is still active, which means you have access to it. However, if Google Safe Browsing detects malware on your website, you’re looking at a blacklist. So it is imperative that you resolve a hacked website on priority.
Step 4.2. Assess what needs to be changed
Scan your WordPress website with malware scanner. You will then get a definitive answer as to whether or not your website has malware.
MalCare finds malware files and scripts in every nook and corner of your website, including files and the database. Online malware scanners are less effective, because they cannot access all the parts of your website, and they use an ineffective mechanism to detect malware. The only way to really be sure if your website has been hacked is to use a deep scanner like MalCare.

Once you have scanned your website, you’ve taken a step towards fixing the most problematic issue.
Next, you should compare information that is on your Google Ads account with the info on your website. Good places to check are the shipping charges, about us page, terms and conditions, and other pages with identification or cost-related information. This information should correlate exactly with what is in your Google Ads account.
Has it been updated on the website recently, but not in the Ads account? This is an honest oversight, but it could well be the cause of the suspension. Google views these discrepancies as misrepresentation.
Step 4.3. Rectify all policy violations
Once you have information about what needs to be changed, you go ahead and change it. We have added guidelines about how to fix content-related issues below, but first, we want to address the malware issues.
As we said before, malware is the biggest and most worrisome policy violation, and it is not even your fault. Hacks are largely out of your control, although you can take steps to prevent them. Fortunately, this is the one policy violation that does have a 1-click solution.
Step 4.3.1. Remove malware from your website
The easiest, fastest and most effective way to clean malware from your website is to install MalCare, and use the auto-clean feature. If you used MalCare to scan your website in the previous step, all you need to do is upgrade and clean. Within minutes, your website will be malware-free.
MalCare gets rid of deceptive content, phishing pages, redirects, and spam content instantly. The cleaner only deletes malicious code, leaving your website and data completely intact.

Once you have cleaned your website, you will need to clean the WordPress and browser caches. Caches store old versions of your website in order to speed up loading for site visitors. Therefore the cached versions may still have the malware. So best to clear those out entirely.
Finally, if spam pages were on your website for more than a couple of days, they were definitely indexed by Google. You can check this by using the site search operator in Google, and checking the results. The best way to deal with this is to regenerate the sitemap, and resubmit it to Google.
Step 4.3.2. Fix the content issues
For the most part, we can’t tell you how to correct misrepresentation or address editorial and technical requirements. What we can do is point you in the right direction.
Google Ads policies are open to interpretation, so do read them carefully. If you need help understanding them, reach out to an expert. Try asking in forums and groups, especially ones which have similar businesses. There is an excellent chance someone has experienced the same situation before.
You can also post your doubts on Reddit groups like AdWords, PPC, and Facebook groups like Google Ads, Google Adwords (PPC), Google Ads Expert. You can also look into Quora. If all fails, reach out to Google Search Liaison on Twitter. These groups are teeming with active and engaging participants. Don’t worry, you will find an answer.
Step 4.3.3. Rectifying payment issues
If you have outstanding dues for an ad, you need to clear them. No one likes not getting paid. Not even Google. Check with your bank to ensure there were no transactions made from your account that could be seen as suspicious. Check if your old payment method has become invalid. If it has, then add a new method.
After you have fixed the issues, it’s time to tell Google that your account can be reinstated.
Step 5. Submit an appeal for removing the suspension
You’ve fixed the policy violations, so the last step in the recovery process is to request a review from Google. Here is a link to the review form. But before you fill it in, please read the rest of this section carefully.
This situation can be nerve-wracking, and understandably so. Many of the Ads accounts users we have helped relied a great deal on these ads to drive revenue for their businesses. That’s why we have put together a few tips to help you send the best review request possible.
Tips for writing a review request for success
Extra steps if you cleaned your hacked site
In addition to the review request, there are a few other things that you need to do in order to make sure that your request is successful.

⚠️ Once you have submitted a review request, you have to remember to be patient. Sending a flurry of requests or raising support tickets will only make your situation much worse. Each request is manually reviewed by Google, so allow them the time to get to yours. It will stand you in good stead.
Step 6. Avoid Ads account suspension in the future
It is important to stay on top of your ads and avoid ad account suspensions. If your account gets suspended too many times, it will eventually lead to a permanent ban.
Malware is the biggest reason for Google’s suspensions. To protect your website from attacks, you need to install a firewall. The threat landscape is constantly evolving, so it is very hard to keep up with malware manually. A WP security plugin will assist in keeping your site free of deceptive content and spam, and you won’t have to go through this rigmarole again.

Apart from malware or prohibited practices, Google rarely suspends accounts out of the blue. So if you see ads getting disapproved, you need to take proactive steps to fix them. There is usually a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. While we are not suggesting that you have been careless, it is just easy to miss these things during a hectic work day.
What to do if your review request is rejected?
The truth of the matter is that your request may be rejected. It is Google’s platform, and they get to be capricious about what they allow on it.
We genuinely hope that it doesn’t come to this. We have provided all the information we have in this article to ensure your review request is successful. If you have followed these steps and still gotten a rejected request, then there is one last option you have: contact the Google Ads team.
⚠️ A word of caution: don’t contact them first, because you need to rectify the policy violations before the review request. It is always best to follow the process, rather than picking the nuclear option in the beginning. Because if the Google Ads team rejects your request? There is no going back from there.
Why does Google suspend Ads accounts?
Google is deeply committed to offering the best possible experience to its users. This policy takes many forms, but for the purposes of this article, let’s look at the one specific to Google Ads.
They want to ensure that users are exposed to only legitimate and non-offensive advertisements served by Google Ads.
Unfortunately, not everyone automatically follows these precepts. Which is why Google has drafted policies for advertisers to follow.
Conclusion
Google ads account suspended issue is a frustrating and often terrifying experience, especially since it is probably directly responsible for your revenue. Summarising the salient points from the article, here are the things you need to do to keep ahead:
We hope that this article helps you through your Google Ads account suspension. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. We’re always happy to help!
FAQs
My competitors are doing the same thing as me and their ads are still running. Why?
There are two reasons why this may be the case: firstly, Google hasn’t detected their policy violations yet, but they will eventually; or secondly, your ads are violating more than one policy. Perhaps you are assuming that you and your competitors are doing exactly the same thing, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
It is always best to forget about what other advertisers are doing in the case of a Google ads suspension. You will not win any brownie points from Google for pointing out that other advertisers are violating the policy as well, nor will it make them lift your own suspension. The best way forward is to focus on rectifying your account access.
Will my Google Adwords account suspension issue hurt my organic rankings?
No, your Google Adwords account suspension is entirely separate from your organic rankings. So you will see a drop in traffic which was brought in by ads, but not organic traffic.
That being said, there is one situation where an account suspension is only the first thing to go wrong. If you have malware on your website, then you will have a whole host of problems to deal with shortly; if not already. Then Google Ads account getting suspended will be the least of your problems.
What does Google Ads account suspension mean?
Google Ads account suspension means that Google has shut down your ads temporarily. They have found that you are violating some of their policies and they want you to fix it before unsuspending your account.
Why was my Google Ads account suspended?
Your Google Adwords account was suspended because you were found violating Google policies. Common reasons for Google Ads suspensions are overdue payments, malware on your website or app, and unauthorized access to your Ads account. There are many more reasons, and it is possible that your account has been suspended for more than one policy violation.
Google Ads detected malicious software on my site but I don’t see it
Google Ads detected malicious software on your website but you don’t see any traces of it on your website because hackers are careful. They want to keep using your website’s resources for as long as they want. Hence they ensure that the website looks normal. If you install a good security plugin, you can resolve the malware issue and protect your website from hackers in the future.
Google Adwords suspended my account, how do I reactivate my account?
To reactivate your suspended Google Adwords account, you need to first find out the cause for suspension, then fix it. In the final step, you need to inform Google about what steps you took.
How do I ask Google to unsuspend my account?
To ask Google to unsuspend your account, you need to fill up a review request form. The review request should contain details about the policy violations, how they were rectified, and, for extra credit, how you plan on making sure it doesn’t happen again.
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