Away from content marketing. let’s take a breather and talk about something equally important. By now you probably have heard about Google 3-strike ad policy . It is slated to commence in September of 2021. If you run Google ads for your business it should concern you. Here’s why. Google has said it will expand this over time to include additional policies and that Google advertisers will get notified through email each time new policies are added.
Google 3-strike ad policy focus and Why
Google last week, announced that it is piloting a 3-strike ad policy to address repeat ad policy violations, prevent unsafe, harmful ads from showing on its platforms. Google mentioned 3 categories of ad violation activities that the 3-strike policy will affect. They include,
- Enabling dishonest behaviour policy
- Unapproved pharmaceuticals or supplements
- Dangerous products or services
The whole point of the Google 3-strike ad policy by is to increase penalties with each strike applied. Before now, these activities were already prohibited.
Should you be worried?
No, you shouldn’t, especially if you run a business that isn’t connected to the areas impacted by the policy. However, you would need to stay up-to-date to get the latest from Google concerning its ad policy. This is important because future additional policies may include areas that are related to your business activities.
How the strike ad policy works
The 3-strike policy will be implemented in 4 steps.
1. Google will issue a warning if it suspects any violation of its policies and your ads would be taken down.
2. If there is a violation of the same policy within 90 days of receiving the warning, you get a temporary hold and would be unable to run ads for 3 days.
3. If there is a repeat violation of the same policy within 90-days of the first strike, your account will be held for 7 days and would be unable to run ads. This 2nd strike is to prevent an account ban.
4. A 3rd strike comes if there is a repeat violation of the same policy within the 90 days of the 2nd strike. This is an account suspension.
Strike expires after 90 days if there are no additional violations and the affected account can serve ads thereafter.
What can be done if you get a penalty from Google?
Advertisers would be notified about their violation by mail. After the first 2 strikes advertisers have the options to
1. Correct violation by submitting an acknowledgement form in order to resume serving ads. This applies if they are guilty of the violation
2. Appeal enforcements if they were wrongly served a strike.
To avoid being wrongly penalised, audit your ads and remove certain words, pictures or even videos that might be flagged down by Google’s automated review. This is especially applicable if you offer products or services that are related to the areas Google listed.