Over the past day or so, there has been an unusual spike in the number of complaints around Google Ads disapproving search ads. The disapprovals mostly seem to be around a policy named the “government documents and official services,” and it is confusing a lot of advertisers.

Google has stated there is no bug with the with its ad policy enforcement and Google has not seen any mass disapprovals of search ads.

Google’s statement. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison said on Twitter “safety is paramount and our policies span range of concerns, including the content of ad creatives and advertiser behavior. The issues addressed in this story aren’t related. We also haven’t seen any “mass” disapprovals that would indicate a bug.”

I followed up to ask if maybe there was a step up in policy enforcement and Ginny Marvin said “No, and there’ve been no “mass” disapprovals.”

“The teams are keenly aware that policy flags are disruptive and work incredibly hard to strike the right balance. Safety is critical to a healthy system. Advertisers can request as reviews and/or appeals,” Ginny Marvin added.

The complaints. There does however seem to be an increase in the number of complaints from advertisers. Lior Krolewicz from Yael Consulting posted that they saw widespread ad disapprovals across numerous client accounts. “43 different accounts in our MCC, none of which deal with government documents or services, were seeing ads disapproved for the same reason. Accounts ranging from HVAC companies in California, eCommerce beauty product, to orthopedic insoles, had ads disapproved for this reason. 9 different accounts even had ads in their brand campaign stop serving due to this disapproval,” Lior wrote.

John Doherty from Credo complained on Twitter saying “I’ve had 2 brand new ads accounts for @ninja_editor, that haven’t had the opportunity to spend anything, be suspended for suspicious payments”.

PPCGreg posted on Twitter saying “our accounts were hit, en masse. Support confirmed the error in 1 accouint but said the fix would take 2 days. any chance we can speed that up?”

There is also a large thread of complaints about this on Reddit and numerous ones in the Google Ads help forums, which I covered here.

Why we care. So there does seem, at least anecdotally, that there is an increase in ad disapprovals and suspensions but Google is saying there is nothing to see here.

If you were impacted by ad disapprovals in the past 24-hours, you should know you are not alone. But Google is telling advertisers to deal with these disapprovals or suspensions via this help page.

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Google Ads has announced three changes to the way automated extensions – a type of ad extension that is created dynamically for your ad when it’s “predicted to improve your performance.”

Here’s what’s changing in Google Ads automated extensions:

1: Automated and manual extensions can be shown together. Starting in mid-March, automated extensions can be shown with manually created extensions. So if you have created two sitelinks manually, Google ads can show two dynamic sitelinks, for a total of four sitelinks. 

2: Reporting. In the coming weeks, Google Ads will provide a report for “Automatically created” extensions. You can view these in the table view of the Extensions page. 

3: Can be added at ad group, campaign, or account level. Also starting in mid-March, sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets from higher levels in your account can serve with extensions of the same type from lower levels. Here’s a before and after from Google Ads that illustrates what this change looks like:

Why we care. In a keyword: click-through rate. Google said in their announcement that when four sitelinks advertisers can see a 20% higher CTR. As always, results will vary. So make sure to check the performance data of your automated extensions. You can always pause or remove any underperforming extensions.

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Google is testing a new ad label in search results, the company confirmed to Search Engine Land. The experimental label (shown below) differs from the current ad label in that it is enclosed by a green box, which may help users distinguish it from organic results.

Tip of the hat to Amir Shahzeidi for bringing this to our attention.

Side-by-side comparison. Below is an image, created by Greg Finn, comparing the experimental label (left) with the current label.

In addition to being enclosed by a green box, the experimental label is not followed by any other text, unlike the example of the current label shown above.

Different tests, but related. In January, Google was seen testing favicons in text ads. Despite being quite different, this latest test is related to the same series of tests as the favicons.

“This is part of a series of small experiments to help users more easily identify the brand or advertiser associated with the Search ads they may see for a given query,” a Google spokesperson told us. “We are always testing new ways to improve the experience for users on the search results page, but we don’t have anything specific to announce right now.”

Why we care. Over the years, the design of Google’s ad labels has made paid listings trickier to distinguish from organic ones. However, this latest test seems to be a step back from that trend — it actually resembles the green, boxed label from 2017.

Whenever Google makes changes to the design of the ad label, those changes can impact clickthrough rates. Since this change might make it easier to identify ads, some advertisers may see a decline in CTR if the experiment receives a wider rollout.

However, others have not been able to replicate this test, so at this time, we’re not sure where else this label might appear (outside of app ads).

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Google is testing ad descriptions with bullets, Ginny Marvin, the company’s ads product liaison, confirmed via Twitter on Wednesday.

In the screenshot of the test (above), we can see up to three bullet points within one ad. The bullet points in the example above show a mixture of descriptions and CTAs. Tip of the hat to Mark Williams-Cook for bringing this to our attention.

Why we care. Within ads, a bulleted list may be used to showcase unique selling points, product features or additional CTAs. The more relevant information you’re able to pack into an ad, the more likely it is that the ad will drive engagement — bullet lists can help keep that information scannable for potential customers.

Google’s confirmation. “Yes, this is an experiment to show ad descriptions with bullets,” Marvin said, adding, “We’re always experimenting and don’t have anything more to share on this at the moment.”

Other recent Google Ads tests. Google Ads is always testing out new features and ad formats. Over the last few weeks, the platform has also been seen testing favicons in text ads and, underneath the hood, global site tags with automatic collection. As is the case with bulleted descriptions, Google did not say whether these features will eventually receive a wider rollout.

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Google has revamped Search Ads 360, its enterprise campaign management platform, the company announced Tuesday. The update includes support for some newer Google Ads features (like Performance Max and Discovery campaigns), greater support for other search engines, a refreshed UI as well as workflow improvements.

The new experience will start rolling out over the next few months. Google will share migration timelines as the year goes on.

Support for most new features. The new Search Ads 360 was redesigned and rebuilt using the same technology that powers Google Ads. Having this common technology as the foundation enables support for most new Google Ads features, such as Performance Max and Discovery campaigns.

More support for other search engines. One of Search Ads 360’s main selling points is the ability to manage your ads across different channels, including other search engines. Search Ads 360’s updated infrastructure allows Google to add support for more features from other search engines.

For example, the updated platform now supports over 10 additional Microsoft Advertising features, including responsive search ads, call extensions, local inventory ads and additional Microsoft audience types like customer match. Support for Yahoo! Japan’s Dynamic Ads for Search and sitelink extension scheduling are also now available.

Google will continue to add more features and channel support in the coming quarters.

New advanced features for enterprises. In addition to support for existing features, Google is also rolling out completely new features for Search Ads 360.

“For instance, the new Search Ads 360 takes enterprise workflows to the next level by giving you new ways to centralize and scale your day-to-day tasks and key activities — like campaign management, automated rules and labels — and you’ll now be able to make these changes across multiple advertisers at the same time,” Google said in the announcement.

The company is also making upgrades to existing features: The “Performance Center,” which will become available later this year, is touted as an improved budget management planner with support for enterprise planning capabilities, like improved forecasting across search engines.

And, the existing inventory management and ad builder tools will be unified into one feature, which will be called “Templates.” Templates is also expected to become available later this year.

Refreshed UI. Google also updated Search Ads 360’s interface, borrowing elements from the Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising UIs. This may make navigation more efficient since advertisers may already be familiar with it.

Why we care. The updates Google has made to Search Ads 360 should help you get more work done in one place, which may also help you save time. Since more data and controls are centralized, this may present a more holistic view of your paid search campaigns across channels, which can facilitate better decision-making.

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Google is testing global site tags with automatic collection of user-provided data, which is one of the setup methods for enhanced conversions. Advertisers must select the automatic setup option (it is not turned on by default) and accept customer data terms before they can use it.

This feature is currently in beta testing and may not be available to all advertisers. Tip of the hat to Dario Zannoni for bringing this to our attention.

The global site tag and enhanced conversions. The global site tag is used to track conversions in Google Ads. It works together with another piece of code, such as an event snippet or phone snippet, that tells the global site tag when to track a conversion.

Enhanced conversions, introduced in May 2021, allow tags to use consented, first-party data to provide a more detailed view of how users convert after engaging with an ad. Enhanced conversions can be set up within Google Tag Manager (manually) or with the global site tag.

Why we care. This feature makes it easier for advertisers to leverage enhanced conversions. It may be particularly helpful for SMBs that may not have the experience to implement enhanced conversions manually.

Additionally, conversion measurement solutions like enhanced conversions may become increasingly valuable tools as we continue the slow march towards the deprecation of third-party cookies.

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Google Ads has added recommendations to Discovery campaigns, the company announced Monday. In addition, the ability to automatically apply recommendations has rolled out to manager accounts and the platform is also adding more recommendations for Video campaigns.

Why we care. Recommendations may help you troubleshoot your campaigns or identify opportunities for greater efficiency. However, advertisers should exercise caution when opting into auto-applied recommendations — while they might save you some time, it might not be the most effective way to spend your budget.

Recommendations for Discovery campaigns. As mentioned above, recommendations are now available for Discovery campaigns.

And, Google Ads is also now showing optimization scores for Discovery campaigns as well.

Auto-apply recommendations in manager accounts. The ability to automatically apply recommendations has rolled out to manager accounts.

Advertisers should note that, when turned on, this feature automatically applies all recommendation types that have been selected as new recommendations become available.

More recommendations for Video campaigns. Google Ads is also bolstering its recommendations for Video campaigns. New examples of recommendations for this campaign type include:

• Set up product feeds to help you get more clicks and conversions at a lower CPA.
• Set up Google Analytics 4 to give you deeper, cross-platform customer insights.
• Upgrade your conversion tracking for more accurate conversion measurement.

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