Google Ads advertisers report wave of unexplained ad disapprovals

A growing number of advertisers say their Google Ads campaigns were suddenly hit with mass disapprovals tied to DNS and 500 server errors — even when their sites appeared to be working normally.

PPC advertisers began flagging widespread problems this week. Managing Director at Cornerhouse Media, Ryan Berry, said more than 1,500 ads were disapproved in a single account around 1:30 p.m. UTC.

Google's ad review systems use automated crawlers to test landing pages. If Googlebot encounters temporary server issues, DNS lookup failures, redirects, or timeout errors, ads can be automatically disapproved under the destination not working policy — even if the site is live for users.

What to do

• Check Google Ads policy manager for exact disapproval reasons
• Test landing pages using multiple locations and devices
• Review DNS uptime, redirects, and CDN/firewall settings
• Submit appeals for clearly incorrect disapprovals