Why was my Google app ad disapproved?

Direct answerGoogle reviews an app ad together with the developer name or app title, the icon, the install page, and the app itself. The app ad requirements, reviewed October 19, 2026, also say the person has to be able to close the ad within 5 seconds, and the ad cannot put a sign-in wall in front of the promoted content during that interaction.

What Google looks at

App ads can encourage an install or later engagement. When Google reviews them, it looks at the ad, the developer name or app title, the app icon, the app installation page, and the app itself. Application metadata can be used in the ad while it serves, so the install page has to comply with Google Ads policies too.

Because stores can publish more than one version of an app at the same time for different devices, and because engagement ads can work with more than one version, Google says it might require multiple versions to be policy compliant before ads for that app can run.

A malformed app ID, a broken store listing, or an app the store has deleted is unrecognized app. A notice from the store that the listing itself violates store policy is app or web store policy violation. This page is the ad interaction and the app that plays inside it.

The interaction

• The person has to be able to close the ad within 5 seconds after it is first displayed.
• A sign-in barrier during the ad interaction, used to reach the promoted content, is not allowed.
• If the app requires sign-in or activation on first use, Google says that after the person has completed that step, the app must not prompt for sign-in or activation again during an ad interaction.
• An install button that appears suddenly or unexpectedly during the interaction is Google’s example of trying to trick a click.
• The app name has to show clearly throughout the interaction. That is the unidentified-business rule applied to app ads.
• Interactive app ads should prompt the expected action when the options would otherwise be confusing. Google ties that to style and spelling.

An HTML5 demo of a game or of app features may include imagery that flashes or strobes. Install buttons, download buttons, and other parts of the ad still have to meet image quality. A creative that never names the app is unidentified business.

Links, stores, and extra apps

For deep links, the deep-link URL has to be set up correctly. Google says it does not support web redirects, and it names goo.gl and third-party tracking links, for app engagement ads. For app promotion ads, any third-party tracking redirect has to take the person to the correct app on the correct store. An app cannot be promoted in a place where it is not available for download.

If the destination uses universal links or app links, both the web destination and the app destination have to comply. Be clear about prerequisites such as other apps, peripheral devices, or sensors. Those prerequisite apps have to be available in the appropriate store and compliant themselves.

Device hardware and network usage that could be harmful or unexpected falls under unwanted software. The app title and developer name, when Google uses them as ad text, also have to meet editorial requirements, including capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

This requirements page does not print a review-time or a 7-day suspension warning. Do not copy those clocks from the unrecognized-app page or the store-policy page.

Sources

• Google Ads: App ad requirements

Reviewed October 19, 2026. Policies change. This is not legal advice.

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