Google prioritizes user experience across all its products, and a key part of this is fostering a safe and trustworthy environment within the Google ad network. The Destination Requirements policy strives to ensure that when users click on an ad and are sent to a landing page, that website is functional, useful, and easy to navigate. This also creates an ads ecosystem that’s supportive to advertisers and the people who interact with their ads.
Learn more about the Destination requirements policy.
On this page
Google requires ads to be accessible in the location you’re targeting. This means the landing page must be crawlable by Google AdsBot.
The following would lead to disapproval for Destination not accessible:
The destination used in your ad isn’t accessible in the location you’re targeting, or Google AdsBot cannot crawl your landing page.
Examples (non-exhaustive):
- Sites that show an access limitation message in the targeted location, like “This site is not accessible in your location”
- Sites that show any message that relates to access limitations in the targeted location, like “You do not have permission to access this page”
- Landing pages that return HTTP errors such as 404 (Not Found) or 403 (Forbidden) when Google AdsBot attempts to crawl them
- Landing pages that are blocked from being crawled by Google AdsBot via the robots.txt file
- Server-side configurations that prevent Google AdsBot from accessing the landing page
Options to fix
If this policy is affecting your ad, review your options to fix below.
Edit your ads to comply with this policy
Make sure that the destination used in your ad is accessible to the location you’re targeting and can be crawled by Google AdsBot. Here are some steps to troubleshoot:
- Check for HTTP errors: Work with your webmaster or web developer to confirm that your landing pages aren’t returning errors like 404 (Not Found) or 403 (Forbidden).
- Verify URL and page status: Confirm that your landing page URLs are correct and the pages are live.
- Global accessibility: Make sure your landing pages are accessible globally, especially in your targeted locations and the United States (where Google AdsBot often crawls from).
- Review robots.txt: Check your website's robots.txt file to confirm it isn’t blocking Google AdsBot (user-agent: GoogleAdsBot) from crawling your landing pages.
- Server-side configurations: Ask your webmaster to review server-side configurations to verify they aren’t inadvertently blocking Google's crawlers.
- Testing tools: Use tools like Chrome Developer Tools (Network tab) or Google Search Console (URL Inspection tool) to test landing page accessibility and identify potential crawl errors.
Once you've addressed any issues, update your ad:
- Go to Ads within the Campaigns
menu.
- Hover over the ad or asset and select Edit.
- Edit the ad or asset so that it complies with the policy, for example, update the URL if it was incorrect, or simply resubmit if the landing page issue is fixed.
- Select Save.
Your ad will be automatically reviewed again. Check the ad’s status in the “Ads & assets” page for updates.
Learn more about how to Fix an ad with policy violations.
Appeal policy decision
If you've thoroughly checked your landing page using the steps above, confirmed it's accessible in your targeted location(s) and to Google AdsBot, and believe there’s been an error, you can appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account to request a review.
Before appealing, make sure that:
- Your landing page is consistently loading correctly.
- There are no intermittent server issues.
- Server-side configurations allow Google AdsBot full access.
If the review determines that your ads are compliant, they can run again. You can also check the status of your ads in the Policy Manager. For future issues, consider using the Self Service Appeal Options. If you aren't able to fix these violations or choose not to, remove your ad to help prevent your account from becoming suspended in the future for repeated policy violations.