When your Google Ads get disapproved due to issues with the destination not working, it means your target page is not working or it may be working but the response code may not be right.
This can happen due to accidental changes on the website, website migration without proper planning or server issues.
It’s not a good feeling when you get a message from Google saying your Google Ads disapproved destination not working. To get your ads approved faster, follow the steps below.
Google Ads disapproved destination not working: It means the URL that you have entered into the Google Ads system may have some issues, this may have happened due to a manual error while entering the URL, or any recent changes on the website including website migration or upgrade.
- Is your destination URL working (404 Error)?
- Check the server response code
- Check for multiple redirects
- Dynamic tracking URLs
- Website migration issues
- All looks good – Still, ads disapproved
Related: Google Ads Disapproved Malicious Software
Check for 404 page not found error
You may have a situation where your pages might not be working and hence your ads may have been disapproved.
If you are in this situation then fixing your website should do the job.
Once your website is up and running again, just let Google support know to review and enable your ads.
Alternatively, after fixing your website, you may apply minor changes to your ads which will go for a general review and should get published sooner rather than later.
Check the server response code to be 200 OK
You can use https://httpstatus.io/ or any other tool to check the HTTP response code of your page.
If you get 200 then it’s all good from this side.
The HTTP 200 OK success status response code indicates that the request has succeeded. Learn more about 200 OK HTTP status code.
Check for Multiple Redirects
Too many redirects may cause poor user experience and delay in load time and it could be the possible reason for Google disapproving your Ads.
Use https://www.redirect-checker.org/ to find out if you may have multiple redirect issues on your page.
Multiple redirects are also considered as bad from an SEO point of view. It’s always good to address chain redirects if you may have any.
Dynamic URL parameter
Check if your URL can handle dynamic tracking URLs
If you may have enabled Auto-tagging in Google Ads then Google will pass the GCLID along with the URL.
Example: www.example.com/?gclid=easdDEasdfEadfasd9oADFA
You can turn on / off auto-tagging by going to Google Ads >> Settings >>Account Settings
Now, if your website can’t handle URL parameters then it may cause an issue with the Google Ads system.
If you have this issue then contact your website developer.
Website migration issues
If you have done a recent site and then you started to face the issue then you might need to look at the above-mentioned possible reasons.
Often with the best migration planning, few things can go wrong which may result in disapproval of your ads.
If you will check and validate the above-mentioned issues then you should be fine in most cases.
All looks good – Still, ads disapproved
Now, you may come to a situation where all tests will pass but your ads are still disapproved. The worst part is you may not get the right answer from Google about the reasons for the disapproval.
When your destination URL is working but you still get your Google Ads disapproved
This is a bit strange as you can load your page fine but Google thinks some issues with the destination URL. It can happen to a WordPress site as well as on other platforms.
Enable Auto-Tagging in Google Ads
In some tests, we found that enabling the Auto-Tagging did the tick and Ads got approved.
Apply changes to your Ads
Just apply minor changes to your Ads and let the system review them again.
You may also try and create a new set of Ads and see if they will get approved.
Conclusion: Sometimes Google is not very specific and hence you have to try different things to make it work.
Need help?
If you are worried or don’t know what to do then it’s best to work with an expert who can guide you in the right direction. Book a chat with one of our Google Ads experts in Melbourne to discuss your needs. We provide Google Ads services Australia-wide.
Visit our Google Ads Cost in Australia page for monthly packages and a general pricing guide.
