How to report an ad to Google, without clicking itHow to report an ad to Google, without clicking it

On Saturday 17 October at 22:10, Yourbrand's affiliate manager sees an ad on a search for “yourbrand” showing yourbrand.example, from an advertiser that isn't Yourbrand. She records it and writes to the network. On Monday morning the reply says they're looking into it, and the ad is still there. She decides to report it to Google as well.

Google has several ways in, and they lead to the same review. What matters is that the report names the right policy, gives Google something it can check, and doesn't involve clicking the ad. This guide covers the routes, the policy, the wording and what to expect.

Before you report

• Check your own side: the ad isn't from your account, your agency's or another team's, and no partner has permission you've forgotten.
• Find the clause. Unfair advantage rests on your programme's rules, so you need the version of your programme terms that applied that day, and the clause the ad is outside.
• Record the sighting: a full screenshot, the search as typed, the ad as it read, the date and time with the time zone, the place and the device.
• Note the advertiser Google names in About this advertiser, then find its page in the Ads Transparency Center and copy its AR id.
• Tell your network, with the same records and any matching order references, so the commission is dealt with before your validation window closes.

The four routes

1. From the ad. On the results page, open the three-dot icon beside the ad on a computer, or the info icon on a phone, and choose Report ad. Pick a reason, fill in the form, leaving any pre-filled fields as they are, and submit. If you're not signed in, you'll be asked for an email address.

2. From My Ad Centre. Signed in to a Google account, open Your recent ads from the My Ads menu, find the ad and choose Report ad. Useful when you saw the ad earlier, on that account, and didn't report it at the time.

3. From the Ads Transparency Center. Search for the advertiser's name or your web address, open the ad, and use Report this ad. Choose a reason, and fill in the box marked “Please provide additional details (required)”. “Send me updates on this report” is ticked by default. This route works days later, from any computer, without the ad in front of you.

4. The Report an ad/listing form, in Google's Ads Help. It asks for a reason, Your email, the Ad or listing link and Comments, all required. For the link, Google says to right-click the ad, choose Copy Link and paste it. That copies Google's click-tracking address for the ad: pasting it into a form isn't a click, but don't open it in a browser, because that is.

The form also links to two narrower forms: one for several ads from one company, and one for an advertiser using your client's brand and final URL or domain against affiliate programme rules. The second is the closest fit for most affiliate cases, and it asks you to sign in to a Google account first.

Which policy to name

Unfair advantage. Among what it doesn't allow, this policy lists affiliates advertising on Google Ads against the rules of the affiliate programme they're in, and trying to show more than one ad for the same business or site in one ad location. Google warns an account at least seven days before suspending it under this policy, so the ad may keep running for a while after a valid report.

Misleading representation. If the ad's text implies it's you, such as “Official Site” from an account that isn't yours, this policy covers implying an affiliation with another brand without its knowledge or consent. Name it alongside Unfair advantage.

Trademarks is a separate route with its own form, and it can only restrict your mark in ad text. The trade mark complaint guide covers it.

Circumventing systems is the policy people reach for when the same ad comes back under a new account. It covers getting round Google's own enforcement, such as opening a new account after a Google suspension. A publisher removed from your programme hasn't been suspended by Google, so a return under a new name usually comes back to Unfair advantage, with both advertisers named.

What to write

Keep it to what you saw and what your terms say. Don't guess who's behind the account or why. If you've seen the ad more than once, list each time.

That's the reason to raise it with your network the same day. Google acts on the account, at its own pace. Pending commission is yours to decide, by a date that won't move.

How to report, step by step

1. Confirm the ad isn't yours, your agency's or an approved partner's, and find the clause it's outside.
2. Collect the sighting: screenshot, search, time and time zone, place, device, and the ad as it read.
3. Look the advertiser up in the Ads Transparency Center with the region set to United Kingdom, and copy its AR id and the ad's Last shown date.
4. Send the same to your network, with the matching order references and a request to hold the commission.
5. Report the ad: from the ad itself if it's in front of you, or with Report this ad in the Transparency Center if it isn't. Name Unfair advantage, and Misleading representation if the ad claims to be you.
6. Keep the confirmation email with your records.
7. Recheck the same search a week later, at the same hour, from the same place, evenings included, and look for the same ad under another advertiser.
8. Send the network what you find, either way.

The ordinary explanations

Some reports turn out to be unnecessary, and some ads keep running after a report for reasons that aren't a failure.

• The ad was your agency's or another team's, under a company name you didn't connect with yours.
• A partner had permission, agreed before your time and never written down where you looked.
• Google is inside its seven-day warning period, or has reviewed the ad and found it within policy.
• The ad that's still there is a different advertiser's: check the name and AR id before following up.
• Your terms didn't cover what you saw, so the policy that rests on them had nothing to apply.
• The Transparency Center lists ads 48 to 72 hours after they run, so a recent Last shown date can come from before the fix.

What you can do sets out the whole order of work, from the terms to the recheck, and Aware, not accusing covers how to word the question to your network.