Avoid editorial errors

Introduction

Small editorial errors are some of the most common reasons ads are prevented from running. These are super simple to prevent once you understand Google’s philosophy. We’ll give you some basic rules to keep in mind when you’re writing your ads.

What you’ll learn:

Google’s philosophy on editorial standards
Common reasons ads do not meet Google’s editorial policies

What would you do?

Bean Coffee is preparing for their summer release of new iced coffee drinks. You’ve been assigned to help Joe — the head of marketing — launch the campaign and deliver a record-breaking season. Joe proposes adding some extra symbols and emojis to the ads you’ve designed to get more clicks.

Why editorial policy matters

To ensure a consistent and clear user experience, we enforce quality standards on the ads and the websites advertised on the Google Network.

Why should you care? To make sure your ads are seen! Quite simply — ads not in compliance with policy will not be shown.

Top reasons for disapproval

To help you avoid having your ads flagged, let’s review the two most common reasons ads are disapproved for editorial reasons:

Spelling and grammar: Your ad must be grammatically correct, clear, and professional. We want your ads to stand out for the right reasons — like your great products or services — not for gimmicky ad text. Here’s what to check for to ensure policy compliance:

Typos
Extra punctuation marks e.g., Buy Now!!! or Ready to start???
Unnecessary use of symbols e.g., &%^*
Symbols used incorrectly e.g., “+” used to represent “and”
GiMmIcKy CAPITALIZATI0N and spelling
Emojis and emoticons

Style:There are many ways your ad could be disapproved for editorial, including style and spelling errors, repetition, and even poor video quality. Review the article linked in the recap section for more details.Here are the main ways to ensure compliance:

Don’t include “Click here” in your ad
Don’t include your phone number in ad text, instead use a Call extension
Image ads must be clearly branded with things like a company name, logo, and display URL

Recap

Don’t get too down on all these policies. At the end of the day, the purpose of these standards is to ensure a clear, consistent, and positive user experience. This course highlighted the most common errors made in editorial policy.

Paolo