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About Advertiser verification program
What is the Advertiser verification program?
The Advertiser verification program is Google’s unified verification program that consolidates advertiser identity verification and business operations verification into a single flow to provide a simplified and improved advertiser experience. The program comprises a series of steps that advertisers will be required to follow and complete. Under this program, advertisers will be asked to provide basic information about their business and identity.
How is Advertiser verification program different from identity verification and business operations verification?
Advertiser verification program is a consolidation of identity verification and business operations verification into a single flow. You will still be requested to complete identity verification and business operations verification (if applicable) as part of the verification process.
The differences include a new ‘About your business’ section, revised verification timelines, aligned enforcement actions, a combined advertiser selection criteria, transparency and disclosures and an improved user experience. Details below.
- A new section - About your business: In the first step of the Advertiser verification program, Google will ask advertisers a few basic questions related to their Google Ads account and business under a new ‘About your business’ section. The questions will ask, for example, the advertiser’s industry and billing country, and information to help Google understand if they are a direct or indirect provider (third party) of the products or services advertised on the Google Ads platform. Advertisers will be given 30 days to submit their answers. If advertisers have not submitted their answers by the end of the 30th day, their account will be paused.
- Verification timelines: Responses from the completion of the About your business questions will determine the verification requirements and direct advertisers to the next steps of additional verification, which may include verifying your identity, your business operations, or both (see the “Advertiser selection criteria updates” section below). Advertisers will be given 30 days to successfully complete these additional verifications. Failure to complete or meet the verification requirements in the specified time period will result in an account pause. Note that the pause will only be applied by the end of the 30th day if advertisers have not completed or met the requirements.
- For advertiser identity verification: Previously, advertisers were given 30 days to start verification and an additional 30 days to successfully complete the identity verification.
- For business operations verification: Previously, advertisers were given 21 days to successfully complete the Business operation verification along with a 7 day notice period before account suspension.
- For the unified Advertiser verification program: Now, advertisers will have 30 days to complete the ‘About your business’ questions and an additional 30 days to successfully complete all requested verifications, which may include verifying their identity, their business operations or both.
- Enforcement actions: To reduce the administrative burden and provide a consistent and synchronized experience for our advertisers, we are aligning the enforcement actions for all the verification requirements under the Advertiser verification program. As a result of this alignment, failure to complete or meet the business operations verification requirements (if requested) will result in an account pause instead of an account suspension. This means that advertisers' accounts will stay open, but their ads will not be able to serve until they are able to complete this program successfully. Note that the pause will only be applied by the end of the 30th day if advertisers have not completed or met the requirements. To run ads again, advertisers must complete the verification successfully by submitting the requested responses to the survey along with the relevant documentation (as applicable).
- Advertiser selection criteria updates: As a part of the Advertiser verification program, we are combining the advertiser selection criteria for the current advertiser Identity verification and Business operations verification programs for a more harmonized experience, introducing additional criteria to provide an increased layer of protection for our users, and clarifying the instances when the advertiser accounts may be paused immediately. Details can be found here.
- Transparency & disclosures: Similar to the current process followed in the identity verification, as a part of the identity and/or business operations verification steps, advertisers will be required to submit their legal business or their individual name along with supporting documentation for the Advertiser verification program. With the information advertisers provide, Google will display the advertiser name and location via an ad disclosure. Learn more about ad disclosures. As part of Google’s ongoing transparency efforts, we will also make information about your Google Ads accounts and ad campaigns publicly available.
- User experience improvements: Advertisers will be able to initiate, monitor the status and progress of your verifications, and view failure reasons (if applicable) in a new user interface under ”Tools & settings” → ”Billing” → ”Advertiser verification” → “Billing and Payments settings” tab in your Google Ads account. You will be able to access this interface via in-product prompts and notifications.
Why is Google verifying advertisers?
Our goal is to improve trust in the ads ecosystem by providing users with more information about advertisers. Through Advertiser verification we will verify the business, name, and location of our advertisers. This is part of our larger effort to give users more transparency, choice, and control.
Who has to complete Advertiser verification program?
Advertisers that are required to complete the Advertiser verification will receive an email and an in-account notification. Advertisers may be selected to complete verification based on the criteria listed here.
How long does Advertiser verification program take?
Advertisers will be given 30 days to submit their answers to the ‘About your business’ section. If advertisers have not submitted their answers by the end of the 30th day, their account will be paused.
Responses from the completion of the About your business questions will determine the verification requirements and direct advertisers to the next steps of additional verification, which may include verifying your identity, your business operations, or both. Advertisers will be given another 30 days to successfully complete these additional verifications. Failure to complete or meet the verification requirements in the specified time period will result in an account pause. Note that the pause will only be applied by the end of the 30th day if advertisers have not completed or met the requirements.
In summary, advertisers will have 30 days to complete the ‘About your business’ questions and an additional 30 days to successfully complete all requested verifications, which may include verifying their identity, their business operations or both.
How do I complete Advertiser verification program?
You are only required to complete Advertiser verification program if Google sends you an email and an in-account notification. In the first step of the Advertiser verification program, Google will ask advertisers a few basic questions related to their Google Ads account and business under the ‘About your business’ section. These questions will help us get a better understanding of the business. Here are examples of questions that advertisers may be required to answer:
- Whether their business is an advertising agency
- Who pays for their ads
- Whether they advertise their own products/services or some else’s
- Their industry (or industries)
The person who is responsible for completing this section should be a Google Ads account admin familiar with the business operations and advertising practices for the Google Ads account.
Advertisers will be given 30 days to submit their answers or their account(s) will be paused after the 30th day. Learn more about account pausing.
Responses from the completion of the About your business questions will determine the verification requirements and direct advertisers to the next steps of additional verification, which may include verifying their identity (Advertiser identity verification), their business operations (Business operations verification), or both.
Follow the instructions in the email and in-account notification.
Can I choose not to complete Advertiser verification?
If you have received an email requiring you to verify, you must complete the Advertiser verification program. If you do not start the program within 30 days your account will be paused.
If I have been verified through identity verification or business operations verification, do I need to complete Advertiser verification program?
You are only required to complete Advertiser verification program if you have received an email and an in-account notification from Google to do so. Google reserves the right to verify your identity or business operations again. For example, you may be asked to re-verify your identity or business operations if you have made significant changes in your Google Ads account.
I am currently undergoing identity verification or business operations verification, do I need to restart verification?
There is no need to restart unless you are notified to do so. Please complete any unfinished verification process steps as identified in your account. Your account will be paused if the verification is not completed successfully.My account has been selected for Advertiser verification program and my ads are not running - what do I do?
If you did not complete the 'About your business' questions within the 30-day period, your account will be paused at the end of the 30th day. Upon completion of the ‘About your business’ questions, you will be given another 30 days to successfully complete all requested verifications, which may include identity verification, business operations verification, or both. Failure to complete or meet any of the requested verification requirements in the specified time period will result in an account pause. You will be able to see an in-account notification when the verification has timed out. You can start or continue to complete the verification process at any time. Once you have successfully completed advertiser verification your account will resume serving. Follow the instructions in the notifications you receive to complete the verification.
In certain circumstances, we may pause your account immediately when the Advertiser verification program is initiated. This means that your ads will not be able to serve until you have completed the program successfully. Learn more about the reasons for immediate account pausing here.
How can I see my verification status?
You can check your verification status directly in your Google Ads account under "Tools & Settings" --> "Billing" --> "Advertiser verification". Please allow 5-7 business days for the verification to update in your account after you submit documentation. You will also receive an email notification to inform you if the verification was successful or if more information is required.
I received a notification that the verification team needs more information. What should I do?
Please review in detail the information provided in that email. Make sure you provide all required documents or address the issue highlighted in the email and then, submit all the required documentation again following the instructions in your Google Ads account under "Tools & Settings" --> "Billing" --> "Advertiser verification".
I have completed identity verification. Do I need to complete business operations verification to satisfy the requirements of the Advertiser Verification program?
If you have already completed identity verification, you do not need to complete business operations verification unless you receive a notification from Google requesting you to do so.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are already verified to run election ads, you may still be required to complete business operations verification if you receive a notification from Google requesting you to do so.
How can I run election ads?
If you intend to run election ads, in certain countries you must also complete election ads verification.
About identity verification
What is identity verification?
Identity verification is used to verify the name and location of our advertisers. It is now a part of the unified Advertiser verification program.What do I have to submit for identity verification?
The steps required to complete identity verification for certain Google Ads accounts may differ, depending on your account structure, your billing setup, and if you're advertising on behalf of an organization or individual. For more information about the documents you must submit, please see here.
Who is an ‘authorized representative’?
An authorized representative is an admin of:
- The Google Ads account and/or
- The payments profile paying for the ads
If required, you’ll be asked to provide documentation to complete verification.
I’m an agency - how do I get verified?
If you are an agency the verification steps will vary based on who you are advertising on behalf of (organization or individual) and whether you are verifying yourself or your client. Full details can be found here.
Can I verify all my Google Ads accounts at once?
A small subset of advertisers can complete identity verification in bulk. We will notify advertisers if and when they are available for this feature. Otherwise, please complete identity verification for each Google Ads account separately, as requested in the notification email.
About business operations verification
What is business operations verification?
As part of the Advertiser verification program, we may ask advertisers to verify details about their business operations (if applicable) along with supporting documentation, such as their business model, business registration information, types of services they offer, business practices, and relationships with advertised brands, products or third parties, if applicable.
Advertisers will be given 30 days to successfully complete business operations verification and all other requested verifications (if applicable) once they start this process. Failure to complete or meet the verification requirements in the specified time period will result in an account pause. Note that the pause will only be applied by the end of the 30th day if advertisers have not completed or met the requirements. Learn more about account pausing.
Is business operations verification required to be completed successfully to meet the requirements of the Advertiser verification program?
Yes. You must successfully complete business operations when requested in order to meet the requirements of the Advertiser verification program. Failure to successfully complete business operations verification will result in your account being paused at the end of the given time period.
What are the requirements to successfully complete business operations verification?
Upon review of the information provided during the business operations verification, Google may consider your business model, operations or practices as unclear. This may be due to multiple reasons including, but not limited, to the following:
- Inconsistent or inaccurate information provided during the verification program
- Unsubstantiated relationships with third parties or advertised brands where applicable
- Lack of information or clarity on the end provider of the products or services advertised
- Irrelevant, insufficient or invalid documentation
- Mismatch in the name you provided with the name in your government issued ID or mismatch in the organization’s name you provided with the organization’s legal name in the business documents you have provided
Any of the above will result in failure to meet the requirements of this verification program.
About ad disclosures and advertiser pages
What are ad disclosures?
Ad disclosures provide more information for the user about the advertiser, including name and location.
Why is Google adding new ad disclosures?
As part of Google’s broader efforts to increase transparency for users, and maintain trust in the ads we serve, we will make more information about our advertisers available to users. You can find more information here.
Where is Google getting information for ad disclosures?
An advertiser’s legal name and location will be sourced from the verification documents submitted by the individual, organization, or representative of the organization, and reviewed by Google through the Advertiser verification program. If an advertiser fails to complete the verification process, Google will stop showing your ads.
What information will Google be sharing in the disclosures?
For advertisers that have completed Advertiser verification, your advertiser name and location will appear in the ad disclosures. For advertisers based in a location where we currently don’t support verification, only your location will appear in the disclosures.
As Google expands its transparency efforts, we may make information about your Google Ads accounts and ad campaigns publicly available including:
- Advertiser name change history
- Ad creatives
- Dates and locations ads served
- Ads removed or accounts suspended for legal or policy reasons
- Business contact information
Will Google disclose any other information?
As part of Google’s ongoing transparency efforts, we may make information about your Google Ads or Display and Video 360 accounts and ad campaigns publicly available as outlined in our advertiser identity policy.
Who sees the ad disclosures and where can I find them?
Users can view the information when they click on “Why this ad”. More information on how they will appear on different ad formats can be found here.
Do the disclosures appear on all ads I run?
If you have completed the advertiser verification process or submitted additional information regarding your identity (see above), all supported ad formats in your account will be eligible for disclosures. More information can be found here.
Do ad disclosures change the look of my ads?
No, your ads will appear the same. More information can be found here.
Do ad disclosures impact how my ads serve?
No, disclosures will not impact ad serving.
How can I change the name or location in the ad disclosures?
The name and location that appear in ad disclosures are the ones verified as part of the advertiser verification program. If the name or location has changed, please contact Google Ads support.
What are advertiser pages?
From the ad disclosure, a user can click “See more ads by this advertiser” which will direct them to the advertiser page where they can see all the approved ads run by that advertiser over the past 30 days. This enables users to learn more about an advertiser and more easily report an ad if they believe it violates our policies. The advertiser information on the page is what the advertiser provided during advertiser verification.
Who will be able to see my ads on the advertiser page?
Any user who clicks the “See more ads by this advertiser” link on the ad disclosure page will see your ads on the Advertiser Page. Declared minors (minor defined by the region the user is based in) along with all signed-out users will not be able to see any creatives that are labeled with age restricted policies. Users will also only see ads based on their location.
Can I opt out of having an advertiser page?
No, there is no opt out as this is part of our ads policy. Our intention is to increase trust in Google by reducing the gap in transparency between consumers and advertisers and therefore all verified advertisers will have one.