Quick Guide to PPC Editorial Guidelines

Updated March 3, 2025

Writing a great PPC ad requires a touch of genius and a lot of trial and error. As well as requiring your creative juices, you also have to follow a number of Google’s PPC editorial guidelines to make sure your ads pass muster.

So what are the do’s and don’t’s of writing an AdWords ad that will stop you falling foul of Googe’s rules?

Follow The Rules

Unclear Content – is it obvious what you do, or what you’re selling? If it isn’t your ad is unlikely to get approved. Obviously, subtlety and nuance are useful tools, but you need to make sure you’re not being too vague. The same goes for an ad packed with keywords that don’t make sense. While you don’t always have to use perfect punctuation or syntax, you can’t just upload gibberish full of keywords.

Style and Spelling – It should go without saying, but normal spelling should be used. Thrs no xcuse 4 txt spk evn if thr isn’t mch spce. Also don’t overuse punctuation or symbols, or try to add your own formatting like bullet points or by using indents.

Another thing you can’t do is add a screenshot of a text ad as a display ad. Although if you’re thinking about doing that, you might have bigger problems than just your AdWords account…

Repetition – Repetition, repetition, repetition… Don’t copy your headline in your headline 2, or into your ad text. Repeating the same text again, and again isn’t allowed. Also be careful about repeating your company name, or the product name.

Capitalization – AdDiNg RaNdOM CaPiTaL LeTTrs iS nOt aLLowED. Because it looks terrible. If you do it.

Image and Video Quality – This is quite simple, the TL:DR is; don’t upload poor quality video or images. Make sure they’re orientated the right way, no landscape images squeezed into a portrait space for example. If there’s text make sure it’s possible to read. Don’t add any strobe lighting effects. Make sure the ads fit the dimensions described and don’t overlap.

Emoticons – They’re in, they’re out. At the moment Google seems to be trialling emoticons (or emojis) in ads again. How long this will last we don’t know, but while you can use them why not give them a try!

PPC Editorial Guidelines Explained

Is there anything that consistently gets your ads disapproved? Do you think there’s something we missed here?