Reasons for Disapproved Keywords

After you submit an ad group, it goes through an initial review to ensure that it complies with the Microsoft adCenter Editorial Guidelines. If the ads and keywords pass this review, the ads are live and available to be displayed.  

 

If an ad does not pass the initial review, an additional review takes place, which can take several hours. During this phase, the ad group's status is set to Inactive. After the review is complete, the ad group is given a status of Active or Disapproved. Ads with Inactive status are not live during the review process. If an active ad is associated with some keywords that are active and others that are inactive, the ad is only live with the Active keywords.

If your ad or keyword was disapproved, refer to the editorial reasons for disapproval below to learn why—as well as to learn what steps to take to update the ad or keyword. After you've made your changes, you can resubmit the ad or keyword for approval.


Common Reasons for Editorial Disapprovals

The following are just some of the common reasons for the disapproval of ads or keywords in Microsoft adCenter. For a comprehensive listing of adCenter guidelines, visit the Editorial Guidelines page.
  • Content
    Make sure that the type of content you are advertising is allowed. For example, adult or sexual content, profanity or hate speech are not allowed. For a list of disallowed content, see the Editorial guidelines: content section.
  • Ad relevance
    A relevant ad is defined as an ad that closely reflects the most probable user intent during a keyword search. Both the ad copy and the content on the landing page must be sufficiently relevant to the keyword. For more information see the Editorial Guidelines: URL and landing page topic.
  • Products
    Make sure that products you are advertising are allowed. For example, fireworks, weapons. or deceptive or illegal products and services, such as essay writing, are not allowed. For a list of disallowed content, see Editorial guidelines: products.

  • Grammar and punctuation
    Ads that contain grammatical errors, or use numbers, letters or symbols in ways that don't reflect normal speech, are not allowed. Please correct these grammar-related issues in the ad. For examples of proper use of grammar and punctuation in your ads, see Editorial guidelines: style.

  • Trademarks
    Make sure that you do not bid on the trademarks of others as keywords, or include them within the text of your ads, unless your use of the trademark is lawful and within the uses allowed by Microsoft adCenter. For more information, see Editorial guidelines: trademarks.

  • Gambling
    Make sure that you do not include any gambling-related words or content in your ads, keywords or landing pages. For more information, see Editorial guidelines: gambling.

  • URL and landing page

    Be sure that your display URL, destination URL and landing page follow the guidelines listed at Editorial guidelines: URL and landing page.

  • Phone numbers
    There are specific guidelines for using phone numbers in your ads. For more information, see Editorial guidelines: phone numbers.

  • Special or free offers
    Make sure that your landing page prominently features any special or free offers that are described in the ad. For example, if your ad offers select movies at 50 percent off, the landing page must feature the movies that are 50 percent off. For more information, see Editorial Guidelines: URL and landing page.

  • Calls to action
    Do not use a nonspecific call to action ("click here," for example). You can use specific calls to action ("buy direct," for example). For more information, see Editorial Guidelines: URL and landing page.

  • Language
    Make sure that ads and keywords are written in the language set for the ad group. For more information about the language and region setting, see Select a language and market for an ad group.

     

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