Destination mismatch: Advertisers are reporting another potential Google Ads glitch

Numerous advertisers have reported “Destination mismatch” ad disapprovals in Google Ads that may be the result of a glitch. “I had five clients impacted; most ads are no longer disapproved (though one account still has some). Of the other four, three have ads Eligible (Limited) for Destination Mismatch,” said Director of Search Strategy at JumpFly, Nikki Kuhlman, who first brought this to our attention.

Update as of this morning: I had five clients impacted; most ads are no longer disapproved (though one account still has some). Of the other four, three have ads Eligible (Limited) for Destination Mismatch. pic.twitter.com/IRsHaVM5Jx

— Nikki Kuhlman (@nikkijumpfly) November 4, 2021

The Google Ads team is aware of the issue and is currently investigating it, said Ginny Marvin, Google’s ads product liaison.

Several PPC professionals are experiencing the same disapproval. After Kuhlman shared the issue, other PPC practitioners commented that they’re also noticing the same disapproval. “Confirming. We just got 1,000’s of disapproval’s for that,” Andrew Kachel commented. And, as Shaun Maharaj has pointed out, the empty fields in the notice (shown below) may indicate that something isn’t working properly on Google’s end.

Seeing the same. New rejections coming in every couple of hours. Seems like a bug because the fields are blank pic.twitter.com/AcsC78lGBf

— Shaun Maharaj (@shaunmaharaj) November 4, 2021

One professional, Christian Rios, said that he’s now seeing destination mismatch disapprovals for ads that “haven’t been touched in ages.”

One glitch after another? There seems to be another Google Ads issue going around: Since mid-October, some advertisers have reported that they’re receiving an error saying their ads aren’t showing due to a location targeting issue. One advertiser has allegedly been told by a Google representative that the error is now fixed, however many are still reporting the issue. It is unclear whether these issues are connected.

PPC professionals are testing solutions. “Have a look at account settings > tracking and see if you have anything in the tracking template field,” Mark Bissoni suggested, “Could be this. Remove it and appeal.”

If you’re also experiencing destination mismatch disapprovals, but at a much smaller scale than what other PPC professionals are describing, it’s possible that your disapproval isn’t due to a bug. If you suspect that’s the case, you can turn to Google’s Advertising Policies Help page for guidance on how to troubleshoot destination mismatches.

Why we care. “​​I had a client messaging me on Facebook last night because she was freaking out,” Kuhlman told Search Engine Land, “She was also the biggest impacted — she had about 500 ads disapproved.” If you’re suddenly experiencing widespread destination mismatch disapprovals, it may be due to an issue on Google’s end. Informing your clients that others are experiencing the same issue and that Google is aware and investigating it may ease their concerns. It’s also important to make note of the disapprovals for reporting purposes.

We are quickly approaching the height of the holiday shopping season. Hopefully, Google is able to get things working properly, or explain the issue so that advertisers can resolve it themselves, before it begins to impact any Cyber Week promotions that brands may be planning.

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