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This is the Google Ads rule against advertising products or services you don’t have or can’t deliver. Google’s full wording adds “including not having the right licenses or qualifications“, so it also covers a business that can do the work but isn’t licensed, qualified or authorised to sell it. It sits inside the Unacceptable Business Practices policy, which Google treats as egregious: the account is suspended without warning, and the appeal has to prove your right to sell.
It is one of four practices banned under the Google Ads Unacceptable business practices policy.
Policy positions in this article were checked against Google’s published documentation as of September 2026. Google changes its policy pages without notice, so check the linked pages before relying on any detail.
The core of the policy bans scamming people by hiding or misrepresenting info about your business, products or services. This rule is the second of the four practices it lists, and it has two halves:
Google’s best practices describe the other side of the same coin: deliver what customers paid for, to the agreed specification; be qualified to do the work you advertise, with the certifications it needs; and if you list any certifications on your website, keep them up to date.
As with the rest of the policy, Google treats a breach as egregious. The account is suspended upon detection and without prior warning. That is different from repeated breaches of ordinary policies, where Google sends a warning at least 7 days before a suspension action.
The licences and qualifications half of the rule is newer than it looks. Google’s change log records that, on 21 November 2023, not delivering a product or service due to a lack of qualifications moved from the Misleading representation policy into Unacceptable Business Practices.
The practical effect is that a qualifications gap, once handled under Misleading representation, now sits inside a policy that suspends the whole account without warning.
In the cases I’ve seen, the pattern is a business that doesn’t look like the same business as the thing it’s advertising.
“It looks like impersonation. They’re showcasing something they don’t provide, without obvious agreements or contracts behind it. And that happens even to businesses that are contracted and allowed to sell those products.”
— Gianluca Catinella, Director, Ad Restore Ltd
One was a reseller advertising the services of a major UK mobile and broadband network. It fitted the pattern: a business showcasing a service that carries someone else’s name. To show they were allowed to sell it, they had to provide their contracts with the network, and the contracts were the proof.
Another was a telecoms company that installed a well-known satellite broadband brand’s equipment as a side service, alongside its normal telecoms work. It hadn’t provided any documentation proving it was authorised, so it was suspended and asked for documentation. The owners contacted Google and got very frustrated.
When I went through the account, they were using the brand’s name in their keywords, and they confirmed the installation was a side service. That was the issue. The fix had three parts: adjusting the landing pages, providing the agreement that allowed them to install the brand’s equipment, and a formal appeal that explained the trigger, why they had done it that way, what had changed, and how they would act in future. It took about five days to get the account in order and reinstated. That’s one case, not a timescale anyone can promise.
It is a clear example of the rule’s second half: a service you have to be authorised to sell. The business could do the work. What it hadn’t shown Google was that it was allowed to.
The short version is that Google suspends first and asks questions later.
“Most of it happens in the back end: the business provides the documents to Google. Google suspends first and asks questions later, and you get to prove it in the appeal.”
— Gianluca Catinella, Director, Ad Restore Ltd
That matches what Google publishes. The suspension is applied on detection, and Google says its enforcement combines automated systems with trained operators and analysts. Nobody asks for your contracts before the account stops.
In my experience, reviews on their own haven’t been the trigger. Mostly it’s complaints made directly to Google that start an investigation, and then a suspension. Google’s own list of what it takes into account includes user complaints, consumer reviews, regulatory warnings and rulings, and its policy says its review can take in third-party sources as well as your ads and website. If customers are telling Google you didn’t deliver, or a regulator has warned you, that is information Google says it uses.
On the website, show your licences and accreditations. But most of the proof happens in the back end: the documents go to Google with the appeal.
Google’s best practices point the same way. Describe your business on your website, with current contact details and a clear account of what the company does. Be clear about your partnerships: Google asks official partners to make the relationship clear on their own site and in their ads, and suggests that a business referencing a brand it isn’t officially partnered with should consider a disclaimer on your website and in your ads.
Whatever proves your right to sell is the evidence: a licence, an accreditation, or an agreement with the brand whose service you sell.
Google’s appeal tips for the core policy are:
In both cases above, the contracts and the agreement were what mattered. Send one appeal at a time: Google says that if you file too many appeals for the same account suspension, they may not be processed. Our guide to why Google Ads appeals get rejected covers the common mistakes.
Google has a separate Misrepresentation policy called Unavailable offers, about promising something in an ad that isn’t available, or can’t easily be found from the landing page. It is easy to confuse with this rule, but the consequences differ. On Google’s Misrepresentation policy page, only Unacceptable Business Practices and Coordinated deceptive practices carry the wording about suspension without warning. Unavailable offers doesn’t.
If the business doesn’t hold the licence or authorisation, an appeal can’t supply it. What I tell clients is simple: stop saying you provide that service, or change the business.
Fix that first. Google reinstates accounts only in compelling circumstances, such as in the case of a mistake, and no appeal can argue a missing licence into existence. Our page on when a Google Ads suspension can’t be fixed covers what that means for the account.
Two things: not being able to supply what you advertise, and not having the licence, qualification or authorisation to supply it. In my experience the second catches genuine businesses that haven’t shown they’re entitled to sell what they advertise.
Google’s policy doesn’t name dropshipping. What it targets is taking payment and not delivering. Volunteer Product Experts in the Google Ads Community list dropshipping among common reasons for suspension, but that is their view, not Google policy. I haven’t handled an online shop non-delivery case myself. My view is that a genuine shop should be able to address it by explaining why customers didn’t receive their products.
Google’s best practices ask you to be qualified for the work you advertise and to keep any certifications you list up to date. They don’t set a format. Showing your licences and accreditations on the site helps, but most of the proof goes to Google as documents with the appeal.
It can put you inside the rule. The rule covers not having the right qualifications, and Google’s best practice is to keep any certifications you list current. Renew it, or stop advertising the work it covers, before you appeal.
No. It is a separate Misrepresentation policy, and it doesn’t carry the suspension-without-warning wording that applies here.
Yes, if you’re authorised and can prove it. Be clear about the relationship on your site and in your ads, watch how the brand’s name appears in your keywords, and keep the contract or agreement ready. In both cases above, that document was the proof.
We work on Google Ads suspensions for UK businesses, including Unacceptable Business Practices cases where the question is whether a business is entitled to sell what it advertises. Our Google Ads suspension services page explains what that work covers.
If your account has been suspended under this rule, book a consultation and bring the suspension notice, your website address and the licences, accreditations or agreements that show your right to sell. If the licence is genuinely missing, we’ll say so.
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