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Posted In: Paid Ads

THE $11 MISTAKE THAT GETS GOOGLE ADS SUSPENDED

Posted On: 4 minute read

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Google Ads Accounts Suspended

Years ago, our PPC team at Strategy put two businesses’ landing pages on one domain. Both accounts got Google Ads suspended. Nobody was doing anything shady, but to Google it looked like a scam pattern anyway. We changed our rule that day, and we haven’t broken it since.

This post is for owners whose agency builds their landing pages, and for anyone who just got their Google Ads suspended for “circumventing systems.” Here’s the short version:

  • One business, one root domain. Subdomains and subfolders don’t count as separate.
  • The business owns the domain. Not the agency.
  • Ask your agency who owns yours. Today.

Not sure who owns your domain or ad account? We’ll check on a quick call.

WHY DO ACCOUNTS GET GOOGLE ADS SUSPENDED FOR SHARING A DOMAIN?

Because sharing a domain is what bad actors do.

People running scams open several ad accounts and point them at the same site, so when one account gets banned, the others keep running. Google’s systems look for that pattern, and two separate advertisers sending traffic to one domain matches it.

That’s what happened to us. Now we know if we use the same domain for multiple accounts, Google will shut them down. Both accounts got flagged because Google thought we were “doing spam-scam type tactics.” We had a legitimate reason for the setup, but it didn’t matter. To Google, two businesses on one domain look like one business pretending to be two.

WHAT DOES GOOGLE ADS POLICY ACTUALLY SAY ABOUT GETTING SUSPENDED?

Google’s help pages don’t contain a line that says “one domain per account.” Here’s what they do say:

The “one domain per advertiser” rule comes from how Google enforces these policies. Practitioners on r/googleads and r/PPC report the same thing we saw: separate businesses on a shared domain get flagged. Treat it as reported enforcement, not a written rule.

Google is also making these problems easier to spot. On Oct 26, 2026, Search Engine Land reported that Google Ads introduced a centralized Policy dashboard that separates account-level issues from ad-level ones. Check it before you assume an ad problem is just an ad problem.

Already flagged? Book a call before you appeal.

THE RULE THAT KEEPS US FROM GETTING GOOGLE ADS SUSPENDED: ONE ROOT DOMAIN PER BUSINESS

Every business we run Google Ads for gets its own root domain. It has to be an actually different root domain. A subdomain (clientname.ourdomain.com) or a subfolder (ourdomain.com/clientname) is still the same domain to Google.

The fix is cheap. It’s 11 bucks to buy a .com per year. Compare that to having Google Ads suspended for weeks and the cost is far less substantial.

So, we don’t wait on this. Instead, we have the client give us access to their domain by a set date, or we buy one for them, no questions asked.

If your Google Ads account is suspended for circumventing systems, the following steps are vital and must be done in this exact order:

  1. Don’t open a new account. That’s multiple account abuse, and it makes things worse (Help 15938075).
  2. Find the cause. Check whether any other business shares your domain, including old landing pages your agency set up.
  3. Fix it first. Move each business onto its own root domain or consolidate if it’s one business.
  4. Then file a Google Ads suspension appeal. There should be a link to submit an appeal in the suspension email you received. Say what caused suspension and show what you changed. Linked accounts get reviewed through the appeal too.

We won’t promise a timeline or a success rate. Google doesn’t publish one, and we won’t make one up. But following these steps increases the likelihood of getting your ads back up and running.

BEFORE YOU HIRE AN AGENCY, ASK WHO OWNS YOUR DOMAIN

Domain ownership is a week-one question. We cover the full list in How to Oversee Your Google Ads Management Agency and Get Results

Ask three things:

  • Whose name is the domain registered in?
  • Does any other business run on it?
  • Is the Google Ads account ours, with admin access?

If the answer to the first one is “the agency,” get it transferred.

OWN YOUR DOMAIN

We’ve built 300 websites over the last 15 years and worked with 500+ clients in that time. Every one of them should own its domain and its ad account outright.

Book an account and domain ownership check with Strategy. We’ll tell you who owns what, and whether anything you share could get your account suspended.

WHY WAS MY GOOGLE ADS ACCOUNT SUSPENDED FOR “CIRCUMVENTING SYSTEMS”?

Google uses that policy for attempts to get around its enforcement, including multiple account abuse. A common trigger is separate businesses sharing one domain, which looks like one advertiser running several accounts.

CAN SEVERAL BUSINESSES POINT TO SUBFOLDERS OF ONE DOMAIN?

We don’t recommend it. Subfolders and subdomains sit on the same root domain, so Google can still see one domain shared across advertisers. Give each business its own root domain.

SHOULD I OPEN A NEW ACCOUNT AFTER MY GOOGLE ADS ACCOUNT IS SUSPENDED?

No. Google treats that as multiple account abuse. Fix the cause and appeal instead.

WHAT DOES GOOGLE SAY ABOUT MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS?

Google’s circumventing systems policy prohibits using multiple accounts to get around enforcement, including opening new accounts after a suspension.

CAN ONE AD GROUP USE TWO DOMAINS?

No. Google’s destination requirements limit each ad group to one website.

HOW DO I APPEAL A GOOGLE ADS SUSPENSION?

Find and fix the cause first. Then submit an appeal that explains what happened and what you changed.

WHAT ARE GOOGLE ADS POLICIES FOR LANDING PAGES AND DESTINATIONS?

Google’s destination requirements cover things like a working destination and one website per ad group. See Google Ads Help article 6088505 for the current list.

Enjoy content from Strategy Marketing? Make us one of your preferred sources on Google.

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