Google has stopped letting advertisers appeal older policy decisions from inside their Google Ads account. According to a report by PPC Land, Google updated its Advertising Policies Help Center to state that, starting July 21, 2026, advertisers can no longer appeal a policy decision directly from their account if the enforcement action was taken more than six months earlier. The update was published as a single sentence, with no advance notice.
The change is retroactive. It applies to enforcement actions that already exist on accounts, including account suspensions, ad disapprovals, and asset restrictions. If one of those actions was recorded more than six months ago, the in-platform appeal button no longer applies to it.
What actually changed
Before this update, advertisers could open an enforcement action and submit an appeal through the Google Ads interface regardless of how old the decision was. Google has now set a six-month limit on that in-account path. Once a policy decision passes the six-month mark, the appeal option tied to it is gone.
Two details make this more significant than a routine policy note. First, it landed with a single line of text and no rollout window, so many advertisers will only learn about it when they go looking for an appeal that is no longer there. Second, it reaches backward into history rather than applying only to new enforcement. A disapproval or restriction from earlier in the year can already be past the cutoff.
What the six-month window covers
- Account suspensions recorded more than six months ago.
- Ad disapprovals that were never appealed and have aged past the limit.
- Asset restrictions, such as limited or disapproved assets, older than six months.
The clock runs from the date of the enforcement action, not from the date an advertiser notices it. That distinction is the whole risk. An account can carry a restriction quietly for months, and the window to challenge it in-platform closes on its own schedule.
Why it matters for advertisers
The people most exposed here are the ones who inherit problems late. Enforcement actions surface during account handovers between agencies, after staff changes when the person who managed the account has left, or during audits of accounts that had not been reviewed in a while. In all of those cases the discovery often happens well after the action was taken.
If that discovery lands past the six-month mark, the straightforward in-account appeal may no longer be available. That does not automatically mean an account is beyond help through other Google support channels, but the simplest recourse, the one built into the interface, is removed. The practical takeaway is timing: enforcement actions need to be found and dealt with inside the window, not whenever someone happens to open the account.
What this means for Thai marketers
This is a global Google Ads policy, so it applies to accounts managed from Thailand the same way it applies anywhere else. Nothing about the change is specific to Thailand. The relevance is operational. Many local businesses hand their advertising between in-house teams and outside partners, and accounts often change hands without a full history review. A disapproval or restriction sitting on an account can quietly age past six months during one of those transitions.
For anyone running or taking over a Google Ads account, the safest habit now is a policy review early in the relationship. When onboarding a new account, check the policy manager and each campaign for suspensions, disapprovals, and restricted assets before the six-month clock runs out on anything that can still be appealed. If your reporting and account structure are not giving you a clear view of these signals, an audit of your setup can surface issues that would otherwise stay buried until it is too late to act on them in-platform.
FAQ
When did the change take effect?
July 21, 2026, according to Google's updated Advertising Policies Help Center as reported by PPC Land.
Does it affect old enforcement actions or only new ones?
It is retroactive. Enforcement actions already on an account are subject to the six-month limit, so decisions from earlier in the year can already be past the cutoff.
Which enforcement types are covered?
Account suspensions, ad disapprovals, and asset restrictions are named in the reporting.
Can I still fix a decision older than six months?
The in-account appeal tied to that decision no longer applies once it passes six months. The change removes that specific in-platform path; it does not describe any other support route.
What to do next
Review your accounts now, especially any you have recently taken over or have not checked in months. Log every suspension, disapproval, and restricted asset, note its date, and appeal anything still inside the six-month window before that option disappears. Building a regular policy check into how you manage campaigns is the cheapest form of insurance against losing your only in-platform recourse. If you want a second set of eyes on account health and where enforcement risk sits, our Google Ads team can help you get a clear picture.
