Destination not crawlable

Destination requirements

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Google prioritizes user experience across all its products, and a key part of this is fostering a safe and trustworthy environment within the Google ad network. The Destination Requirements policy strives to ensure that when users click on an ad and are sent to a landing page, that website is functional, useful, and easy to navigate. This also creates an ads ecosystem that’s supportive to advertisers and the people who interact with their ads.

Learn more about the Destination requirements policy.

Violations of this policy will not lead to immediate account suspension without prior warning. A warning will be issued at least 7 days prior to any suspension of your account. Learn more about Google Ads account suspensions overview.

On this page

About the policy
About robots.txt files and related disapprovals
Options to fix

Google requires that your ad destination and contents are crawlable by Google AdsBot web crawlers to verify that users are led to an ad destination that’s relevant to the ad they’ve clicked. Ensure that Google can crawl your site effectively by using a URL structure that follows URL Structure Best Practices for Google Search.

The following would lead to disapproval for Destination not crawlable:

Destinations that aren't crawlable by Google Ads

Examples (non-exhaustive):

Using exclusion files like "robots.txt" to restrict access to the majority or entirety of a site

Using site settings that allow less crawling than is required for the number of ads you’re running

Note: Even if you’re not blocking Google Ads from crawling your content, you might be unintentionally limiting efficient crawls. This is particularly likely if you have recently submitted a large volume of ads to Google. If you use a click tracker for your ads, check if that might be affecting the crawl capacity. If your website doesn’t have sufficient crawl capacity, consider breaking up your ad submissions into smaller batches spread across several days.

About robots.txt files and related disapprovals

A robots.txt file tells search engine crawlers which URLs the crawler can access on your site. Learn more about How Google Interprets the robots.txt Specification.

Common reasons for “Destination not crawlable due to robots.txt“ include:

Server's robots.txt disallows access: Your robots.txt file doesn’t allow crawl access, so Google Ads couldn’t crawl your site.

Server's robots.txt unreachable or Timeouts reading robots.txt: Google Ads couldn’t crawl your site because it couldn’t read your robots.txt file.

Learn more about how to Submit Updated Robots.txt.

Options to fix

If this policy is affecting your ad, review your options to fix below.

Allow Google AdsBot web crawlers to access your ad destinations

Make sure you’re not using exclusion files like "robots.txt" to restrict access to the majority or entirety of your site. You can use Google Search Console to verify that your pages are accessible. You can also check for crawl errors or a low crawl rate.
If you use a click tracker for your ads, make sure that it’s not affecting the crawl capacity.
If you can’t resolve the issue yourself, work with your web developer to make your app or website accessible to the Google AdsBot web crawlers.

Choose a different destination

Update your ads to use a different destination that is compliant with this policy.

Edit your ads to comply with this policy

Go to Ads within the Campaigns menu .
Hover over the ad or asset and select Edit.
Edit the ad or asset so that it complies with the policy.
Select Save. Your ad or asset will be automatically re-reviewed, which typically takes 24-48 hours. Check the ad’s status in the “Ads & assets” page for updates.

Your ad will be automatically reviewed again. To check the ad or asset status, review the “Status” column. If you hover over each status, you’ll notice a more detailed explanation of what the status means.

Learn more about how to Fix a disapproved ad or appeal a policy decision.

Appeal policy decision

If you believe there’s been an error and that you haven’t violated Google Ads' policies, appeal the policy decision directly from your Google Ads account to request a review. If the review determines that your ads are compliant, they can run again. If you aren't able to fix these violations or choose not to, remove your ad to help prevent your account from becoming suspended in the future for repeated policy violations.

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