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Google Ads Advertiser Verification Rolling Out

Google is starting to roll out a new advertiser verification program to “ensure a safe and trustworthy ad experience for users.” If you advertise on Google, you may have received an email from Google asking for you to verify your business. The program requires advertisers to verify their identity by an authorized representative, to increase transparency on ads and ensure that ads being run on Google Ads are actually being operated by the company or its agency. 

If you receive the email to verify your business, you have 30 days to begin the verification process, or your account will be paused until the verification is completed. There are a few items that Google may ask for in order to verify your business. You must choose someone to act as your authorized representative, which can be anyone authorized to act on behalf of the organization or authorized to run campaigns on Google for them. This can be someone from the organization itself or a member of their advertising agency. The person selected as the authorized representative may be asked for a copy of Government ID, such as a driver’s license or passport. 

Google will likely ask to verify your business name. This must be the legal name of the organization. There is also a beta program where some advertisers may apply to use a trademark they own as their advertiser name. The advertiser name will be displayed within the “About this advertiser” disclosure. Google may ask you for documents to verify the name of the business. 

Further, Google might ask you for more details about your business operations to learn more about the organization. According to Google, this may include information, “such as your business model, business registration information, types of services you offer, business practices, and relationships with advertised brands or third parties, if applicable.”

Google claims that the process should take 3-5 days to complete, and could add an additional 3-5 days for additional steps if working with an agency. The process doesn’t appear to be extremely tedious, but the timeline is something to keep in mind when you get the email from Google. They are slowly rolling the process out (I would guess to larger advertisers first), but make sure to keep an eye out for an email to begin the process.

If you would like to optimize your Google Ads to get your business showing up for the right customers on Google, contact Smarter Searches today to get started!