If a health or finance ad in Google Ads shows Eligible (limited), it hasn't been rejected. Google's definition is that the ad complies with policy and can run, just not in every situation. On a health ad, the label can come from the personalized advertising policy, and what that policy restricts is your targeting: your own audience lists can't be used with the ad.
That matters for what you do next. A disapproval needs a fix or an appeal before the ad serves at all. A personalized advertising limit needs you to check which audiences the campaign uses, and to judge whether your ads and landing pages fall in a sensitive category.
The label that reads like a rejection
On a mentoring call, a marketer managing a medical clinic's account opened with a disapproval problem. They had already emailed Google support and changed the website, and nothing had moved. When we filtered the ads, the status was Eligible (limited), with labels including Health in personalized advertising. The clinic's site listed services such as pregnancy scans, IUDs and hepatitis B.
Our first point on the call was the one that holds up: it's not that the ad is disapproved, the ad is showing. Our explanation of why, that Google was holding it back from people who hadn't shared health data, isn't how Google describes it. Having checked the policy, the restriction sits on the advertiser's side. The account-level sitelink problem from the same call is in our piece on account-level assets.
What the personalized advertising policy restricts
Google lists sensitive interest categories that include health, birth control, clinical trial recruitment and negative financial status, among others. If you promote products or services in them, you can't use advertiser-curated audiences, because they may contain sensitive signals:
- Not allowed. Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments.
- Still allowed. Predefined Google audiences, which Google builds without sensitive signals: in-market, affinity, life events, location targeting, and demographics and detailed demographics with exceptions.
- Custom segments. Allowed, but with sensitive ads or landing pages they only serve in Display campaigns, to non-sensitive audiences or contextually.
- Demand Gen. Google notes Demand Gen uses advertiser-curated audiences by default and may be restricted from serving in these categories.
Finance has a second layer in the US and Canada. Consumer finance, housing and employment fall under Access to opportunities, and those ads can't target by gender, age, parental status, marital status or ZIP code. Radius targeting of at least 1 km and city or country targeting are allowed.
What to do with the label
- Read the reason. Add the Policy details column to the Ads or Assets table. It says why an Eligible (limited) ad is limited. Other policies, such as Healthcare, can also limit an ad by location, age or device.
- Check every level. Remove advertiser-curated audiences from ad group, asset group and campaign targeting.
- Look at the content. Google says ads can be limited when your site contains terms tied to regulated industries, even if what you sell is compliant.
- Appeal only if it's wrong. If your site and ads don't fall in the category, appeal from the account.
The takeaways
- Eligible (limited) means the ad can run, but not in every situation. Disapproved ads get no impressions.
- For health, birth control and negative financial status, Google blocks advertiser-curated audiences like Customer Match and your data segments.
- Predefined Google audiences such as in-market and affinity are still allowed.
- In the US and Canada, consumer finance ads can't target by gender, age, parental or marital status, or ZIP code.
- Read the Policy details column before you appeal.
Common questions
What does Eligible (limited) mean in Google Ads?
Google says the ad complies with its policies but is limited in where and when it can show, for example in certain locations, to certain ages or on certain devices. It can still run. A Disapproved ad, by contrast, doesn't get impressions until it's fixed.
What is Health in personalized advertising?
It's a label under Google's personalized advertising policy. Health is one of Google's sensitive interest categories, and ads promoting products or services in those categories can't use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion or lookalike segments.
Which audiences can I still use for health ads in Google Ads?
Google says predefined Google audiences can be used even in sensitive categories, because sensitive signals are excluded from them. Its list includes in-market segments, affinity, life events, location targeting, and demographics and detailed demographics with exceptions. Custom segments with sensitive ads or landing pages only serve in Display campaigns, to non-sensitive audiences or contextually.
Are finance ads restricted in Google Ads targeting?
Negative financial status is a sensitive interest category with the same audience limits as health. Separately, in the US and Canada, consumer finance, housing and employment ads can't target by gender, age, parental status, marital status or ZIP code, though radius targeting of at least 1 km and city or country targeting are allowed.
How do I fix a Health in personalized advertising limit?
Google gives three options: remove advertiser-curated audiences from the ad group, asset group and campaign targeting; edit or remove the content on your site or ad that falls under the policy; or appeal if you believe the label is wrong. Add the Policy details column to the Ads or Assets table to see why an ad is limited.