Quick answer
Hover over the Disapproved status and click the policy name to see the exact reason. "Destination not working" means Google's AdsBot crawler got an error loading your landing page, often from a firewall, security plugin, country block, broken redirect or server error. Fix the page so it loads for AdsBot, then edit the ad or appeal.
A red "Disapproved" label means the ad gets no impressions until it is fixed. This guide is for owners and web developers who need to know exactly what Google saw and what to change. It is part of our Google Ads help centre.
Check these first: find the exact reason
- Go to Campaigns, then Ads.
- Hover over "Disapproved" in the Status column. The pop-up names the policy and often the specific error, such as "HTTP 5xx response".
- For a full list, open Tools, then Troubleshooting, then Policy manager.
- Copy the final URL from the ad and open it in a private browser window on a phone using mobile data. If it fails there, it fails for customers too.
Error messages and fixes
Google lists these under its Destination not working and Destination not crawlable policies.
| What you see | What it means | How to fix it | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP 4xx response | The page returned an error such as 404 (not found) or 403 (forbidden). | Fix the URL typo or restore the page. A 403 often means a firewall or security plugin blocked AdsBot. | Minutes to an hour |
| HTTP 5xx response | The server failed, often from a PHP error, overloaded hosting or a plugin crash. | Check server error logs and fix the fault. Ask your host if it keeps happening. | Hours to a day |
| DNS error | The domain did not resolve, often after a DNS change or an expired domain. | Check the domain renewal and DNS records. | Hours, plus DNS propagation |
| Bad redirect URL, Server redirects too often | A redirect chain is broken or loops. | Point the ad straight at the final page and remove extra redirect hops. | Minutes |
| Timeout reading page | The page took too long to respond. | Speed up the server, remove heavy plugins or upgrade hosting. | Hours to days |
| Page requires authentication | A login or password wall blocks the page. | Remove the login wall from the landing page, or use a public page. | Minutes |
| Destination not crawlable due to robots.txt | robots.txt blocks Google's ad crawler, or robots.txt itself could not be read. | Allow AdsBot-Google (example below) and make sure /robots.txt loads. | Minutes to fix |
| Destination not accessible | The page does not load in the location you target. | Remove country blocks that exclude your target area or Google's crawlers. | Minutes to hours |
After any fix, Google says edited ads are re-reviewed automatically, typically within 24 to 48 hours for crawlability issues.
robots.txt: allowing AdsBot-Google
Google's ad crawlers use the user agents AdsBot-Google and AdsBot-Google-Mobile. Google's crawler documentation says these ignore the global User-agent: * group. So a rule aimed at all bots does not block them, but a rule naming AdsBot does. Source: Google special-case crawlers.
Search your robots.txt for "AdsBot". If you find a Disallow under an AdsBot user agent, remove it or replace it with an explicit allow:
User-agent: AdsBot-Google
Allow: /
User-agent: AdsBot-Google-Mobile
Allow: /
User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Allow: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
Sitemap: https://www.example.com.au/sitemap.xmlCheck that https://yourdomain.com.au/robots.txt loads quickly. Google says an unreachable or timing-out robots.txt also causes a "not crawlable" disapproval.
Firewalls, security plugins and Cloudflare
A common cause of "destination not working" on small business sites is security software blocking automated visitors. Your browser loads the page fine, but Google's crawler gets a 403 or a challenge page.
WordPress security plugins
- Check the plugin's blocked-traffic or firewall log for "AdsBot" or Google IP ranges around the time of the disapproval.
- Turn off any "block fake Googlebots" or "block bots" rule that blocks all crawlers, or whitelist verified Google crawlers.
- Turn off country blocking for the landing page, or make sure it does not block the countries Google crawls from.
- Check rate limiting. AdsBot may fetch several pages quickly when you launch many ads.
Cloudflare and host firewalls
- In Cloudflare, check Security events for blocked or challenged requests from AdsBot. Bot fight modes and country-block rules are frequent culprits.
- On cPanel hosting, a server firewall (such as CSF) or ModSecurity rule can block crawlers. Ask your host to check their logs for the time of the disapproval.
- Geo-blocking all non-Australian traffic is risky. Google's destination requirements say destinations must be accessible in the targeted location, and crawler traffic may not come from Australia.
Tip
Google's destination requirements page explains how to override your user agent in Chrome DevTools to mimic AdsBot. It is a quick way to see whether your site treats Google's crawler differently.
"Compromised site" and malware flags
If the disapproval says Compromised site, Google found that your site was hacked or loads content from a hacked domain. Editing the ad will not help until the site is clean. Remove the malicious code, update everything, then edit the ad or appeal. Source: Compromised sites policy. Our hacked website cleanup guide covers the first hour.
Policy disapprovals common in Australian industries
- Healthcare, allied health and NDIS: the Healthcare and medicines policy restricts some treatments and medicines and varies by country. Avoid claims about guaranteed outcomes.
- Financial services: Australia is covered by Google's financial services verification, which references ASIC. Unverified advertisers cannot promote financial services. Source: Financial services verification regulators.
- Migration services: Google's government documents and official services policy restricts ads for documents you can get directly from government. Google says it does not restrict immigration lawyers or consultants whose focus is consultation. Make sure ads sell advice, not the visa itself.
- Trademarks: using another company's brand in ad text can be limited under the Trademarks policy, which often shows as "Eligible (limited)" rather than disapproved.
How to appeal or request a review
From Google's appeal policy decisions page:
- If you changed the ad: edit it in Campaigns, then Ads, and save. Saving resubmits it for review.
- If you fixed the website only: open Policy manager, choose Appeal on the ad and select "Made changes to comply with policy".
- If you think Google got it wrong: appeal and choose "Dispute decision".
- Appeal in batches by ad group or campaign, and wait at least 24 hours between appeals for the same ads.
- Track results on the Appeal history tab in Policy manager.
Google limits each ad to 3 unsuccessful appeals before you need to contact support. If an appeal fails, make a minor edit to the ad or final URL to trigger a fresh crawl rather than resubmitting the same appeal.
When to get help
If the page loads for you but keeps failing for Google, a specialist will check server and firewall logs for AdsBot requests, test with an AdsBot user agent and review redirects before appealing.
Related: Google Ads not showing, account suspended and is my website down?
About this guide
Written by Amann Jhamb, Director of AR Digital Solutions, 17 years in web design, SEO and paid ads. Last checked: 3 November 2026 against Google Advertising Policies Help: Destination not working. Change note: first published 3 November 2026. Part of our Google Ads help centre.