Why it happens
Your site blocks some countries
Your site blocks some countries
A store that geo-blocks shipping countries, a GDPR wall that refuses EU traffic, or a CDN country rule.
A country redirect sends visitors away
Visitors from one country are bounced to a regional site that errors, or to a page with different content.
Campaign location targeting is wider than you think
Presence or interest targeting, or a campaign copied from another market, reaches people in places the site never meant to serve.
How to fix it, step by step
See which ads are limited
Go to Tools, then Troubleshooting, then Policy manager, and filter the Policy issues tab for Destination not accessible.
Compare targeting to the site
Open Campaigns, then Audiences, keywords and content, then Locations for each affected campaign, and list every country targeted.
Test the page from those places
Load the final URL through a VPN or a remote browser in each targeted country and note where it fails or redirects.
Open the page or narrow the targeting
Remove the geo block for targeted countries, or exclude the countries you do not serve. Set location options to Presence if you only want people physically there.
Appeal
Back in Policy manager, select Appeal, choose Made changes to comply with policy and submit.
Steps checked against Google Ads Advertising Policies Help: Destination requirements; Google Ads Advertising Policies Help: Fix a disapproved ad or appeal a policy decision; Google Ads Help: Location targeting.
Sprites diagnoses this
Sprites diagnoses it
Sprites lines up where your ads are targeted with which ads Google limited, so the gap is obvious.
What Sprites does
- Reads the approval status and policy topics on every ad and lists the ones flagged Destination not accessible.
- Reads each campaign’s location and language criteria and calls out targeting you did not mean to have.
- Lists the final URLs those ads send traffic to.
What it doesn't do
- It does not change geo rules on your site or CDN.
- It does not load your page from other countries, and it does not file the appeal.
Questions
What does destination not accessible mean in Google Ads?
Your landing page does not work in a location the ad targets. Google checks the destination from the places you advertise in.
Do I need to remove the geo block on my site?
Only for countries you target. Excluding the countries you cannot serve from the campaign is just as valid.
Is this different from destination not working?
Yes. Not working is an error for everyone, like a 404. Not accessible is a page that works in some places and not others.
Will my ads still serve while limited?
They may serve in the locations where the page loads, but delivery is restricted until the issue is resolved and reviewed.
See where it breaks
Connect your accounts. Sprites reads them side by side and shows you exactly where the numbers split.