Why it happens
Letterboxing or empty space
Letterboxing or empty space
A landscape image padded into a square, or white bars around the creative, so it does not fill the frame.
Blurry or low-resolution images
Images upscaled from small files, or text in the image too small to read.
Sideways, upside down or distracting
Wrong rotation, or strobing and flashing animation.
How to fix it, step by step
Find the exact policy topic
Go to Campaigns, then Ads, and hover the Disapproved or Eligible (limited) label in the Status column. It names the policy and the part of the ad it applies to. Tools, then Troubleshooting, then Policy manager lists every affected ad in one place.
Make images at the right ratio
Use a landscape 1.91:1 image of at least 600 by 314 and a square 1:1 of at least 300 by 300 for responsive display ads, each filling the frame. Ad specs lists every size.
Replace the image
Upload the new image to the ad or asset group and remove the disapproved one. The new image goes through review on its own.
Resubmit or appeal
Saving an edited ad resubmits it for review. If you think the call was wrong, or the change was made outside the ad, open Policy manager, choose Appeal and pick Dispute decision or Made changes to comply with policy. Each ad gets 3 appeals, and only decisions from the last 6 months can be appealed from the account.
Steps checked against Google Ads policy help: Editorial; Google Ads Help: About responsive display ads; Google Ads Help: Fix a disapproved ad or appeal a policy decision.
Sprites fixes this
Or let Sprites fix it
Sprites finds the display ads disapproved for image quality and rebuilds them with clean images.
What Sprites does
- Reads the policy status of your ads and names the image quality topic on each disapproved one.
- Builds a replacement responsive display or image ad with your images, cropped to the right ratios.
- Pauses the disapproved ad once the replacement is live.
- You approve every change before it goes live.
What it doesn't do
- It does not swap images inside Performance Max asset groups as part of this check.
Questions
What image sizes does Google Ads need for display ads?
Responsive display ads need a landscape 1.91:1 image of at least 600 by 314 and a square 1:1 image of at least 300 by 300.
Why was my image disapproved when it looks fine?
Most often it does not fill the frame, with padding or bars around it, or the text in it is too small to read at ad size.
Can text in an image cause an image quality disapproval?
Yes, when it is illegible. Keep text large and short, or leave it out and use the headline.
Should I appeal an image quality disapproval?
Usually no. Replacing the image is faster and reviews in about a day.
Let Sprites fix it
Connect the account. Sprites finds the cause, stages the change and waits for your approval.