Businesses say Google encouraged them to spend, then denied the reward

Google Ads has rejected promotional credits for businesses that had already spent thousands of dollars trying to qualify, according to PPC consultant David Melamed.

In a LinkedIn post, Melamed said two client accounts had promotions invalidated after spending money and waiting more than a month. His complaint concerned an offer requiring advertisers to spend $3,200 to receive a matching amount in ad credit.

Melamed said the clients likely would not have spent the initial $3,200 without the promotion. He attributed one rejection to using his agency’s billing profile when initially setting up a new client’s account. He said he did not know why the other promotion was rejected.

Google Ads liaison Ginny Marvin said she had passed the complaint to the team, according to Search Engine Roundtable, which reported the issue. The response quoted in that report did not explain the rejections or say whether the credits would be restored.

Google’s promotional offers require advertisers to meet spending or other conditions before receiving credit for additional advertising. According to Google’s documentation, an eligibility check begins once the offer’s requirements are met and can take up to 35 days.

Meeting the spending threshold therefore does not mean the credit has been approved.

Google’s promotion status guide distinguishes between an offer that is still being reviewed and one that is available to use. “Processing” means the spending requirement has been met but eligibility is still being checked. “Active” means the reward has been granted. An offer can be marked “Invalidated” if its requirements have not been met.

The timing also affects advertising costs during the review. Google says credits apply only to spending after they are added to an account. They cannot cover the initial qualifying spend or other advertising costs incurred before the credit was applied.

A business that keeps its campaigns running while waiting for approval must therefore pay for that advertising itself, even if Google later approves the promotion.

Melamed also questioned why account information that could disqualify a business was not checked before it spent money pursuing the offer.

The public complaint does not clearly establish that Google removed credits that had already been approved and used. It describes businesses spending in expectation of credits that were subsequently rejected. The number of affected accounts beyond the reported cases is unknown.

Advertisers can check an offer’s status under Billing → Promotions. Google advises contacting support if a qualifying credit has not appeared after 35 days.