How to Fill Out and Submit the AdSense Appeal Form

The AdSense appeal form is how you ask Google to review a closed account and, if you succeed, restore your ability to serve ads. There are two separate forms: one for invalid traffic closures and one for publisher policy violations. Picking the wrong one delays your case, and Google may only review a single submission, so it’s worth treating the appeal as your best and possibly only shot.

Which Appeal Form to Use

Google closes AdSense accounts for two broad reasons, and each has its own form.

An invalid traffic closure means Google’s systems identified clicks or impressions as artificial, fraudulent, or accidental. Common triggers include friends clicking your ads repeatedly, purchased traffic that generated fake engagement, or ad placements that caused users to tap by mistake. The appeal goes through the invalid activity form at support.google.com/adsense/contact/appeal_form_adsense_admob.

A policy violation closure means your account breached Google’s Publisher Policies, which cover content standards, behavioral rules, privacy requirements, and other program standards. That appeal goes through the account closed form at support.google.com/adsense/contact/policy_disabled_appeal.

Your closure notification email tells you which category applies. If you no longer have it, the AdSense Help Center pages for invalid traffic closures and policy closures each link directly to the correct form.¹²

What to Have Ready Before You Start

The form itself is short. Your answers need to be specific and honest, so preparation matters more than length.

Your account email address. Use the exact email tied to the closed account. A mismatch will delay processing.¹
Your Publisher ID. Formatted as “pub-” followed by sixteen digits, for example pub-1234567890123456. Find it in AdSense under Account, then Settings, then Account Information.³
A clear explanation of what happened. Work through whether any common closure triggers apply. Did someone you know click your ads repeatedly? Did you buy traffic from a source that turned out to generate fake visits? Are your ads placed where users might tap them accidentally on mobile?
A concrete list of changes you’ve made. Google asks what systems or behaviors you’ve put in place to prevent a repeat. Have real answers before you sit down to write.

One detail surprises many publishers: Google does not analyze or validate third-party data as part of invalid traffic investigations. Attaching your Google Analytics reports or server logs won’t strengthen your case. Google relies on its own internal data and is looking for your honest assessment of what went wrong and what you’ve done about it.¹

Filling Out an Invalid Traffic Appeal

The invalid traffic form asks you to provide as much information about the relevant activity as you can and to confirm that any invalid traffic was not caused by your own actions or negligence.¹ In practice, answer two questions well.

What do you think caused the problem? Google suggests reviewing the common reasons accounts are closed and asking yourself honestly whether any apply. If you bought cheap traffic from an ad network and it flooded your site with bot visits, say so. If your mobile ad layout put a banner directly under a navigation button where thumbs naturally land, describe that. “I don’t know what happened” gives the reviewer nothing to work with. Specificity shows you’ve investigated.

What have you changed for the future? Google wants to hear about adjusted ad placements, changes in how you acquire traffic, or new monitoring practices. You might explain that you removed an ad unit sitting too close to interactive content, stopped buying traffic from a particular network, or started reviewing your traffic sources on a set schedule.¹

Filling Out a Policy Violation Appeal

The policy form follows a similar structure but focuses on showing that the violations were not your fault or that you’ve fully corrected them. Google’s instructions require you to show any policy violations were not due to actions or negligence on your part, or on the part of anyone you’re responsible for.² That’s a higher bar than the invalid traffic form. If a contributor posted prohibited content on your site and you’ve removed it and put editorial review in place, say exactly that.

Google’s Publisher Policies fall into four categories: content policies, behavioral policies, privacy-related policies, and general requirements.⁴ Identifying which category applies helps you write a focused response rather than a scattershot defense.

What Makes an Appeal Stronger

Most failed appeals share the same problems. They’re vague, emotional, or they deny responsibility without offering evidence. A few principles will set yours apart.

Be direct about what went wrong. If you genuinely don’t know, say so, but describe what you’ve checked and ruled out. Google’s review team handles a large volume of appeals, and a clear factual explanation is easier to evaluate than a lengthy plea. Stick to what happened, what you found, and what you changed.

Review your ad placements from a user’s perspective. Google specifically recommends walking through the typical user journey on your desktop site, mobile site, and any apps to check whether placements might cause accidental clicks.¹ If you found problems during that review and fixed them, that concrete detail belongs in your appeal.

Don’t expect Google to tell you what specifically triggered the closure. Google explicitly withholds details that could be used to circumvent its invalid traffic defenses.¹ Your appeal needs to show a genuine audit of your own setup, not a point-by-point rebuttal of charges Google never itemized.

After You Submit

Google does not publish a specific timeline for appeal reviews. The process involves manual review, and turnaround varies with the backlog. Google will email you at your account address once a decision is reached, stating whether your account has been reinstated or whether the closure stands. There is no guarantee of reinstatement, and Google says so plainly on the invalid traffic help page.¹ If you are reinstated, you can resume serving ads, but a second closure is far less likely to result in a successful appeal.

If Your Appeal Is Denied

The two appeal paths handle repeat submissions differently. For invalid traffic closures, Google warns that once a decision is reached, further appeals may not be considered.¹ Treat that first appeal as your only real opportunity.

For policy violation closures, Google enforces a 90-day waiting period between appeals. Any appeal submitted within 90 days of the resolution of a previous one will not be reviewed.² If you plan to try again, use that window to make additional, demonstrable changes to your site before resubmitting.

Opening a new AdSense account to get around a closure is not an option. Publishers closed for policy reasons are explicitly prohibited from further participation through a new account.² Signing up under a different name, using a family member’s identity, or creating a separate business entity is likely to result in that account being disabled as well. Google actively detects accounts linked to previously disabled publishers.

Unpaid Earnings After Closure

If your account carried an unpaid balance when it was closed for policy reasons, Google places a 30-day hold on the remaining funds. During that period, Google calculates which portion of your revenue is eligible for payment and which portion was tied to invalid traffic or policy violations. After the 30 days, you can sign back into AdSense to view any remaining eligible balance and arrange payment. Deductions for invalid activity or violations are refunded to the affected advertisers.²

The key word is “eligible.” If Google determines the earnings were generated through the same activity that caused the closure, you won’t receive those funds. A successful appeal is not the only route to a payout; legitimate earnings accrued before the violation may still be released after the hold period even without reinstatement.

Effect on YouTube, AdMob, and Other Google Products

An AdSense closure doesn’t just affect your website. Because AdSense is the payment backbone for several Google monetization products, a disabled account can knock out revenue across YouTube, AdMob, and other connected services. A violation on one platform can prevent monetization on any Google product, regardless of where the original problem occurred. If your AdSense account was disabled because of an AdMob issue, you won’t be able to use AdSense for YouTube either.

Unlinking your AdSense account from a YouTube channel requires going through YouTube support directly, not AdSense. If your appeal succeeds and your account is reinstated, connected services should resume normally, but confirming with each platform’s support team is worth the extra step.

1
Google AdSense Help. AdSense Account Closed by Google for Invalid Traffic
2
Google AdSense. AdSense Account Closed by Google for Policy Reasons
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Google AdSense Help. Find Your Publisher ID
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Google AdSense Help. Google Publisher Policies