GOOGLE ADS SITELINK EXTENSION POLICY REQUIREMENTS

The google ads policy update sitelink extension requirements are enforced at the asset level, not the campaign level, which means a single non-compliant sitelink can disappear from auctions without any visible warning on the campaign dashboard. This article documents what I find when auditing accounts where extensions sitelink are underperforming or vanishing, and how to fix each failure mode.

One distinction the interface blurs: a disapproved sitelink has been reviewed and found to violate a specific rule. A suppressed sitelink is technically approved but not shown because predicted performance is too low. Both outcomes look identical from the campaign view, but the remediation paths diverge completely. Understanding the google ads policy update sitelink extension requirements fully is what separates a disapproval , requiring a compliance fix, from suppression, which needs a copy revision.

The five disapproval triggers I see most in real accounts

Google's official sitelink asset requirements lists the rules in abstract terms. Below are the five violations that cause the most impression share damage under the google ads policy update sitelink extension requirements, the ones I find most consistently when an ad group sitelink extension being removed by Google is the stated problem.

1. Duplicate link text within the same asset set

Google prohibits reusing the same link text across sitelinks in the same campaign or ad group, even when each points to a different URL. This is the most frequently violated rule in accounts that have grown organically, "Free Trial" appearing three times in the pool, each pointing to a different landing page variant. All three become eligible for suppression because Google will not serve identical link text side by side. The check is exact-match on the visible label, not on the URL.

2. Destination mismatch

The sitelink's final URL must resolve to the same domain as the ad's display URL. A link pointing to a third-party domain, or to a subdomain that cannot be clearly attributed to the advertiser, triggers a mismatch flag. This typically affects accounts that have recently migrated domains, use third-party checkout tools, or point sitelinks toward specific pages on partner microsites. The fix is to match the root domain across the full redirect chain, including any tracking redirects.

3. Landing page content that does not match link text

The policy requires that link text accurately indicates what users will find at the destination. A sitelink labeled "Enterprise Pricing" landing on a blog post is a clear violation. Enforcement has become stricter as Google's crawler has grown more capable of comparing page content against ad copy. Pages that change frequently, seasonal landing pages, blog content repurposed as destinations, generate a disproportionate share of flags because the crawler reads what is live at review time.

4. Superlative or unverifiable claims

Labels like "Best Prices" or "#1 Rated" trigger the prohibited claims policy. Each asset is reviewed independently, so a compliant headline does not protect a sitelink that makes a claim the headline avoids. Replace superlatives with verifiable statements: not "Best Prices" but "Plans From €29/Month." Well-crafted sitelink descriptions follow the same rule, every claim must be substantiable by content on the destination page. This applies whether the asset is set at campaign or ad group level.

5. Non-functional or inaccessible destinations

A URL returning a 404, requiring authentication, or blocked to Googlebot triggers a destination-not-working disapproval. This is the most operationally fragile category because it can appear any time after a site update or page deletion , not just at asset creation. Accounts pointing sitelinks to seasonal pages that have been taken down are particularly exposed, see the guide on sitelinks for seasonal campaigns for more detail.

Silent suppression: the problem most accounts never diagnose

Not every case of an ad group sitelink extension being removed by Google is a formal disapproval. A technically approved sitelink can stop showing because Google's expected impact model has scored it below the auction threshold. The only reliable signal is the impression count in the Assets table: an approved sitelink with near-zero impressions over 30 days in an active campaign is being suppressed on performance grounds, not policy grounds. Check the impressions column in the "Association" view of the Assets table, an asset showing "Approved" with zero impressions needs a copy revision, not an appeal.

How to fix a disapproved sitelink without losing performance data

When a sitelink is formally disapproved under the google ads policy update sitelink extension requirements, resist the instinct to edit in place: editing link text or the destination URL resets the asset's entire performance history.

Create a new sitelink with corrected copy, add it to the pool, and pause the disapproved original, this preserves its data for reference while the replacement builds its own history. According to Google's official sitelink assets documentation, assets at different hierarchy levels are managed independently, a corrected ad-group-level asset does not inherit the status of a campaign-level one with the same content. Remove the paused original only after the replacement has run for at least 30 days.

Appeal when confident the disapproval is an automated error, fix the underlying condition first, then appeal from the policy manager. If the same condition is present at review time, the appeal is denied.

Prevention: a checklist before saving any new sitelink

Building compliance into the asset creation process is more efficient than fixing violations after the fact. Applying the google ads policy update sitelink extension requirements checklist before every save: link text is unique across every active sitelink in the same asset set; the final URL resolves to the same root domain as the display URL with no third-party redirect; the destination page's primary content matches what the link text promises; the destination is crawlable by Googlebot; no superlative claim appears without a verifiable source on the destination page.

A sitelink that passes all five checks at creation can still become non-compliant after a site update. Review the Assets table every 30 days and verify destination URL health on recently updated pages, a monthly impressions check also surfaces underperforming approved assets before they become invisible. Compliant copy examples are in the guide on real-world examples of sitelink extensions.