Prohibited Content
Review prohibited content categories, common creative disapproval reasons, and practical checks that help prepare compliant, functional, and transparent advertising experiences.
Protect users, publishers, and brand integrity
Every creative and landing page should be transparent, functional, appropriately branded, and free from prohibited or deceptive content. Review both the advertising message and destination experience before trafficking a campaign.
Copyright, Trademark, or Patent Misappropriation
- Using a well-known brand’s logo without permission to advertise an unrelated product or service.
- Presenting protected intellectual property in a way that falsely implies sponsorship, ownership, or authorization.
Weapons, Bombs, and Ammunition
- Ads promoting shops that sell guns, ammunition, or other weaponry.
- Instructions for creating bombs, explosives, or firearms.
Illegal Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia
- Promoting prescription drugs without a valid prescription.
- Selling paraphernalia that promotes illegal drug use.
- Promoting illegal marijuana-related investments, services, or career opportunities.
Pornography and Adult Content
- Explicit sexual imagery or nudity in a non-artistic context.
- Escort services, explicit materials, or adult content for sale.
- Sexual-enhancement products or adult-themed services.
Fake Errors or Warnings
- Pop-ups imitating operating-system alerts, such as false virus warnings.
- Ads designed to resemble device interfaces or system warning boxes.
Deceptive Content
- A non-functional “Play Now” button or an empty destination.
- False prize, winner, or visitor-number claims.
- Fake download buttons leading to unrelated content.
Piracy
- Sites offering pirated movies, music, or e-books.
- Services providing unauthorized streaming content.
- File-sharing services offering illegal content without an appropriate takedown policy.
Charging for Government Services
- Charging for freely available government forms, including visa or tax documents.
- Offering fraudulent documentation or services intended to bypass public systems.
Common Creative Disapproval Reasons
Creatives may also be rejected when dimensions, branding, click behavior, rendering, or landing-page quality do not meet approval standards.
Brand and identity
Ensure the advertiser, message, and destination match.
Brand Mismatch
- A creative for one brand links to another brand or competitor.
- The product and purchasing destination represent unrelated companies.
Improper Brand Rotation
- Multiple unrelated brands rotate within one creative.
- The video pre-roll brand differs from the primary advertised brand.
No Clear Brand Displayed
- No visible brand name or logo is shown.
- The branding is too small, generic, or difficult to identify.
Landing page and clicks
Every click should lead to a safe, working destination.
No Assigned Landing Page
- The destination URL is missing or returns a 404 error.
- The creative does not link to any destination.
Download Prompts
- The ad immediately requests an executable or archive download.
- The page starts a download without informed user consent.
Clicks Through in the Same Window
- The destination replaces the current publisher content.
- A page is incorrectly loaded through an iframe in the same window.
Creative Does Not Click Through Properly
- The click returns an error or blank destination.
- The ad opens multiple unrelated tabs or windows.
- The page loads without meaningful content.
Technical behavior
Validate declared sizes, refresh behavior, and delivery.
Incorrect Tag Size
- A 300×250 placement renders as a different size.
- A large banner is declared as a standard banner size.
Auto-Refreshing Creative
- The ad refreshes repeatedly without user action.
- A video restarts automatically and creates repeated impressions.
Does Not Meet Minimum Standards
- The creative consists only of unformatted text.
- The ad does not render correctly on supported devices.
Content and rendering
Check policy safety, visual integrity, and playback quality.
Creative Is Blank
- The creative appears blank because of a technical issue.
- Encoding or server problems prevent content delivery.
Creative Does Not Display Properly
- Branding is cropped or difficult to identify.
- The ad flashes or disappears too quickly.
- Irrelevant or unprofessional text is displayed.
Prohibited Content in Creative
- Violent, gruesome, hateful, or offensive content is shown.
- The creative promotes illegal drugs or unlicensed pharmacies.
- Hate speech, racial slurs, or offensive imagery is included.
Run a complete creative preflight
Review the creative, technical setup, branding, click behavior, and destination page together. Resolving these issues before submission can reduce approval delays.
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01
Review content and imagery
Confirm the creative and landing page contain no prohibited material.
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02
Match brand and destination
Ensure visible branding matches the landing-page identity.
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03
Test size and rendering
Validate declared dimensions across supported devices.
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04
Verify click-through behavior
Test the URL, redirects, browser behavior, and page load.
Need help reviewing a creative?
Crosstide Media can help identify prohibited content, technical issues, brand mismatches, click-through problems, and other approval risks before launch.
- ✓Check creative and landing-page content
- ✓Confirm brand consistency
- ✓Test dimensions and rendering
- ✓Verify every click-through URL