Creating a new Google Ads account seems easy enough: answer some questions, enter a credit card, and away you go.
But there are some subtleties to the process which can impact your account's longevity and quality.
In his 2021 book - "Google Compliance Secrets" - Dathen Fairley outlines the correct way to create a new Google Ads account.
Dathen is a Google compliance expert, who was hired by internet marketing legend Gauher Chaudhry to (successfully) revive his increasingly beleaguered Google advertising which was promoting his health supplement business.
BUSINESSES - NOT PEOPLE
According to Dathen, Google Ads is for businesses that sell products and services. Businesses - not people.
This is explicitly stated in Google's 2020 terms and conditions.
The business can be one based on affiliate marketing.
It can be any compliant business, so long as the nature of the business and other business details are clearly transparent on the website receiving Google ads traffic.
RISK METER
Google does not want "risky" advertisers, mainly to avoid legal prosecution from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in the USA.
A risky advertiser is one that disregards the safety of their website visitors, risks Google's brand reputation, or participates in "unsafe business practices" that pose a risk to Google legally.
So having a REAL business, with full disclosure of the business details, is the first step in appeasing Google when creating a new ad account (not a "subaccount", but a brand new ad account with unique email address and credit card).
As explained to Dathen by an internal Google policy specialist, Google uses a "risk meter" to determine the amount of risk Google will tolerate.
An advertiser engaging in risky practices accumulates "risk points." For instance, some industries or niches start out with several risk points because of their nature.
LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES
In terms of risk, Google views a legitimate business as much less risky than an individual person, who often just throws up a thin website with a landing page.
Legitimate businesses are proud to be a business and don't try to hide anything, like phone numbers and mailing addresses.
You don't need a government registered business. A sole proprietorship is fine, as long as the critical business details are transparent (nature of business, business mailing address, business phone number).
The address must be real and NOT a PO Box. The worst thing you can do is to be dishonest with Google, and try something like using a fake, non-existent address.
If you're concerned about privacy, there are address services available that provide the transparency Google desires.
The business phone number cannot be a virtual phone number. It has to be real phone number, either landline or cellular.
You can use a credit card or debit card to set up and fund your Google ads account, with the billing address matching the business address you provide to Google. The credit/debit card should be unique - not used in a prior ads account. Don't use virtual credit cards.
WEBSITE
There are several key points to keep in mind for your business website to satisfy Google.
The domain name should not be offensive or spammy, or contain disease-related, or incendiary words in them. It should also not ever have been previously banned by Google, or have domain ownership privacy. Ownership should be public (it's all about transparency), and ideally match your business mailing address, which matches your credit card billing address.
The domain is used for the website which will have your business information as previously described, as well as eventually contain the landing pages you will send traffic to from your ads.
Your website should also have several pages of unique content relevant to your business or niche, and should not contain any links to websites that have been banned by Google.
Make sure your domain/website meet these criteria before creating your ad account.
POLICY UPDATES
Google policies change over time.
To keep up with changes in advertising policies and disallowed niches, do a Google search for "Google Ads Advertising Policies" and "Google Ads Policy Change Log."
If promoting health supplements, visit Google's Unapproved Pharmaceuticals and Supplements page. Also LegitScript (www.legitscript.com) is one of the best sources to learn what claims are allowed or disallowed on Google.