Why was my Google Ads promotional credit invalidated?

It gets invalidated because Google does not grant the credit the moment you spend. It checks your eligibility afterward. Google says on its promotional offers page that processing can take up to 35 days after you meet the spend requirement, the amount you must spend to qualify. During that window, you may find the credit voided. By then your spend is already gone, and it is not refundable. On September 11, 2026, Search Engine Land published two cases where this happened.

What happened in the promotional credit invalidation cases?

Search Engine Land reported that an ads consultant named David Melamed faced invalidation twice in a short period. In one case, an advertiser expected a $3,200 credit after spending $3,200. More than a month after the spend, the credit showed as "Invalidated". Melamed said the advertiser would not have spent the first amount without the offer.

The worst part is that there is no route to appeal. Melamed said he knows of no way for an advertiser to dispute an invalidated credit. And the spend that met the requirement cannot be pulled back from Google. So the loss is double: money that went out, and a return that never came.

The second case has a known cause. Melamed said a new advertiser's credit was voided because of a billing profile, the payment setup that charges go to. The billing profile of the manager account had been used when the account was first set up. A manager account is the parent account that marketers and agencies use to run client accounts. Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, replied to his post that she had passed the issue to the team. In that exchange, Google gave no reason for voiding either credit. It gave no sign of any change to how disputes are handled.

Google's own pages document conditions that explain part of this. The new advertiser offer requires the account to be less than 14 days old when the offer is activated. The credit is advertising credit, not cash and not a refund, in Google's own words. It does not cover the spend requirement itself, or costs that built up before it was added.

How is a Saudi account affected differently?

The difference is that the promo credit here is the usual entry point to Google Ads, not a bonus. A small store opens its account on a "spend and get the same back" offer. It builds the budget for its first two months on the idea that half comes from Google. If the credit falls through, half the plan falls with it. That is more than a lost bonus.

A second difference is how accounts are structured here. Most stores are run through one manager account owned by a marketer or an agency. Client accounts are opened from it, and payment is set up there. That is exactly the setup in the second case, where the credit was voided. The arrangement that makes management easier may be the one that kills the credit.

The third difference is the most serious. Coupons get passed between marketers here, and are sometimes offered for sale. Stores also open multiple accounts for the same business. On its disabled offers page, Google names three explicit violations. The first is opening multiple accounts that send traffic to the same site and applying a coupon to each. The second is applying more than one offer to the same account. The third is selling promotional offers. The penalty is losing your ability to receive new offers, not losing one credit. I wrote about the "Limited by budget" status and its impact in an earlier piece on Google targets.

When does this caution not apply?

It does not apply if you would spend the same amount without the offer. Picture an advertiser who planned the month's spend, then got the coupon as an extra. If it is voided, they lose a gain they never counted on. They do not lose budget they relied on. An account that has spent steadily for two years is not the same as a store that built its first month on half a promised budget.

A second limit concerns how you explain your rising costs. Melamed said credits push advertisers to spend more boldly. That money enters Google's auctions and raises competition for visibility. But Search Engine Land stated that this is his estimate alone. He gave no evidence that voided credits actually raise auction prices. So do not blame your rising cost per sale on this.

A third limit concerns the 35-day window. It is a documented processing period on Google's page. It is not a stated explanation for these two cases, because Google did not explain why the credits were voided. Passing 35 days does not guarantee the credit arrives. Waiting it out does not protect you from a voiding that comes later.

The test I run

When a new account is offered credit for matching spend, I do not build the month's plan on that credit. I set the budget for the first two months on what the store owner will pay out of pocket, and nothing else. I treat the credit as a possible gain that arrives after 35 days, not money in hand today.

Then I read the offer terms line by line before activating it. I screenshot them with the date and save them. I check the billing profile linked to the account, meaning the entity actually charged. And I confirm the store has no other account sending traffic to the same site.

I check the Billing and payments page every week until the credit shows a final status. Anyone who builds a month's spend on credit they have not received will pay the gap from profit, or pause the campaign early.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a voided credit back as cash?

No. Google states that these offers are advertising credit, not cash and not a refund. The spend you used to meet the offer requirement is not withdrawn or returned. What you lose is the reward for spending. The spend itself stays paid.

Can I use a coupon on two accounts for the same store?

No. Google lists this as a promotional offer violation: multiple accounts that send traffic to the same site, with a coupon on each. The penalty is losing your ability to receive new offers, and it may extend to the agency linked to you.

Does the credit cover the spend requirement itself?

No. Google states that promotional credit does not cover the spend requirement. It also does not pay costs incurred before it was added to the account. You pay the full qualifying amount yourself, and the credit then applies to later costs. Details of the accounts I manage are on the work page.