Yes, a Google Ads promotional credit can be revoked after you spend against it. On September 10, 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported two accounts that lost credits, including a $3,200 credit invalidated more than a month after it was spent. Google’s own terms allow removal, so treat a credit as a discount, not a budget.
What actually happened with the revoked Google Ads credits?
Advertisers were shown a promotional credit, spent to earn it, and then had it removed with no appeal path. Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz wrote up the case on September 10, 2026, citing a LinkedIn post from PPC consultant David Melamed. Melamed described at least two affected accounts. In one, a $3,200 credit was invalidated after the client had already spent against it, and the reversal landed more than a month later.
His words, as quoted by Search Engine Roundtable: Google will "push a really ‘generous’ credit to get advertisers to spend money… only to invalidate it after they spent thousands of dollars." He also said there was "no way to appeal," and that advertisers "obviously can’t crawl back your spend once it’s gone."
Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin replied publicly: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, David. I’ve passed this along to the team." As of September 11, 2026, Google has not published an explanation or a fix. Whether this is a bug, a policy sweep, or isolated mistakes is unconfirmed.
Does Google’s fine print allow it to take a credit back?
Yes, and the clause is broad. Google’s Canadian promotional terms page states that Google "reserves the right to remove the promotional offer from your account if a payment fails, an offer was mistakenly applied, you breach these terms or your account otherwise falls out of good standing." "Mistakenly applied" is the phrase that matters, because it covers Google’s own errors, not just yours.
The same terms spell out the normal mechanics. Your campaigns must accrue costs "of at least the required amount for the offer you’ve selected (excluding any taxes or applicable fees) within 60 days." After that, "the applicable credit will typically be applied within 35 days to the Billing Summary of your Google Ads account," and "the credit expires 60 days after it is applied to your account." Google’s help centre adds that new-advertiser promotions are usually redeemed at sign-up and that you can watch progress on the Promotions page inside the account.
So a credit has three states: promised, earned and applied. Only the third is money you can see on a billing summary, and even then the terms say it can be pulled.
| Stage | What Google’s terms say | What it means for your cash |
|---|---|---|
| Promised (offer shown at sign-up) | Must activate within 14 days of first ad impression; spend the required amount within 60 days | Nothing owed to you yet. Every dollar spent is real money. |
| Earned (spend threshold met) | Credit "typically" applied within 35 days to the Billing Summary | Still not in hand. Do not plan next month’s budget around it. |
| Applied (visible on billing) | Expires 60 days after it is applied; Google may remove it if "mistakenly applied" or account not in good standing | Usable, but revocable. Spend it, screenshot it, keep the invoice. |
Will this raise my cost per lead?
Only if you were counting the credit as part of your budget, which many small businesses do. A typical Canadian sign-up offer asks you to spend a set amount to earn a matching credit. An owner who budgets $600 a month expecting $600 back is really running a $1,200-a-month test. If the credit vanishes, the cost per lead on that first campaign doubles overnight, and the number you used to decide "ads work for us" was wrong from the start.
Melamed made a second point that Search Engine Roundtable repeated: credits distort the auction. Advertisers who believe they are spending discounted dollars bid harder, which raises the cost per click for everyone in that auction, including you. When the credit is pulled, they are left with full-price clicks bought at credit-price confidence.
Our position: run the account as if the credit does not exist. The private mortgage broker we manage in the GTA generates 1,113 leads a month at $7.69 a lead (August 2026) with zero promotional credits in the model. If a credit lands, it is a bonus month, not a baseline.
How do I check whether my own credit is at risk?
Open Billing, then Promotions, and compare what is shown there against your invoices, this week. The Promotions page lists the offer, its status (pending, applied, expired) and the applied date. Then open Billing Summary and look for the credit line and any later adjustment line that reverses it. A reversal shows up as a debit with a matching description, often weeks after the original credit, which is why Melamed’s clients only noticed more than a month later.
Three warning signs follow from Google’s terms. First, a payment that failed or a card that expired during the 60-day window, since "a payment fails" is an explicit removal trigger. Second, a promotion that appeared on an account that was not new, or on a second account under the same business, which is where "mistakenly applied" tends to bite. Third, any policy flag on the account, which can count as falling out of good standing.
What to do this week
- Pull your Google Ads Billing Summary for the last 90 days and reconcile every credit line against any later adjustment. If a credit was reversed, open a billing case through the account’s Help menu and keep the case number.
- Rebuild your first-90-days ad budget with the credit removed. If the campaign only made sense with the credit, pause it and fix the offer, the landing page or the targeting before spending more real money.
- Check that the payment method on file will not expire inside the 60-day earning window or the 60-day spending window, since a failed payment is an explicit revocation trigger in Google’s terms.
- Screenshot the Promotions page the day a credit shows as applied. It is your only evidence if the line disappears later.
Frequently asked questions
Can Google Ads take back a promotional credit after I spend it?
Yes. Google’s promotional terms reserve the right to remove an offer if a payment fails, the offer was "mistakenly applied," you breach the terms or the account falls out of good standing. On September 10, 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported two accounts where credits were invalidated after being spent, one worth $3,200, with the reversal arriving more than a month later.
How long does it take for a Google Ads credit to be applied?
According to Google’s Canadian promotional terms, you must meet the spend requirement within 60 days, the credit is then "typically" applied within 35 days to your Billing Summary, and it expires 60 days after it is applied. From sign-up to a usable credit can therefore take up to 95 days, and you have a further 60 days to use it.
Should a small business budget around a Google Ads credit?
No. Plan the first three months of Google Ads on real cash only, and treat any credit as a bonus. That keeps your cost-per-lead math honest, so a revoked or delayed credit does not turn a campaign that looked profitable into one that quietly lost money. It also stops you from bidding harder than the economics of the business support.
Where do I see whether my Google Ads promotion was applied or removed?
In Google Ads, go to Billing, then Promotions, to see each offer’s status and applied date. Then open Billing Summary and look for the credit line and any later adjustment that reverses it. Google’s help centre also shows promotion progress on the account homepage. Compare both views against your monthly invoices.
Not sure whether a credit was quietly reversed on your account, or whether your campaigns hold up without one? Our ex-Googler founder and team will audit your billing and campaigns free within 48 hours: request your free audit.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, "Bait & Switch: Google Ads Revoking Credits After Advertisers Spend Them" (September 10, 2026); Google Ads promotional offer terms, Canada; Google Ads Help, "Different types of Google Ads promotional offers"; The Social Shepherd, private mortgage broker case study (August 2026).