Short answer: A Google Ads promo code gives you ad credit, not cash. As a new advertiser, you redeem the offer when you sign up and spend the required amount within the time it sets. The credit can take up to 35 days to arrive after you meet the requirement.
What a Google Ads promo code gives you
Google calls them promotional offers, or promotions. It gives them to advertisers to encourage them to start advertising or to try new features. They work as ad credit for future advertising costs, not as cash back or refunds.
Most new advertiser offers ask you to spend a set amount on ads to receive a set amount in credit. Some offers apply on their own, and others ask you to enter a code.
On November 7, 2026, the US Google Ads page let new advertisers choose among sign-up offers. Spending $500.00 in the first 60 days unlocked $500.00 in ad credit.
The larger offers asked for $1,500.00 in spend for $1,000.00 in credit, and $3,000.00 in spend for $1,500.00. Each offer comes with its own terms, and they vary by country.
Google support can’t give you an offer on request. Offers come through Google marketing, such as its emails, or appear on the Promotions page of an existing account.
In our view, the credit pays off only if you would spend the requirement anyway. Set the budget by what a new customer is worth to you, and treat the credit as a bonus.
Who can get the new advertiser credit
New advertiser offers are for businesses new to Google Ads. Google Ads Help says your account must be less than 14 days old when you redeem the offer, and it needs a valid payment method.
The US terms word it differently: your first ad impression, from your first Google Ads account, must have been served no more than 14 days before you enter the code.
The business also can’t have advertised with Google Ads before from a different account. Google counts a business as new if it has never advertised, or if it expands to another country with a new billing address.
So if you already advertise one business, a second business of yours that has never advertised can still get a new advertiser offer.
Under the US terms, the offer is valid only with a billing address in the United States, and there is one promotional credit per customer.
Existing advertisers, those with active spend in the last 6 months, sometimes get offers too. Google gives them for adopting new features, such as Performance Max campaigns, or for reactivating a dormant account.
How to redeem the offer
First add a payment method. If you want monthly invoicing, set it up before you enter the offer: switching to invoicing later invalidates it, and the amount is lost.
A new advertiser offer is claimed when you sign up. Some sign-up pages ask you to choose the offer value before you start, and you secure it by finishing the sign-up.
To enter a code, open the Billing menu and go to Promotions. Select the blue plus button, enter the code and select Submit.
Codeless offers appear on the same Promotions page, with their requirements and terms. Select the button next to the offer to apply it.
Google says only manager accounts in the Google Partners program can apply promotions from the manager account level. Any other manager account, such as an agency’s, applies the offer on the Promotions page of your account. Our guide to the Google Ads manager account covers how that link and its access work.
When the credit arrives and when it expires
Only the spend after you redeem the offer counts toward it.
New advertiser offers usually ask you to complete the spend within 60 days. Under the US terms, taxes and other fees you pay don’t count toward the requirement.
Once you meet it, Google takes up to 35 days to confirm that you’re new to Google Ads. Only then does the credit appear in your account.
You pay for the spend requirement yourself, on your payment method. The credit covers only later ad costs, not the requirement or any cost from before it was applied.
Under the US terms, the credit expires 60 days after it’s applied, unless the offer says otherwise. Credit you don’t spend before then, or before you cancel the account, isn’t refunded.
An unused offer expires too. Under the US terms, it expires 3 months after the voucher was first issued, or on the expiration date printed on it.
Your ads keep running and costing once the credit runs out, and under the US terms Google doesn’t notify you when that happens. To stop there, pause your campaigns.
How the credit works with your payment setting
With the postpay setting, once your account meets the requirements, the part of the credit you spend appears within about 35 days as a sub-line under Active promotions. Costs before the credit and after it runs out go to your payment method.
With prepay, Google suggests paying a little more than the requirement. Your ads may stop before the whole amount is spent if your cost per click is larger than the balance left.
With monthly invoicing, the credit you don’t use in a month rolls over to the next one until you spend it.
An account budget doesn’t eat into the credit. With a $1,000.00 account budget and a $500.00 promotion, your ads can run to $1,500.00 in spend, and you pay the $1,000.00.
Our guide to Google Ads billing explains how charges and the payment threshold work.
How to check your promotion
Open the Billing menu and select Promotions. The page is updated every few hours and lists each promotion of your current billing setup, with its amounts and status.
“Redeemed: currently earning” means you haven’t met the spend requirement yet; “Processing”, that you have and Google is checking your eligibility; “Active”, that the credit was granted.
“Expired” means the offer expired before you met the requirement, and “Invalidated”, that it wasn’t valid or became invalid, for example because a requirement wasn’t met.
The Spent from Promotion column shows how much of the credit you already used.
If the credit hasn’t appeared 35 days after you met the requirement, Google says to contact Google Ads support. Our guide to Google Ads support shows how to reach Google and spot fake calls.
What can cost you the credit
Google can’t accept or replace an expired offer, reactivate it or give one retroactively.
A billing transfer, such as a change in account ownership, ends your active credit. It isn’t transferred or refunded.
Under the US terms, the credit can’t be transferred, sold or bartered. Under the promotional offers policy, selling promotional credits and using more than one per customer are unacceptable. Several violations, or a serious one, can get an account suspended.
Our guide to a suspended Google Ads account covers why that happens and how to appeal. In our view, a code sold online isn’t worth that risk.
How to claim a Google Ads promo code
- Choose your payment setting, and set up monthly invoicing before you redeem if you want it.
- Pick a sign-up offer when you create your account, or enter your code under Billing, Promotions and the blue plus button.
- Spend the required amount within the time the offer gives you, counting only what you spend after redeeming.
- Watch the status on the Promotions page, and allow up to 35 days after you meet the requirement.
- Spend the credit before it expires, which under the US terms is 60 days after it’s applied.
These steps follow Google Ads Help and the US terms for Google Ads promotional credits.
Before you redeem an offer
- Your account is less than 14 days old and, under the US terms, so is its first ad if it ran.
- The business has never advertised with Google Ads from another account.
- A valid payment method is in the account.
- Monthly invoicing, if you want it, is already set up.
- The billing is in your name, so no billing transfer will end the credit later.
- You read the terms that came with your offer.
RememberA Google Ads promo code turns spend into ad credit, and only what you spend after redeeming counts. The credit can take up to 35 days to appear and, under the US terms, expires 60 days after it’s applied.
With our Google Ads service, the Google Ads account is in your name and Google bills your card. We never pay for your clicks, resell them or add a margin. Our article on Google Ads for small business covers how Google charges and how to start.
Questions about Google Ads promo codes
Is there a Google Ads promo code for new advertisers?
Yes. New advertisers usually get an offer when they sign up: spend a set amount within 60 days and get ad credit. On November 7, 2026, the US Google Ads page offered $500.00 in credit for $500.00 in spend, among other offers.
How do I enter a promo code in Google Ads?
In your Google Ads account, open the Billing menu and go to Promotions. Select the blue plus button, enter your code and select Submit. Google applies the credit once your account meets the terms of the offer.
Why hasn’t my Google Ads promotional credit appeared?
After you meet the spend requirement, Google takes up to 35 days to check that you’re eligible, and the Promotions page shows Processing meanwhile. Only the spend after you redeemed the offer counts. After 35 days, Google says to contact Google Ads support.
Can I use a Google Ads promo code on an existing account?
Not a new advertiser offer, once the 14 days Google gives have passed, or if the business already advertised from another account. Existing advertisers can get other offers, for new features or a reactivated account, on the Promotions page or by email.
Does Google Ads promotional credit expire?
Yes. Under Google’s US terms, the credit expires 60 days after it’s applied, unless your offer says otherwise. The Promotions tab of the Billing page shows your balance and any expiration dates. Credit you don’t spend isn’t refunded.
Sources
Read on November 7, 2026. From Google Ads Help, on how the offers work: About Google Ads promotional offers, Different types of Google Ads promotional offers. On redeeming them and checking their progress: How to redeem your Google Ads promotional offer, Enter a promotional code, Check the progress of your Google Ads promotions. On payment settings: How Google Ads promotional offers work with different payment settings. From the Advertising Policies Help: Promotional offers policy. The US terms: Terms and conditions apply for online advertising promotional credits. The offers on the US Google Ads page: Reach Customers Across YouTube & Search. Also from our site: the Google Ads service page and our article on Google Ads for small business. And our guides to Google Ads billing, the Google Ads manager account, Google Ads support and a suspended Google Ads account.