Google kicked off its advertiser verification program in 2020, starting in the United States before rolling it out worldwide. The goal is straightforward: make ads more transparent by confirming who’s behind them, thus keeping imposters out of search results.
According to Google, below are the benefits of verifying:
- Build trust: Show your audience that you’re an authentic voice for your brand.
- Empower your audience: Help them make better choices about the content, products, and services they use.
- Limit fraud: Make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate the brands you represent.
- Get more out of Google Ads: Encounter fewer limits and access more features available to verified accounts.
This process now affects various advertisers, from big brands to small and medium-sized businesses alike. If Google notifies your ad account, you have 30 days to complete their verification process. If you don’t, your account will be put on hold.
For those advertising in Malaysia, you can refer to this list of supporting documents required for verification. From our experience, you’ll mostly need to submit only your Certificate of Incorporation (SSM Form 9) and a copy of your IC (both sides).
Below, we’ve laid out a step-by-step guide detailing every document you’ll need. For our clients, we offer two options: do it yourself (if only you fund your ad account) or, just give us a copy of your Certificate of Incorporation and we’ll handle it for you.
1. Intro & start verification
You will need to log in to your Google account to start.
2. Select or create new payments profile
Select an existing payments profile, or Create new payments profile and click Continue.
3. Choose organization or individual
Enter “Malaysia” under Country/Region. Select “Organization” (in most cases) and click Continue.
4. Prepare documents
A list of documents to prepare. From our experience, SSM Form 9 and your IC (front and back) copy are sufficient in most cases.
5. Verify your organization
(a) Upload your organization’s document
Enter your Organization Name and upload one of the documents required.
(b) Enter your organization’s address
Enter your Legal Name, Full Address and click Next.
(c) Enter your organization’s registration number
Enter your Business Registration Number and click Next.
(d) Provide your name & ID
Enter your Name (as per ID), select your ID Type, and upload your ID (IC front and back).
(e) Enter your address
Enter your Address as per ID (or your current address).
6. You’re done!
Google will notify you within 5 business days whether your account has been successfully verified.
