How do I stop my Google Ads from showing up on mobile games and junk apps?

All answers to this question.

Google has made it harder to "opt-out" of mobile apps entirely, but you can still do it through the "Exclusions" tab. Go to "Placement Exclusions" and add googleadsframework.com and appspot.com to your list. Also, under "Settings" for the campaign, find "Content Exclusions" and check the boxes for "GMS" (Google Mobile Services) categories. Another trick is to go to "Placements" > "Exclusions" > "App Categories" and manually check all 140+ categories. It takes a few minutes, but it will effectively kill about 95% of that accidental "fat-finger" click traffic from games.

   Answered 2025-01-24 by Deborah Lewis

Have you tried looking at your "Device" settings and just lowering your bid adjustment for mobile devices by 100% if your service is primarily for desktop users?

   Answered 2025-01-27 by Steven Baker

• Steven, I tried that, but it also killed my traffic from mobile Chrome and Safari browsers, which I actually want. My problem is specifically with "In-App" traffic where people click by mistake while playing games. I’m going to use Deborah's category exclusion method tonight. It’s frustrating that Google hides these settings so deep in the menu, but it’s the only way to protect the budget from being drained by toddler-clicked ads.

     Commented 2025-01-30 by Richard Foster

If you use the Google Ads Editor (the desktop app), you can bulk-paste the exclusion list much faster than doing it in the web interface.

   Answered 2025-02-02 by Barbara Hall

• The Editor is a lifesaver for this. You can literally select all campaigns and apply the "All Apps" exclusion in about three clicks. Definitely download it if you haven't!

     Commented 2025-02-04 by Patricia King