How do you exclude mobile apps in Google Ads, and why do they keep appearing?

Can a website placement also serve in its app?

Yes. Google's placement targeting page (opens in a new tab) says a placement can be a website, a page on a site, a mobile app, video content or an individual ad unit, and that "if a specific website you target has an equivalent app, your ads can also show there." A buyer who adds a newspaper's domain to an ad group has, in effect, also made the newspaper's app eligible, where one exists. The page was checked on October 22, 2026.

Removing a placement is not the same as excluding it. Google's add placements page (opens in a new tab) warns that ads may still appear on a removed placement if the ad group's keywords or topics match it. The same rule applies to an app: deleting it from the target list leaves it reachable through any other targeting in the ad group, while an exclusion blocks it.

How do you exclude mobile apps in Google Ads?

Every app exclusion starts from the app's store identifier. Google's exclusion page (opens in a new tab) gives the formats and an example for each store, and its mobile app page (opens in a new tab) uses the same prefixes for targeting.

For a block that should cover every campaign, use the account level route instead: Tools, Content suitability, Advanced settings, Excluded placements. Google's help pages gave two paths when checked in October 2026, Tools > Content suitability and Admin > Account settings; confirm in the account. Google's exclusion page says individual placements there can be URLs, apps or video IDs. For lists that change often, Google's scheduled exclusion lists accept a Mobile Applications type beside sites, YouTube channels and YouTube videos, pulled from Google Sheets, HTTPS or SFTP on a set frequency.

What are app category exclusions, and what replaced the old app controls?

Google's mobile app page lists the controls a buyer has over app inventory: topics, device targeting (computer, tablet, mobile), app category, individual app exclusions, website exclusions and content exclusions. App categories follow the store's own names; Google says they "match the category names in each store". They are chosen under App categories in a Display ad group's Placements tab.

When checked on October 22, 2026, Google listed app category among the controls for keeping ads out of apps but gave step by step instructions only for targeting categories and for excluding individual apps. Treat an app category exclusion as something to confirm in the account's exclusion menu before promising it.

Why do apps appear in placement reports?

Because apps are part of the Display Network by default. Google's mobile app page says Display Network campaigns "show your ads in apps by default if the placement ... matches the targeting you've set." A campaign that targets topics, keywords or audiences will find apps that match, and a website placement can extend into its equivalent app. None of that needs an app to be named anywhere in the plan.

• Automatic placements. Apps reached through keyword, topic or audience targeting are reported as automatic placements, not as managed ones.
• adsenseformobileapps.com rows. Google says this name keeps appearing under Automatic placement for impressions served on an AdMob request, or through targeting other than placements, even though it is no longer a targeting option.
• Strange app names. Google's Where ads showed report FAQ (opens in a new tab) calls these unformatted app placements: new apps, apps removed from the stores, and apps not yet in a store that are testing ads with AdMob.
• Performance Max rows. Google's Performance Max placement report page (opens in a new tab) marks app rows as Mobile App in its placement type column.

Google adds a caution on the Where ads showed report itself: it is not an exhaustive list of placements or a billing record, and placements with very few impressions may be missing. An unformatted app name may have no store ID to exclude, so record it and watch whether it recurs rather than guessing at the app behind it.

Which campaign types allow app exclusions?

The route depends on the campaign type. Google's content suitability coverage table (opens in a new tab), checked October 22, 2026, lists excluded placements, content keywords, content labels, inventory types and content themes (except News themes) for mobile app inventory. Where each campaign type takes the exclusion differs.

Content settings reach app inventory too. Google says digital content labels continue to apply to the Display Network, including App inventory, and that content exclusions may give limited coverage of mobile inventory. It also says some apps are categorized by their main function, such as dating, social media, user generated content and meme sharing apps, rather than by what they show. A label exclusion is therefore a coarse filter for apps, and named app exclusions remain the precise one.

What does an app exclusion setup look like on a real brief?

How does PlacementGraph help keep app pages off a website plan?

What should a buyer check before launching a campaign that may reach apps?

For exclusion formats on websites and subdomains, see the placement exclusions guide. For reading the report rows after launch, see where ads showed, and for choosing Display placements, Display Network placements.