Google Ads Promo Code: How the Credit Works

Most new US advertisers claim Google Ads credit at signup, not with a code: spend $500 to $3,000 within 60 days to earn $500 to $4,500.

The offer shows up when you create a new Google Ads account, and it lives on the Promotions page inside that account afterward. This guide covers the US offer for Search advertisers, in US dollars. Amounts and time limits differ by country, and Google can change them at any time. On the day we checked, Google showed different dollar amounts to different visitors, so read the table below as three versions, not one.

Offer amounts and terms checked October 28, 2026 on Google’s own pages. Sources are listed at the end.

What Google offers new US advertisers today

Google’s US signup page lets a new advertiser choose one of three offers. Each says to spend the target amount with Google Ads in the first 60 days to earn the credit. The visible text on the page shows a blank placeholder where the dollar amounts go, so we read them from the page’s data attributes and from the offer IDs in its terms links (for example s1500g1750, meaning spend $1,500, get $1,750). The two readings agreed.

The amounts are not the same for everyone. We loaded the page 40 times on October 28, 2026. The lowest offer was always spend $500, get $500. The other two came in three versions: 12 loads showed $1,500 for $1,000 and $3,000 for $1,500, 13 showed $1,500 for $1,750 and $3,000 for $4,000, and 15 showed $1,500 for $2,000 and $3,000 for $4,500. Repeat loads with the same cookies kept the same version. This is our own test, not something Google states, so your page may show any of the three.

Effective discount is credit divided by total ads (cash plus credit). Version 2 middle offer: $1,750 / $3,250 = 53.8%. The table assumes you spend every dollar of credit before it expires. Google describes these as ad credit, not cash back or refunds. Note that a bigger spend does not always buy a better rate: in version 1 the top offer is a worse deal than the lowest one.

A worked example: what the first month really costs

Say you take the lowest offer and want to spend about a month’s budget of $500. That is $16.45 a day ($500 / 30.4).

1. Month one: you spend $500 of your own money. The credit does not exist yet, so the discount on month one is 0%. Google’s help page says promotional credit cannot pay for costs accrued before the credit was applied, so it cannot cover this $500.
2. Wait for processing: after you hit the threshold, Google says the credit will typically be applied within 35 days. Google’s help page says this check can take up to 35 days.
3. Months two and three: the next $500 of clicks is paid by the credit. You pay $0 for it.

Across the two stretches you bought $1,000 of ads for $500 in cash. That is a 50% discount on the first $1,000, not on the first month. Spend slower than $16.45 a day and you still qualify as long as you hit $500 inside 60 days. Spend the credit slower than it lasts and the leftover disappears, because the credit expires 60 days after it is applied.

One more check that matters more than the discount. A credit lowers the cash you put in, but it does not change what a click is worth. Break-even revenue per ad dollar is 1 divided by your gross margin. At a 40% gross margin that is 1 / 0.40 = $2.50 of sales for every $1 of ads. If your ads cannot reach that, a 50% discount only makes the loss slower. Our Google Ads cost guide shows how to work out what a click can cost you before you spend.

Who qualifies

• A new advertiser. Google’s help page says the account must be less than 14 days old at the time of redemption, and that you cannot have advertised before with a different account for the same business. The US offer terms add that the offer must be applied to your first Google Ads account within 14 days of your first ad impression.
• A US billing address. The terms say the offer is for advertisers new to Google Ads, with a billing address in the United States.
• One offer per advertiser. The same terms say “One promotional offer per advertiser.” You pick one of the three offers, not all three.
• A valid payment method, and an account that is successfully billed and in good standing.
• Not transferable. Google’s general coupon terms say credit “may not be sold or bartered.”

Check it on your own account

Do not trust any article, including this one, for your exact offer. Your account shows the real terms.

1. Sign in to Google Ads and open the Billing menu.
2. Click Promotions. (The direct address is ads.google.com/aw/billing/promotions.) Google’s redeem guide names this same path.
3. Google says the status of your offer shows there. Compare the spend requirement and credit with the table above.
4. To follow progress, look at the Promotions page or the Google Ads homepage. Google says progress shows in either place.
5. If you manage accounts from a manager account, switch into the individual account first. Google says manager accounts must visit the Promotions page of the account they want to apply a promotion to.

If you are not signed up yet, the offer choice appears during signup on Google’s page. Google also says its support team cannot provide promotional offers on request, so there is no one to ask for a better one.

Common traps

Third-party “promo code” sites

Search results are full of pages titled “Google Ads promo code.” Three things we saw on the day we checked:

• One page titled “Google Ads Promo Code” listed spend $500 get $500, spend $1,000 get $750, spend $1,500 get $1,000, a $1,000 tier that Google’s signup page did not show us, and promoted a paid membership at $149 a year or $399 one time. The offer itself comes from Google at no charge.
• One article, last updated September 2025, says the US offer is $150. That does not match any version of Google’s signup page we saw.
• A 2024 post (with a November 2024 update note) listed US offers of $500, $1,500 and $3,000, each paid back dollar for dollar, plus different UK and Australia amounts. That shows how much the numbers move by country and year.

The rule: if a site wants money, an email, or access to your account in exchange for a code, skip it. The offer is claimed on Google’s own signup page or inside your account.

Credit expiry

The credit expires 60 days after Google applies it. Counting the slowest typical path, 60 days to hit the threshold, up to 35 days to process and 60 days to use the credit, the whole offer spans about 155 days from signup (60 + 35 + 60). If you take a $4,000 credit, using it over 60 days is $66.67 a day ($4,000 / 60). Pick the offer whose credit you can actually spend in that window.

The credit counts only after the threshold

The threshold spend is yours. Credit is added after you meet it, and it covers only later costs. Google says promotional credits cannot cover the spend requirement itself. Only ad costs count, not taxes or fees, and making a payment of the required amount is not sufficient. The general terms also say you must be successfully billed before credit is applied, so a card that fails can stall the offer.

Switching to invoicing

Google warns that if you want monthly invoicing, you should set it up before you enter your offer. Otherwise the offer is invalidated and the amount is lost.

Where AdFlint fits

AdFlint does not sell, resell or hand out credits, and it has no promo codes. The offer is between you and Google, and the credit pays Google’s ad costs only. It does not pay a tool’s fee: our self-serve plans start at $40 a month, and that is an extra cost the credit will not cover. AdFlint connects to a Google Ads account you own. If you only want to run ads yourself and the offer is the point, you do not need us to claim it. Our Google Ads for small business page explains what we do.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Google Ads promo code?

Most new US advertisers claim Google Ads credit at signup, not with a code: spend $500 to $3,000 within 60 days to earn $500 to $4,500.

Can I ask Google for a promo code?

No. Google says its support team cannot provide promotional offers on request. New advertisers see the offer during signup, and some existing advertisers see offers on the Promotions page.

How much is the Google Ads credit for new advertisers?

On October 28, 2026 Google’s US signup page always offered $500 for $500 spent. Its other two offers came in three versions: $1,000, $1,750 or $2,000 for $1,500 spent, and $1,500, $4,000 or $4,500 for $3,000 spent, each within 60 days. Your own Promotions page is the final word.

When does the credit show up?

After you meet the spend requirement. Google says it will typically be applied within 35 days, and it expires 60 days after it is applied.

Can I use it on ads I already ran?

No. Promotional credit cannot pay for costs accrued before the credit was applied.

Can I claim it on an old account?

Not the new-advertiser offer. The account must be less than 14 days old at redemption, and you cannot have advertised before with a different account for the same business.

For what ads cost once the credit is gone, see our Google Ads cost guide.

What we could not confirm

• The full terms page for each of the three tiers. It loads its text with a script, so we could not read it. Eligibility above comes from Google’s US new-advertiser terms page and its help pages.
• The dollar amounts are read from the signup page’s data, not its visible text. The page’s search snippet says “up to $1500,” which matches only the lowest-paying version and looks out of date. Check your own offer.
• Why Google shows three versions, how it picks one, and whether the mix changes by day, device or location. We counted 40 loads from one place on one day.
• Whether the credit works on every campaign type or only on some. Google’s pages we read do not say.
• Whether an account created through a partner or third-party tool gets the same offer choice.
• “One per business”: Google’s terms say one offer per advertiser, and its help page says no earlier advertising for the same business. How it treats a sole proprietor with two businesses is not stated.
• Offer amounts outside the US. Terms differ by country, so we give none.

Sources

All retrieved October 28, 2026.

• Google Ads sign-up page (US), Google.
• About Google Ads promotional offers, Google Ads Help.
• Different types of Google Ads promotional offers, Google Ads Help.
• How to redeem your Google Ads promotional offer, Google Ads Help.
• Terms for the US new-advertiser offer, Google.
• Terms and conditions for online advertising promotional credits, Google (no date shown).
• Google Ads Promo code, Secret (listed as October 2026).
• How to claim your free Google Ads promo code, Lunio (updated September 16, 2025).
• Google Promo Code for Ecommerce Store, Blend AI (September 24, 2024, with a November 2024 update note).