G2RS and Google's Financial Services Verification: a guide for Indian financial firms

If you've tried to run Google Ads for a PMS firm, an NBFC, an insurance distributor or a fintech app in India, you've probably met the word G2RS. Your ads were disapproved, or a banner in the account asked you to "complete financial services verification". This guide explains what that means, who needs it and how to get through it without losing weeks.

What Google requires

Since January 2023, Google has required financial-services advertisers in India to prove that an Indian regulator authorises them, or that they're exempt. Google announced the rule in August 2022 and began enforcing it on 24 January 2023. An account that isn't verified can't show financial-services ads to people in India.

Google calls this Financial Services Verification. It's a separate check from Google's general advertiser verification, which only confirms who your business is. Financial firms usually need both.

The requirement covers financial services broadly: banking, loans, credit cards, investments and broking, insurance, and similar products. Google notes that it can cover services "that may or may not be regulated" by a particular regulator, so don't assume you're outside it because your product feels niche.

Where G2RS comes in

G2RS (G2 Risk Solutions) is the outside company Google uses to check licences. For most Indian advertisers, the process has two halves:

1. G2RS checks you. You fill in G2RS's form with your financial services, your licence and your registration number. G2RS checks this against the regulator's records and gives you a unique code.
2. Google verifies you. You submit that code to Google through the Financial Services Verification form in your Google Ads account. When it's approved, a certificate is added to the account and Google emails you.

Government bodies with a .gov.in domain apply to Google directly and skip G2RS.

Which regulators count

Google's list of regulators and registries for India includes:

• SEBI;
• RBI;
• IRDAI;
• PFRDA;
• NPCI;
• the National Housing Bank;
• SIDBI;
• the Ministry of Corporate Affairs;
• ICAI;
• GST registration;
• Udyam (Ministry of MSME).

The list can change, so check Google's page before you apply. AMFI isn't on it, so a mutual fund distributor can't verify with an ARN alone. If you hold several registrations, apply with the one on Google's list that covers the services your ads promote.

Which type of advertiser you are

Google sorts applicants into five types. Picking the right one avoids a rejection.

• Authorised advertiser. You're licensed by an Indian regulator and you advertise your own services. Most PMS firms, NBFCs, insurers and brokers fit here.
• Approved third party. You promote a licensed firm's services but aren't licensed yourself, for example a lead-generation partner or an affiliate. You don't go through G2RS. The licensed firm can start your verification, or you can apply to Google directly.
• Non-financial services advertiser. You don't offer financial services but have a good reason to reach people searching for them, such as accounting software. You apply through G2RS and promise not to run financial-services ads.
• Regulation-exempt. The law exempts you from registration. You apply through G2RS and show why you're exempt.
• Government entity. You apply to Google directly.

Who should apply

The application must come from an admin of the Google Ads account, or an admin of the payments profile that pays for the ads. Agencies can submit it for you. But the verification belongs to your firm, so the details must be your firm's, not the agency's.

If your firm runs several Google Ads accounts under one manager account, Google offers manager account certification. This applies your verified status to the other accounts, if they're eligible.

Check these before you apply

Most delays come from details that don't match. G2RS asks that the business information you give "exactly match" your registry records. Before you start, put these side by side:

• your legal name, exactly as it appears on the regulator's register, including "Private Limited", "LLP" and spacing;
• your registration number in the regulator's format;
• your registered address;
• the email address and phone number registered with the regulator;
• the name on your Google payments profile, which should be the same legal entity.

The email and phone matter for securities firms in particular. On 21 March 2025, SEBI asked intermediaries to register with platforms such as Google and Meta using the email IDs and mobile numbers they gave on SEBI's intermediary portal. SEBI asked them to update those details by 30 April 2025.

After you're verified

Verification lets your ads run. It doesn't approve what they say. Google's financial products and services policy still applies to every ad. For personal loans, for example, Google requires the landing page to show:

• the minimum and maximum repayment period;
• the maximum annual percentage rate (APR);
• a representative example of the total cost.

Google only allows personal loans with a repayment period of 61 days or more.

Your own regulator's advertising rules apply too: SEBI's advertisement code, AMFI's rules for distributors, IRDAI's rules for insurance, or RBI's rules for digital lending. Google verification is the first gate, not the only one.

Keep an eye on the account after approval. Google may ask you to re-verify periodically, or after a significant change to your payments profile. It can revoke verification after adverse regulatory warnings, settlements or rulings, or direct complaints about your business. Google has said it warns at least seven days before suspending an account, but it can revoke verification with immediate effect if the information you gave was false or you break its financial products policy.

A short checklist

• Decide which advertiser type you are.
• Match your legal name, registration number, address, email and phone to the regulator's records.
• Make sure an admin of the Google Ads account, or of the payments profile, makes the application.
• Complete G2RS, then submit the code to Google.
• Add any partners who promote you from their own accounts as approved third parties.
• Review your ads and landing pages against Google's financial products policy and your regulator's advertising rules.