Table of contents
There is no secret Google Ads promo code that gives UK businesses free advertising. What Google offers is a new advertiser credit: on 12 November 2026 its UK page let a business new to Google Ads choose one of three offers, the smallest being four hundred pounds of ad credit after spending four hundred pounds on ads in the first 60 days. It is a discount on advertising you were going to do anyway, not a free trial.
What is the Google Ads promo code in the UK right now?
For new advertisers, Google's UK page now offers a choice of credits, applied at sign-up without a code. This is what Google's UK Google Ads page showed on 12 November 2026, under the heading "Choose a sign-up offer to jumpstart your first campaign":
| Offer | Spend on ads in the first 60 days | Credit you receive | Total ad spend you get | Your saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | four hundred pounds | four hundred pounds | eight hundred pounds | half |
| B | one thousand two hundred pounds | eight hundred pounds | two thousand pounds | 40% |
| C | two thousand four hundred pounds | one thousand two hundred pounds | three thousand six hundred pounds | a third |
The last two columns assume you use all the credit before it expires.
The terms for each offer sit on Google's UK offer terms page, linked from the offer itself. They say the offer is "available only to advertisers which are new to Google Ads, with a billing address in the United Kingdom", one offer per advertiser, and "available only while supplies last".
Google changes these offers often and does not always show everyone the same ones: on the same day, the code behind another of Google's UK pages carried a different set of tiers. Go by the offer you see when you sign up, and read its terms first.
Who qualifies for the Google Ads new advertiser credit?
Businesses new to Google Ads, with a UK billing address, that claim the offer when they open their first account. Google's help page on promotional offers, checked on 12 November 2026, sets out three conditions for new advertiser offers:
- "Your account must be less than 14 days old at the time of redemption."
- "You must have a valid payment method added to your account."
- "You cannot have advertised with Google Ads before using a different account for the same business."
Google's page on offer types adds that you count as a new advertiser if the business "has never advertised with Google Ads", or if you are expanding an existing business into a different country with a new billing address.
How do you claim the Google Ads free credit?
Choose the offer on Google's UK page before you sign up, then finish sign-up with a payment method in place. The offer terms say it is "automatically applied to your first Google Ads account during sign-up", but only if a payment profile and a valid payment method are added "during the initial signup process".
If you were sent a code instead, Google's help page says to enter it under Billing, then Promotions, using the blue plus button. Three details catch people out:
- A payment is not spend. The terms say your campaigns "must accrue costs" of the required amount, and that making a payment of that amount "is not sufficient".
- Only spend after the offer is applied counts. Google's payment settings page says money spent before redeeming the offer "won't count towards your offer".
- Monthly invoicing must come first. Google says that if you want invoicing, set it up before you enter the offer, "otherwise, the offer will be invalidated and the amount lost".
Once you have spent enough, Google runs an eligibility check and the credit "will typically be applied within 35 days". It then "expires 60 days after it is applied".
Which offer should a small business choose?
Choose the offer your normal budget would reach in 60 days anyway. The smallest offer gives the best saving, and stretching to a bigger one means buying clicks you did not budget for.
Say Lewis runs a commercial cleaning firm in Leicester and plans to spend three hundred pounds a month on ads. Dividing by 30.4, as Google's budget pages suggest, that is just under ten pounds a day, or a little under six hundred pounds over 60 days.
- Offer A needs four hundred pounds of ad costs. Lewis passes that in about 41 days without changing anything.
- Offer B needs one thousand two hundred pounds in 60 days, about twenty pounds a day: double his budget.
So Offer A suits Lewis. If his clicks average five pounds, the credit buys about 80 extra clicks: useful, but it does not decide whether ads pay for his firm. That depends on what a contract is worth and what an enquiry costs, which our guide to how much Google Ads cost shows how to work out.
Can an agency give you a Google Ads promo code?
Not freely. Google's promotional offers policy, checked on 12 November 2026, says offers "aren't available by request" and lists "Selling Google Ads promotional credits" and "Using more than one promotional credit per customer" as unacceptable. Breaking the policy can get an account suspended, along with related accounts.
The one route agencies have is the Google Partners programme. Google's help page on Partners offers says Partners and Premier Partners can apply a credit to a new client's account within 20 days of it being created, from a monthly allowance capped at 15% of the agency's own spend over the last 90 days, and only if the account has no other promotion. So a Partner's offer replaces the one you would claim yourself; it does not add to it.
The account should also be in your business's name from day one. Google's page on payment settings says that after a billing transfer, such as a change in account ownership, "active promotional credits won't be transferred or refunded". An account opened in an agency's name and handed over later loses the credit.
Why does free credit not fix a badly set up campaign?
Because the credit is spent on the same settings as your own money. If the campaign shows ads outside your area, pays for searches for jobs and DIY tips, or runs at night when nobody answers, the credit goes the same way.
Google's terms also say you will not be told when the credit runs out: "any additional advertising costs will be charged to your form of payment". So set the account up properly and get calls and forms counted first, then let the credit make the first few weeks of learning cheaper. Our step-by-step guide to setting up Google Ads covers the settings that waste the most money in a new account.
Which Google Ads coupon offers are scams?
Treat any code that did not come from Google, your own account or a Google Partner you hired as worthless or worse. Three to avoid:
- Code lists on websites. The UK terms allow "one promotional credit per customer", say the credit "is non-transferable and may not be sold or bartered", and say an offer expires three months after it was first issued. A code from a list is almost certainly used, expired or meant for someone else.
- Anyone selling credit. Google's policy lists selling promotional credits as unacceptable, and a breach can get the account that uses them suspended.
- Calls and emails claiming to be Google. Google's help page on suspicious messages, checked on 12 November 2026, says a real Google email has "@google.com" or "@ads.google.com" in the From and Return-Path fields. If a caller offers free credit, ask them to email you from a Google address.
Common questions
Can I get the Google Ads credit if I have advertised before?
Usually not. Google's help page excludes businesses that have "advertised with Google Ads before using a different account for the same business". Existing advertisers sometimes get their own offers by email or on the Promotions page, for example for trying a new campaign type, but Google says support "can't provide promotional offers upon request".
Why hasn't my Google Ads credit appeared?
Google allows up to 35 days after you meet the spend requirement for its eligibility check. Check Billing, then Promotions, for the status. Common reasons for no credit are paying in money rather than spending it on ads, spend before the offer was applied, an account more than 14 days old, or the business having advertised before.
Does Google Ads promotional credit expire?
Yes. The UK terms say the credit "expires 60 days after it is applied to your account", and any part you have not used by then is lost. Google's policy also says that if you close the account before spending the credit, "the remaining balance can't be refunded". Plan to have campaigns running when the credit lands.
What to do this week
Open Google's UK Google Ads page, note the offers it shows you, read the terms for the one your budget would reach anyway, and sign up in your business's own name with a payment method ready. Then set up tracking and one sensible campaign before the 60-day clock starts to matter. If you would rather someone else set it up, our page on Google Ads management explains how we work.
Offers change often, and this page reflects what Google showed on 12 November 2026. For how the credit fits into running ads for a local firm, see our guide to Google Ads for small businesses.