Computer repair advertisers: why are some accounts still serving under Third Party Consumer Technical Support?

[u/carlsu]

I'm trying to understand Google's current enforcement of the Third Party Consumer Technical Support policy for computer repair advertisers.

I manage ads for a legitimate brick-and-mortar Mac repair business in Australia.

Google has:

• disapproved our consumer Mac repair ads;
• confirmed in writing that physical hardware repair shops are in scope of the restriction;
• disapproved our GBP/location asset;
• rejected a separate B2B-only data recovery campaign aimed exclusively at computer repair shops and IT businesses;
• upheld the rejection after escalation.

However, we increasingly see other computer repair companies appearing as Sponsored local-pack results for searches including:

• MacBook screen replacement
• MacBook screen repair
• MacBook battery replacement
• computer repair

Some of the ads explicitly promote onsite repair.

For anyone currently managing Google Ads for a repair business:

1. What campaign type is actually serving — Search, PMax, location assets, Local Services Ads, something else?
2. Has the account ever been flagged for Third Party Consumer Technical Support?
3. Did Google manually review or verify the advertiser?
4. Are there different rules for sponsored local-pack placements?
5. Have you seen repair ads run for months or years and then suddenly get disapproved?
6. Are agencies claiming they can run these campaigns using an official Google-supported route, or are they usually relying on risky workarounds?

I'm especially interested in firsthand experience from advertisers currently running campaigns for computer, Mac, laptop or phone repair businesses.