Ad Unit Error: Cloudflare Denies Access

If your website uses Cloudflare, Cloudflare can block the AADS bot that checks your ad unit. The bot then can't see your ad code, and the ad unit shows the error Cloudflare denies access. To fix it, allow the AADS bot's IP addresses in Cloudflare, then ask AADS to check the ad unit again.

AADS bot IP addresses

Ask for the list of IP addresses from the AADS support team.

The screenshots below show example addresses. Use the addresses from the list.

Option 1: IP access rules (recommended, works on every plan)

IP access rules work on every Cloudflare plan, including Free. They are also the only rule type that gets past Bot Fight Mode, which many Free plans have turned on.

1. Log in to Cloudflare and select your domain.
2. Go to Security → Security rules.
3. Click Create rule → IP access rules. If IP access rules is not in the menu, open this link instead: Cloudflare shows the option only after your first IP access rule exists.
4. If Cloudflare asks Try building IP access rules with custom rules, click No, go to IP access rules.
5. In IP, IP range, country name, or ASN, enter the first address from the list.
6. Set Action to Allow.
7. Set Zone to This website.
8. In Notes, enter AADS bot 1 (any name works).
9. Click Create.
10. Repeat steps 3 to 9 for every other address from the list.

Option 2: one custom rule for all addresses

A custom rule covers all the addresses at once. It does not get past Bot Fight Mode: if your domain has Bot Fight Mode on, use Option 1, or turn Bot Fight Mode off as shown in the next section.

First, write your expression. Replace ADDRESS_1, ADDRESS_2 and so on with the addresses from the list, separated by spaces, and add as many as the list has:

(ip.src in {ADDRESS_1 ADDRESS_2 ADDRESS_3})

1. Go to Security → Security rules and click Create rule → Custom rules.
2. In Rule name, enter AADS bots access (any name works).
3. Click Edit expression and paste your expression.
4. In Choose action, select Skip.
5. Under WAF components to skip, tick every box.
6. Click More components to skip and tick every box there too, including Security Level. Without it, Under Attack mode still blocks the bot.
7. Click Deploy.
8. If you already have other custom rules, drag AADS bots access to the top of the Custom rules list, so it runs first.

Free plan: Bot Fight Mode

Bot Fight Mode challenges bots on Free plans, and custom rules can't make an exception for it. The IP access rules from Option 1 get past it. If you chose Option 2, turn Bot Fight Mode off:

1. Go to Security → Overview.
2. Under Detection tools, click Bot traffic.
3. Turn Bot fight mode off.

The same switch is also under Security → Settings, filtered by Bot traffic.

Ask AADS to check the ad unit again

1. In your AADS dashboard, open the ad unit and its Code Embedding tab.
2. Click Verify embedded HTML code. AADS checks your page within 10 minutes.
3. Reload the ad unit page. The status changes to Getting ready, and your ad unit works.

Important: Earnings at AADS are only generated after an ad unit has been successfully detected by our system. If an ad unit is not found (for example, due to incorrect installation, caching, blockers, or loading issues), impressions cannot be counted and no revenue can be accrued for that period.

For this reason, we strongly recommend verifying that the ad unit is detected immediately after installation and after any website changes.

Still blocked?

1. Check that every address from the list is added: one IP access rule per address, or all of them in the custom rule.
2. In Cloudflare, open Security → Analytics and its Events tab. Look for requests from the AADS addresses. The Service field names the Cloudflare feature that blocked them. Allow the bot there, or turn that feature off.
3. If your site uses another firewall or a security plugin, allow the same addresses there too.

If you have any questions about our platform, feel free to contact our support team. We’re here to help 24/7.

Updated on: 04/10/2026