Google Ads will roll out a change to language targeting that will remove the ability to manually adjust the language setting. This change is happening next month, in September 2026. Google said its ad systems already match languages automatically and enhanced AI prioritization will automatically select the most relevant ad language when there are eligible ads in multiple languages, Google told me.
Google updated its language targeting help document in the Google Ads support area with more details. Here is a summary of the changes:
(1) The manual setting for language targeting is going away.
(2) Google told me this is to simplify language targeting, eliminate redundancy and set up errors.
(3) Note that language targeting does not currently support language exclusions and still won’t with this update.
(4) No account restructuring is required. If you currently utilize single-language campaign structures (e.g., one campaign dedicated to English, another to Spanish), these will continue to function normally.
(5) If you have multiple eligible campaigns or ad groups within your account, Google’s enhanced AI-driven ad and asset group prioritization will now identify and select the most relevant ad language based on the user’s search context.
(6) For the Google Ads API, there are some changes you should be aware of including to:
(A) Stop setting language criteria:
- For new Search campaigns: Stop including language criteria when creating or updating Search campaigns when sending Google Ads API requests.
- For existing Search campaigns: You may optionally remove existing language criteria from your Search campaigns for cleanliness, though it is not strictly required as they will simply not apply.
(B) Focus on Ad and Landing Page Language: Ensure your ad creatives and landing pages are clearly structured in the intended languages. Search ads will primarily use these signals, alongside user language preferences, for matching.
Here is a graphic Google sent me about these changes:
The new help document says at the top:
Note: Starting in September 2026, the way language targeting works is changing for Search campaigns and the Search Network portion of Performance Max campaigns.
- Search Campaigns: The campaign-level language targeting setting will be removed. Search ads will automatically match based on the language of your ads.
- Performance Max Campaigns: The campaign-level language setting will no longer apply to ads shown on the Google Search Network. These will function like standard Search campaigns described above. However, the language settings you select will continue to apply to other channels within your Performance Max campaign, such as YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail. Shopping ads within Performance Max are not affected by language settings.
Here is a screenshot of the email sent to advertisers from Natasha Kaurra on LinkedIn:
No action is required by advertisers for this change.
Hi Barry, It’s got more info about the AI-driven ad group and asset prioritization that will be used to identify the most relevant ad based on the users’ specific context and language preference at auction time.
— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) August 14, 2026
Forum discussion at X.
