Language targeting in Google Ads, the campaign-level setting that determined speakers of which language a Search ad would be shown to, was removed from Search campaigns at the end of September 2026. In the same month, some Search campaigns were automatically moved to AI Max. The change affects every brand advertising in Israel in more than one language, because from now on the language of the ad and the language of the landing page are what actually steer serving.
In brief
- מה הוסר. The campaign-level language setting in Search campaigns, in AI Max for Search and in the Search portion of Performance Max.
- מה מחליף אותה. Automatic matching based on the ad language, landing page language, search language and the user's language preferences.
- מה קרה במקביל. Between September 1 and 30, 2026, campaigns with campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets were upgraded to AI Max. Dynamic Search Ads will move in February 2027.
- מה לבדוק. That each campaign signals one clear language, what appears in the search terms report, and how to read September's data without mixing factors.
What changed in language targeting in Google Ads, and when?
Google removed the campaign-level language setting from Search campaigns at the end of September 2026. Until then the setting acted as a filter: the ad was shown only to users whose language matched the selected language. According to the official documentation at the time of writing, onGoogle Ads' help page on language targeting, Search ads are now matched automatically according to the language of the ads themselves. Google notes that the change does not require any action from advertisers.
In Performance Max the setting remains, but applies only to some channels. According to the same page, it no longer applies to ads shown on the Search Network, and continues to apply to YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail. Shopping ads within Performance Max are not affected by language settings. According to the Google Ads developer blog וthe API deprecation list, existing language settings in Search campaigns still appear, but do not affect targeting.
How does Google decide today which language to show an ad in?
Google checks whether the user understands the language of the ad and of the landing page, and the campaign setting no longer takes part in the decision. According to the help page, a user's language is any language the user has set, uses regularly or searches in. When the search has a clear language, the system prefers the ad and page in that language. When it has no clear language, for example a search for a brand name, it prefers the user's most preferred language.
In Israel the second case is common. Many searches are a brand name in Latin letters or an English term that all audiences use. A Russian speaker whose phone is set to Russian and who searches in Hebrew, or an Arabic speaker searching in English, send mixed signals. When several campaigns in the account match the same search, according to the developer blog, AI-based ad group prioritization chooses the most relevant ad language. So language clarity in the ads and pages is the main lever left in the advertiser's hands.
What should you check in an account built with a campaign per language?
It's worth checking that every component in the campaign signals the same language, because the structure is no longer enforced by a setting. Google's developer blog explicitly recommends making sure ads and landing pages are clearly built in the intended languages. The table summarizes the main checks.
| Component | What to check | Why it matters now |
|---|---|---|
| Ad copy | Every headline and description in the campaign's language, without mixing languages in the same ad | The ad language is the main signal for matching |
| Landing pages | The whole page in one language, including buttons, forms and confirmation messages | The system checks whether the user also understands the page |
| Assets | Sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets in the campaign's language | Text customization in AI Max also relies on assets, so an asset in another language may end up in automatically generated text |
| Negative keywords | Lists built when the setting still filtered traffic | Searches in other languages may reach campaigns that didn't receive them before |
| Search terms | Hebrew searches in the Russian campaign, Arabic in the Hebrew campaign and so on | This is the quickest way to spot leakage between languages |
| Brand safety | Text generated by Google AI and automatically selected pages | Automatically generated text relies on the content of the pages and assets |
Two cases require special attention. The first is a site where one page mixes languages, for example a Hebrew page with product names and descriptions in English. The second is smaller audiences, such as Amharic speakers, where search volumes are low and the data is volatile. There it's harder to spot a problem quickly, so it's worth reviewing the reports over a longer period.
How does the move to AI Max connect with the language change?
Both changes happened in the same month, and both move decisions from manual settings to signals the system reads from the ads and the site. AI Max for Search is a Google Ads feature bundle that expands search term matching, customizes ad text and chooses a landing page according to the search. According to the developer blog, since August 3, 2026 it has not been possible to create campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets in the old version. Between September 1 and 30, 2026, such campaigns were upgraded automatically, and in campaigns with campaign-level broad match, brand inclusions and exclusions were carried over to the new setting as they were.
What was enabled after the upgrade depends on what the campaign had. In a campaign with campaign-level broad match, search term matching was enabled, while text customization and URL expansion remained off. In a campaign with automatically created assets, search term matching and text customization were enabled. According to the AI Max help page, text customization relies on the existing ads, landing page content and assets. In a multilingual account, this is another reason to make sure each page is written in one language.
According to the same page, several controls remain in the advertiser's hands. You can turn off text customization and URL expansion at the campaign level, turn off search term matching at the ad group level, set brand inclusions and exclusions, and exclude URLs. On a site divided into folders by language, URL exclusions help prevent a Russian campaign from sending traffic to a Hebrew page.
How can you measure the transition without drawing wrong conclusions?
The safe way is to isolate the changes as far as possible and measure by language. In September 2026 the move to AI Max, the removal of the language setting and the Tishrei holiday season, which lasted until early October, all hit the accounts at once. A change in performance that month doesn't on its own explain what caused it. A few steps help:
- תיעוד מועדים. According to the developer blog, it's possible to pull each campaign's upgrade date via the API from two dedicated fields.
- קריאה לפי שפה. Review each audience separately, in addition to the account total, including the quality of leads or orders. AI Max reports show, for each search term, the headline and landing page that were displayed.
- ניסוי מבוקר. In campaigns where AI Max has not been enabled, AI Max experiments split an existing campaign's traffic into a control group and a test group. They have eligibility limitations, for example a campaign where text customization is active, which are worth checking in advance.
If the results affect the budget split between channels, the considerations are detailed in our article on channel prioritization in Google Ads.
How we approach this at CONNECT
At CONNECT, part of the Bruckner Yaar Levi advertising group, we start by reviewing the account by language: copy, pages, assets and search terms, before changing settings. At the same time we record each campaign's upgrade date, so the comparison between periods is fair.
We track platform updates using PlatformPulse, and check every change against Google's official documentation before applying it in the accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Can you still choose a language in a Search campaign?
According to Google Ads' official documentation at the time of writing, no. The campaign-level language setting was removed from Search campaigns and from AI Max for Search, and in Performance Max it no longer applies to ads on the Search Network. Matching is based on the ad language, landing page language, search language and the user's language preferences. What remains in your control is the clarity of the language in every ad and every page.
Should language-specific campaigns be merged into one campaign?
There is no requirement to do so, and Google notes that the change does not require action from advertisers. A separate campaign per language still allows a separate budget, copy and measurement for each audience. The decision should rely on data. If the search terms report shows leakage between campaigns, the first step is to strengthen language clarity in the ads and pages, and only then consider a structural change.
What happens with a search for the brand name, which has no clear language?
According to Google's help page, when a search has no clear language, for example a search for a brand name, the system prefers the user's most preferred language. In Israel this is especially relevant, because brand names are often written in Latin letters and used by all audiences. It's worth checking in brand campaigns which language the ads were shown in and which page the traffic from each audience reached.
Does the change affect YouTube and Display?
According to the help page, within Performance Max the language setting continues to apply to YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail, and Shopping ads are not affected by language settings. The change described in the documentation concerns Search campaigns and the Search portion of Performance Max. The documentation does not describe a change in standalone Display and YouTube campaigns, so you can continue working with them as usual and follow updates.
What will happen to Dynamic Search Ads?
According to the Google Ads developer blog, Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) were not migrated in September 2026. Their automatic migration was postponed to February 2027, and the option to create new DSAs will be removed in early 2027. DSA campaigns not migrated by then will be automatically upgraded to regular Search ad groups with AI Max. An earlier Google announcement, from before the postponement, stated that the upgrade would enable all three AI Max features and preserve URL controls, so it's worth checking the actual settings after the migration. Anyone who prefers to test the impact themselves can move earlier and track the results before the deadline.
ראו גם: channel prioritization in Google Ads, Paid Campaign Management, Data & Measurement, איך לקרוא דוח קמפיין.
Sources: Google Ads Help: About language targeting, Google Ads Developer Blog: language targeting changes, Google Ads API: feature deprecations, Google Ads Developer Blog: migrate campaign-level broad match and ACA, Google Ads Developer Blog: DSA automigration, Google: DSA upgrade to AI Max, Google Ads Help: AI Max for Search campaigns, Google Ads Help: reporting in AI Max, Google Ads Help: AI Max experiments.
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