Google Is Removing Language Targeting from Search Campaigns in September 2026: What Ecommerce Brands Need to Know

On August 14, 2026, Google announced it will remove the manual language targeting setting from all Search campaigns and the Search Network component of Performance Max campaigns, starting September 2026. For ecommerce brands running ads across 2 or more languages, this means Google's AI will now determine which language version of your ad to serve based on your creative and landing page content, replacing a campaign-level setting that has existed in Google Ads for over 20 years.

What Does Google's Language Targeting Change Mean for Your Search Campaigns?

Starting September 2026, Google's enhanced AI-driven ad and asset group prioritization will automatically select the most relevant language version of your ad based on each user's search context and language preferences at the moment of auction. Your ad copy and landing page language become the primary signals for matching. If you run separate English and Spanish campaigns, those structures continue to work exactly as they do now.

Which Campaigns Are Affected by Google's September 2026 Language Targeting Update?

The change applies to two campaign types: standard Search campaigns (where the campaign-level language targeting setting will be fully removed) and the Search Network portion of Performance Max campaigns (where your language setting will no longer apply to Search placements). Performance Max campaigns serving on YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail will continue to use your existing campaign-level language settings. Shopping ads within Performance Max are not affected by this change at all.

For 7-9 figure ecommerce brands with large international catalogs, the practical implication is straightforward. If your ad creative and landing page are clearly in one language, Google's AI will match them to users searching in that language. If you have ad groups with creatives in multiple languages pointing to the same landing page, the AI prioritization system will determine which version to serve based on user context at the time of the search.

Google confirmed to Search Engine Roundtable on August 14 that no account restructuring is required. Single-language campaign structures, such as one campaign for English and a separate campaign for Spanish, will continue to function exactly as before. The change removes the manual setting; it does not alter how cleanly structured campaigns perform.

It is worth noting that language exclusions have never been supported in Google Ads, and that does not change with this update. If your goal was to exclude a language, that was never available and still is not. The removal affects only the ability to manually specify which language to target at the campaign level.

Google has updated its official language targeting help document with the full transition details. Developers and agencies using the Google Ads API should also review the API-specific guidance on stopping language criteria from being set on new Search campaigns and removing existing criteria for cleanliness.

To track every Google Ads change happening in 2026, bookmark our Google Ads 2026 update tracker, which we update as announcements drop.

What Should You Do Now with Google's Language Targeting Change?

1. Audit your current Search campaign language settings. In Google Ads, navigate to each Search campaign's Settings panel and document which campaigns have multi-language settings you have relied on as an audience control. This gives you a baseline before September removes those settings.
2. Align each ad group's creative and landing page to a single language. Your ad copy and landing page language are now the primary signals Google uses for matching. Any ad group where creatives are in English but the landing page is in Spanish, or vice versa, will produce unpredictable results after September.
3. Review Performance Max language settings for non-Search channels. Your PMax campaign-level language setting still controls YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail placements. Confirm those settings reflect your intended geographic and language targeting for those channels before September arrives.
4. Do not restructure existing single-language campaigns. If you already operate separate English, Spanish, French, or other language-specific campaigns, those are fine as is. Google confirmed no restructuring is needed for these structures.
5. Monitor Search Impression Share by language in September. Once the change takes effect, watch impression share and conversion data by language segment to confirm Google's AI prioritization is distributing your language versions as expected. If you see unexpected shifts, ad copy and landing page language alignment is the first thing to diagnose.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Reading

• Google Is Auto-Upgrading Your Search Campaigns to AI Max on September 1: What Ecommerce Brands Must Act On Now
• Google Ads August 2026: The New AI Insights and Analytics Tools Every Ecommerce Brand Should Start Using Now
• Work with CTC's Google Ads team

If you have questions about how this change affects your international campaign structure, talk to us. CTC manages hundreds of millions in Google Ads spend across 7-9 figure ecommerce brands and can audit your setup before the September change takes effect.