#Google Ads now limits country-level location exclusions
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The platform is limiting advertisers to an exclusion list of 120 countries.
Moving forward, advertisers will receive a warning notification if the number of entities they enter exceeds this limit.
Exclusion list changes. The issue was first flagged by Google Ads marketing agency PPC Sauce on X:
- “I have an exclusion list (all countries but US, or Australia etc.) and have always been able to just plug it in until today.”
The agency then shared a screenshot of the warning notification sent by Google when you surpass the 120-country limit:
What Google is saying? Google Ads Liaison Officer Ginny Marvin said on X:
- “You will see this notification if you try to add more than approximately 120 country level location exclusions. The aim is to simplify location targeting workflows, and we recommend using positive geographic targeting instead.”
Why we care. Google’s guidelines state that where your ads shouldn’t appear is just as crucial for campaign success as where they should appear, so removing advertisers’ control to limit locations may cause concern. However, advertisers looking to exclude locations they haven’t previously targeted need not worry, as Google notes:
- “There’s no need to exclude areas that you haven’t already targeted — your ads won’t be shown in places unless you explicitly target them.”
Deep dive. Read Google’s guide to excluding ads from geographic locations for more information.
Nicola Agius is Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land after joining in 2023. She covers paid media, retail media and more. Prior to this, she was SEO Director at Jungle Creations (2020-2023), overseeing the company’s editorial strategy for multiple websites. She has over 15 years of experience in journalism and has previously worked at OK! Magazine (2010-2014), Mail Online (2014-2015), Mirror (2015-2017), Digital Spy (2017-2018) and The Sun (2018-2020). She also previously teamed up with SEO agency Blue Array to co-author Amazon bestselling book Mastering In-House SEO.
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