Seven Google Ads changes Gulf advertisers need to act on

Google's headlines this year have mostly been about AI. The changes more likely to cause trouble in a Gulf advertiser's account are less glamorous: settings being removed, policies opening or closing whole categories, and deadlines for conversion tracking. These are the ones that matter for accounts in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2026, whether you run ads yourself or through an agency.

1. The language setting is being removed

In late September 2026, Google is taking the campaign language setting out of Search and AI Max campaigns. Ads will instead be matched using the language of the ad and of the search, the person's language settings and Google's AI. The setting no longer governs Performance Max's search traffic either, although it still applies on YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail. Google has issued no guidance specific to Arabic.

Many bilingual Gulf accounts separate Arabic and English into different campaigns using that setting, which makes this the most important change of the year for the region. From now on, the language of your ad copy and your landing page does the steering:

• Write Arabic ads entirely in Arabic and English ads entirely in English, never mixing the two within one ad.
• Send Arabic ads to Arabic landing pages.
• Review search terms in both languages once the change lands.

2. Gaming and crypto rules in the region

• Since 10 March 2026, operators licensed by the UAE's General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority and certified by Google may advertise online gaming and sports betting in the UAE. State-run lotteries licensed by the same authority have been allowed since June 2025.
• Ads for offline gambling are prohibited in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
• Since 14 September 2026, every gambling category requires good policy health, and manager accounts with repeated revocations lose eligibility.
• In the UAE, crypto exchanges and software wallets have needed a licence from VARA, the Abu Dhabi FSRA or the DFSA, together with Google certification, since February 2025.

3. Formats and features ending or changing

• Call-only ads cannot be created since February 2026, and existing ones stop serving in February 2027. Replace them with responsive search ads and call assets.
• Campaign-level broad match and automatically created assets are being upgraded to AI Max through September 2026, with Dynamic Search Ads following in February 2027.
• Local inventory ads were switched on by default for Shopping campaigns on 31 August 2026.
• Since August, budget-limited campaigns on target CPA or target ROAS bid to the target more consistently instead of beating it. Google says budgets are always respected.

4. Labels for AI-made ads

Since July 2026, a "How this ad was made" panel in My Ad Center has explained the use of AI in ads on Search, YouTube and Discover. Ads made with Google's own AI tools are labelled automatically. For ads made with other tools, the advertiser ticks a setting.

5. Conversion tracking deadlines

• Since April 2026, Google Ads has accepted conversion data from tags, Data Manager and the API at the same time. Since June, enhanced conversions for web and for leads have been a single setting.
• From 15 June 2026, offline conversion imports and uploads for enhanced conversions for leads moved to the Data Manager API. Any integration that was not updated needs checking.

6. Security and terms

• Passkeys are being introduced for sensitive actions such as adding users or changing billing. Google's help page describes this as rolling out, with an enforcement date that the account sets.
• Google's updated advertising terms took effect on 1 July 2026, including how inputs are used by AI features. Arabic and English versions exist for Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.

7. English first, Arabic later

Several new tools do not yet work in Arabic: ads inside AI Overviews, Asset Studio's AI video, Ask Advisor and, for the moment, Ads Advisor. AI Brief works in English and seven other languages, but not Arabic. Google's help page says text customisation in AI Max supports all languages, so read any generated Arabic headlines closely before they run.

Your checklist for the quarter

• Rebuild language segmentation around ad and landing page language as the setting goes.
• Replace any call-only ads.
• Check which campaigns moved to AI Max in September, and what was switched on along the way.
• Confirm that offline conversion imports run through the Data Manager API.
• Set up passkeys for account administrators.
• If you operate in gaming or crypto, confirm your licences and Google certification before any campaign is built.

Consistent UTM tagging across your Arabic and English campaigns will also let you compare performance by language in your own analytics.

Want this list checked against your own account? Get in touch with ALXO.