Good location management is essential to optimize your Google Ads campaigns and avoid wasting your advertising budget. Google Ads offers several geo-targeting options, but a key function that is often overlooked is the exclusion of certain countries. This article explains why to exclude countries, how to do it, and how to use this strategy to improve your campaigns.

Understanding location targeting in Google Ads

By default, Google Ads targets”people in or interested in” a given area. This means that your ads can be seen by people in your target area, but also by users who are looking for that region, even if they are in another country.

For example, if you target Seattle (United States), your ads will be seen by residents of Seattle, but also by a person in Pittsburgh who is looking for information about Seattle or by an Internet user in Russia or India. If your business can't sell internationally, these displays aren't helpful.

To refine targeting, Google Ads offers the option”People who are in or who visit regularly” in the targeted area. This reduces the number of unnecessary displays, but does not completely block foreign users. That is why it is important to exclude certain countries.

Why do you exclude certain countries in Google Ads?

Excluding irrelevant countries has several advantages:

  1. Cost reduction: If you block areas where you don't sell, you're not wasting your budget on unnecessary clicks. For example, if you offer a service in Montreal, a person in Russia will never be a potential customer. By excluding Russia, you prevent Google from showing your ads to that user.
  2. Better targeting: By limiting your ads to countries where you actually sell, you attract customers who are more likely to buy your product or service.
  3. Budget optimization: Less spending on irrelevant clicks means more money to reach real customers and increase your conversions.
  4. Avoid unnecessary clicks: Not to be excluded, a user from a non-targeted country could see and click on your ad, which would skew your statistics and waste your advertising budget.

How do I exclude countries in Google Ads?

Country exclusion is easy to implement:

  1. Go to your Google Ads campaign settings.
  2. Open the geo-targeting options and click “Search” and then “Location Exclusions.”
  3. Add countries to exclude: Copy and paste the list of countries to exclude into the field provided.
  4. Beware of the limit: Google Ads allows you to exclude up to 120 countries per campaign. If you need to exclude more countries, you'll need to split the exclusions across multiple campaigns.

Best practices for country exclusions

  • Check your exclusions regularly : The performance of your campaigns is changing. Some exclusions may become unnecessary or others may be added if you notice irrelevant clicks.
  • Segment your campaigns by region : If you sell in multiple countries, create separate campaigns to better control exclusions and adjust your budget as needed.
  • Use ready-to-use lists : Google doesn't offer a standard list of countries to exclude, but you can use an already prepared list to save time. Simply copy and paste these countries into your Google Ads account.

    • Full list of countries for excluding Google Ads

    To use this list, all you have to do is copy all entries of these in Google Ads, paying attention toEliminate the country you want to targetr.

    Here is the list:

    Google Ads Country Exclusion List

    Google Ads — Country Exclusion List

    Select a continent, then copy the list to paste into your campaign exclusions.

    Complete list