Google AdWords remains incompatible with foreign URLs

Google AdWords will remain incompatible with foreign URLs in the short run according to Google AdWords team.

Google AdWords doesn't support foreign URLs

As you know, only latin characters are currently used in URLs. This restriction doesn't enable any URL to be written in Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Arabic for example.

The situation will change soon after Internet's chief domain name authority ICANN approved International Domain Names (IDNs). It means that websites will be able to have their URL using foreign characters.

For the time being, Google AdWords doesn't support IDNs. For instance, if you want to place an ad for domain names such as 中国.com, your ad will be considered as invalid.

Google AdWords isn't ready to list IDNs

When will Google allow IDNs to be listed in AdWords? The question has been asked to Google AdWords team on their forum. It took them a few months to reply but here is their response: Google Adwords has no plan to support foreign URLs in the "foreseeable future".

They explain that there is currently a very low demand for the ability to advertise on domains using foreign characters. Enabling IDNs avertising would require too many resources compared to the number of potential advertisers.

What's Google waiting for?

In the future, it's clear that online advertising will have to support foreign URLs. There is an inevitable language shift on the web: foreign languages like Chinese are going to be more and more spread over the Internet and URLs. Online advertising platforms would undoubtedly miss some business if they don't allow IDN's ad listing.

That's why Google's response is quite surprising to me. I can understand that Google isn't eager to invest plenty of resources right now in order to allow ad listing for international domain names. However, having no plan at all is something different.