Advertising in France with Google Ads: how to launch and what counts

In short

• Must the ads be written in French? Yes: the Toubon law makes French mandatory in all written, spoken or audiovisual advertising, including for goods and services that are imported or sold online. Have a lawyer validate edge cases.
• Who invoices, and who handles VAT? According to Google Ads Help, the account is served by Google Ireland Limited, with VAT that the advertiser self-assesses, and Google France SARL can become your counterparty if you receive a notice that says so. The facts table details the cases.
• Is there a France-specific surcharge? Yes: Google adds a regulatory operating cost to ads served in France, on top of the price of the clicks. The rate is in the facts table: plan for it in the budget.
• Can you show a price without taxes to consumers? No: the price is displayed in euros, all taxes included, and extra fees are disclosed before the sale.
• Which sectors are regulated? Gambling (operator approved by the ANJ plus Google certification), alcohol (local laws and Google rules) and any sector with its own rule: read Google's policies before launch.
• When should you watch the calendar? At the sales, whose dates are set by the state, and on statutory public holidays: the dates are in the facts table.

Key takeaway: In France, write everything in French, plan for VAT and the surcharge on the invoice, show consumer prices with all taxes included and check the rules of your sector, then test each keyword on French Google before you bid.

Country fact sheet

Data verified on 14 October 2026. Each value was read on its source on the date shown. It may have changed since: the source prevails.

The method, step by step

1. Step 1 — Choose the area to target

   In the campaign settings, pick the whole of France or a finer area: Google's list offers regions, departments, cities and postal codes. For a city, add the country name, since Google itself gives the example of a mix-up between two cities with the same name. If you deliver to the overseas territories, add them separately: Google's list treats them as distinct targets.

2. Step 2 — Set the presence option

   Google generally recommends the broad “Presence or interest” option on Search, and keeps the “Presence” option for sectors with strict targeting limits or for advertisers who only want people located in the area. The choice is made in the location settings, once the area is chosen.

3. Step 3 — Write each campaign in French

   Google has removed the language setting from Search campaigns: there is no language to pick in the campaign anymore. Ads are matched by their language. So write ads, keywords and landing page in French, with prices in euros. For another language, build a separate campaign or at least a separate ad group, and have a lawyer validate that those ads comply with the law.

4. Step 4 — Rebuild the keywords for France

   Start from Keyword Planner set to France, then open the French Google results page of each search. Keep the ones that show buying intent, and prepare your negative keywords from the start for job offers, courses and curiosity searches.

5. Step 5 — Analyze before you spend

   Run your list through Should I Bid by choosing France. The intent analysis reads the Google results page of that market and returns a Bid, Test or Skip verdict. An analysis can also target a large city such as Paris, through an optional setting.

6. Step 6 — Prepare billing and VAT

   When you open the account you choose the account type, the purpose of use and the tax status: these settings are permanent. Note which company serves the account, prepare the VAT, SIRET or SIREN number depending on your status, and ask your accountant how the VAT must be declared.

7. Step 7 — Plan the surcharge in the budget

   Add to the test budget the surcharge that Google applies to ads served in France: the rate is in the facts table. Then read your first invoice or statement to check that it matches what you planned.

8. Step 8 — Check the rules for your sector and your prices

   Gambling: an approval, Google certification and a “.fr” site. Alcohol: local laws and Google's rules. For consumers, check that the displayed price is in euros, all taxes included, with extra fees disclosed before the sale.

What counts in France: one language, some laws and several areas

The language of the Republic is French, and that is the first thing to build into a campaign before launch. The Constitution says so in one sentence and adds that regional languages belong to the heritage of France. For an advertiser based abroad, that means a market where advertising is expected in French and where the law gets involved, as the next section explains. The facts table at the top of the page quotes both texts with their source.

Google Ads recognizes French, but language is no longer a campaign setting. According to Google Ads Help on language, Google has removed that setting for Search campaigns: ads are matched by their language, and Google gives priority to the ones that match the language of the search term. Language therefore comes from what you write, and the audience from the geographic area. The facts table says which regional languages of France are in Google's list. If you aim at one of the others, first read Google's help page on unsupported languages, then test on a small scale.

French in France is not the French of Quebec, Belgium or French-speaking Switzerland. If you already run campaigns in another French-speaking country, do not copy the keyword list: rebuild it in Keyword Planner set to France, then open the French Google results page of each keyword, because the advertisers and the ranking pages are not the ones of another country. Our guide on how to choose Google Ads keywords gives the method to repeat.

You can target the whole of France or a finer area, but do not split the country before you have a reason to. Google's official list of locations contains, for France, regions, departments, cities and postal codes. The overseas territories need attention: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion, Mayotte and French Guiana appear there as separate targets, each with its own country code. If you deliver to or serve those territories, add them explicitly and check the result in the ad preview and diagnosis tool, instead of assuming that “France” covers them.

The Toubon law: French in advertising and in the offer

In France, French is mandatory in all written, spoken or audiovisual advertising. The Ministry of Culture page on the use of French adds that the Toubon law also requires it for the designation, the offer and the presentation of a good or service, and for invoices. These rules cover goods and services marketed in France, including imported ones and those offered on online sales sites and platforms. A Google Ads ad is written advertising and its landing page presents the offer: write both in French, even if your company is based abroad.

European law limits the requirement, and registered trademarks have a regime of their own. The ministry explains that European law generally accepts a national-language requirement only for mandatory information, as long as it stays proportionate, and that it accepts the use of another easily understandable language. It adds that registered slogans are exempt and that private actors have no language obligation for trademarks registered with INPI. Do not build a whole English-language ad on those exceptions: have a lawyer rule on edge cases.

The DGCCRF, the consumer protection authority, checks that the rule is applied, e-commerce included. According to the same page, its mandate covers the whole territory and every stage of production or distribution. The page does not detail penalties. This paragraph is not legal advice: only a lawyer can say what a given ad risks.

The law targets the presence of French, not its quality. The ministry states that the legal notion of using the French language concerns its presence and not good usage. That does not excuse you from having your ads proofread by someone who writes the French of France: spelling, accents, formal or informal address and local phrasing can weigh on how credible an ad looks.

Billing, VAT and surcharge: what Google adds in France

Google's France section says the account is served by Google Ireland Limited. It adds that Google France SARL becomes your counterparty, until further notice, for the products named if you receive a notice that mentions them, and Google Ads is on that list. The facts table gives the wording. If your business is based outside France, the section that matters first is the one for your own billing country: Google's tax page has one section per country.

VAT depends on the company that serves the account. For an account served by Google Ireland Limited, Google adds no VAT, unless you chose the “eligible non-business” purpose at sign-up, and the advertiser self-assesses VAT at the rate of its EU member state. For an account served by Google France SARL, Google applies VAT at the French standard rates and asks for the VAT, SIRET or SIREN number depending on tax status. The help page states that the account type, the purpose of use and the tax status chosen at sign-up are permanent, and that Google cannot give VAT advice: choose carefully and have your accountant validate.

The VAT rate changes with the billing address. The facts table gives the standard rate in mainland France and in Corsica, then the rates for Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion, according to the Ministry of the Economy. The same ministry states that VAT is temporarily not applicable in French Guiana and Mayotte, and Google's table for accounts served by Google France SARL follows the same split.

Budgets are counted in euros, and the monthly VAT invoice arrives with a delay. According to Google's help page, the VAT invoice for a month is available from the fifth business day of the following month, and it is not generated on a weekend or a bank holiday. Google adds that these invoices are legally valid. Warn your accountant about that delay: the currency and its history are in the facts table, with the Banque de France source.

Google adds a France-specific surcharge, to be planned in the budget. Google's page on jurisdiction-specific surcharges describes a regulatory operating cost added to your next invoice or statement for ads served in France, meant to cover part of the cost of complying with French digital services tax legislation. The rate and the start date are in the facts table. The page speaks of ads served in France and does not mention where the account is based, so plan for it also if your account is based abroad and targets France. It comes on top of the price of the clicks: build it into your test budget, then check your first invoice instead of discovering it afterwards.

Prices, sales and public holidays: display and plan

For consumers, the price is displayed in euros, all taxes included. The DGCCRF writes that the prices of goods or services must be clearly displayed in euros, all taxes included, in every form of sale, distance selling included. It adds that the trader informs the consumer, before the contract is concluded, of possible extra costs such as file, transport or postage fees, and that the advertised price includes every element essential to using the product or service. An ad or a landing page that shows a price must follow that rule. For a specific case, have a lawyer review your price mentions.

Sales are a regulated period, with dates set by the state. The page of the Directorate-General for Enterprise says that sales take place in winter and in summer, with a staggered start in some departments and territories, and that the dates for online sales are aligned with the national dates, wherever the company has its head office. So a business based abroad that sells online to France does not pick its own dates. The page also reminds that the stock must be built before the operation and cannot be renewed during it. Before you write “soldes” in an ad, check that your offer fits that frame. The latest known dates are in the facts table, shown as the last edition.

Statutory public holidays have an official list, with special cases in Alsace-Moselle. Service Public publishes the statutory holidays of the private sector with their dates for the year, and the facts table repeats their names. Some of these days can be worked or not depending on the case. Do not guess the effect on your searches: look in Google Trends set to France to see whether they rise or fall on those days before you adjust a daily budget. To see who bids on those dates, our guide on who bids on your keywords explains how to read the results page.

Gambling, alcohol and other regulated sectors

For online gambling, Google requires an approved operator and a certification. The France section of Google's advertising policies allows online gaming circles (poker), sports betting and lotteries, online bingo included, for an operator approved and registered with the ANJ, the French national gambling authority, with a valid operating license number and a “.fr” site, or for the statutory monopoly operator for lotteries. A warning against excessive or pathological gaming and a message pointing to the help system provided by law must appear on the landing page and on any image ad. The facts table sums up the rule.

An online gambling type that is not listed for France cannot be advertised. Google states that a type of online gambling missing from the list of a country is not eligible for certification and cannot be advertised there. For France, the list contains poker, sports betting and lotteries, but not online casinos. If your activity is not in that list, do not count on an exception.

For alcohol, France is in Google's list, provided local laws are respected. Google's page on alcohol allows these ads in the countries it lists, France included, provided they comply with local laws, industry codes and its own rules, mandatory notices, restrictions on alcohol types and watershed hours included. In France, the Government has stated, in a written answer to the National Assembly, that the legal framework of the Evin law must be respected by influencers on social networks, and that the DGCCRF carries out checks on these practices. The text of the law is not summarized here: have your alcohol ads validated by a lawyer before launch.

For other sectors, read the matching Google policy before launch. Healthcare, financial products, gaming: Google publishes one policy per subject, and some rules depend on the country, as alcohol and gambling show. A keyword can look excellent on paper and be unusable in your sector. Our advice on whether to bid on a keyword still holds, but it comes after compliance.

Search engines and devices: read the facts table before you bid

Google dominates search in France, and the smaller engines carry little weight. The facts table at the top of the page gives the share of each engine for the most recent month published by StatCounter, with several secondary engines. Google Ads does not show you on Bing or on the others: those audiences go through other advertising networks. Start with Google, measure your results, then judge whether a second channel is worth the effort.

The split between mobile, desktop and tablet is also in the facts table: read it before you set bids by device. Do not copy the behavior of another country. Check your landing pages on a phone before launch, then read the device reports after the first weeks of delivery before pushing one format over another. The Quality Score of your keywords also takes landing page experience into account.

Should I Bid can analyze a keyword on French Google. The intent analysis reads the results page of France, ads included, then compares it with what your business sells. Vision generates keyword ideas from a product or a page; the analysis then reads the Google page of each one. Our guide to search intent in Google Ads explains how to read that page by hand.

Pitfalls specific to France

The mistakes to avoid in France come mostly from language, the invoice and the displayed price, more than from technique. The list below sums them up, and each one can be fixed before launch.

Every keyword needs a reading on the French Google page before it gets a budget. A search that shows ads and merchant pages deserves a bid, a search that mostly shows articles gets tested or skipped. To measure what clicks with no buying intent already cost you, try the wasted budget calculator.

• Writing the ads or the landing page in English for a French audience, without having the advertising language rule checked.
• Copying the keyword list of another French-speaking country instead of rebuilding it for France.
• Showing a price without taxes in an ad aimed at consumers.
• Forgetting the France-specific surcharge in the test budget.
• Assuming VAT works the same way everywhere: it depends on the company that serves the account and on the billing address.
• Targeting “France” and thinking it covers the overseas territories, which Google's list treats separately.
• Writing “soldes” in an ad without having checked the legal frame of the sales.
• Launching gambling or alcohol ads without approval, certification or a legal review.

FAQ

How do I launch a Google Ads campaign in France?

Target the whole of France or a precise area, then write ads, keywords and landing page in French: the Toubon law requires it for advertising. Rebuild the keyword list for France, check each keyword on the French Google results page, prepare the invoice (company that serves the account, VAT) and the France-specific surcharge, then check the rules of your sector. The detailed steps are higher up on this page, and the facts table gives the sources.

Do ads have to be written in French in France?

Yes. According to the Ministry of Culture, French is mandatory in all written, spoken or audiovisual advertising, and in the offer and presentation of goods and services marketed in France, including imported ones and those sold online. European law limits the requirement and registered trademarks have a regime of their own. This text is not legal advice: have edge cases validated by a lawyer before you spend a budget.

Does Google Ads apply a surcharge in France?

Yes, according to Google's page on jurisdiction-specific surcharges: a regulatory operating cost is added to the next invoice or statement for ads served in France, to cover part of the cost of complying with digital services tax legislation. The rate and the start date are in the facts table. Add it to your budget, on top of the price of the clicks.

Who invoices Google Ads in France and how is VAT handled?

According to Google Ads Help, the account is served by Google Ireland Limited, and Google France SARL can become your counterparty if you receive a notice that says so. In the first case, Google adds no VAT to a business account and the advertiser self-assesses it. In the second, Google applies French VAT. The facts table details the rates: have an accountant validate your situation.

Can I advertise gambling or alcohol in France?

Yes, under conditions. For gambling, Google allows in France only poker, sports betting and lotteries, for an operator approved by the ANJ or holding the statutory lottery monopoly, and it requires a certification. For alcohol, France is in Google's list, provided local laws and Google's rules are respected. Have your ads reviewed by a lawyer before you launch.

Does Should I Bid analyze keywords on French Google?

Yes. Should I Bid reads the Google results page of France, ads included, compares it with your offer and returns a Bid, Test or Skip verdict. An analysis can also target a large city such as Paris, through an optional setting. It gives neither search volume nor cost per click. See pricing: it works with credits, one credit per analyzed keyword, with free analyses to try, no credit card.

Sources

• Constitutional Council: full text of the Constitution (Article 2, language of the Republic) — Conseil constitutionnel
• Ministry of Culture: guaranteeing the use of French (Toubon law, in French) — Ministère de la Culture
• Ministry of Culture: regional languages (in French) — Ministère de la Culture
• Google Ads Help: Target ads to geographic locations — Google Ads Help
• Google Ads Help: Language and ad matching — Google Ads Help
• Google Ads API: geographic targets — Google Ads API
• Google Ads API: language codes — Google Ads API
• Google Ads Help: Taxes in your country (France section) — Google Ads Help
• Google Ads Help: Jurisdiction-specific surcharges — Google Ads Help
• Google Advertising Policies: Gambling and games (France section) — Google Advertising Policies Help
• Google Advertising Policies: Alcohol — Google Advertising Policies Help
• National Assembly: written answer on alcohol promotion on social networks (in French) — Assemblée nationale
• Ministry of the Economy: VAT rates in France (in French) — Ministère de l'Économie
• DGCCRF: information on prices (in French) — DGCCRF
• Directorate-General for Enterprise: the dates of the sales (in French) — Direction générale des Entreprises
• Service Public: public holidays and bridge days in the private sector (in French) — Service Public
• Banque de France: the euro in our pockets for twenty years (in French) — Banque de France
• StatCounter: search engine market share in France — StatCounter Global Stats