Last updated: October 2026. Account verification procedures change, so refer to the official Google help pages before any step.
On August 13, 2025, Google announced removing Syria from the list of countries restricted for advertising, which is based on US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions, allowing Google advertising services to return according to several media reports. This is important news for every Syrian business owner, but it does not mean advertising has become step-free.
In this guide we explain what changed, then build a complete search campaign with you from scratch: the account, campaign structure, keywords, the ad, the landing page, budget, tracking, and an implementation plan for the first 30 days.
Quick Summary
- Google announced in August 2025 that Syria was removed from the list of countries restricted for advertising.
- Recovering an old account needs manual verification with official documents and acceptance of the updated terms.
- Start with a search campaign using local keywords and a clear landing page, and set up conversion tracking from day one.
- Leave the campaign at least two weeks before judging it.
Article Contents
- Quick Summary
- What Changed and What Must You Do?
- Step 1: Recover the Account or Open a New One
- Step 2: Understand the Account Structure
- Step 3: Choose the Right Campaign Type
- Step 4: Build the Keyword List Wisely
- Step 5: Write an Ad and a Landing Page That Agree
- Step 6: Budget and Bidding
- Step 7: Tracking and Measuring Success
- Quality Score: Why Does Your Competitor Sometimes Pay Less Than You?
- A Practical Example: A Search Campaign for a Dental Clinic in Aleppo
- A Brand Name Campaign and Remarketing
- Protect Your Account from Suspension
- Your First 30-Day Plan
- Common Mistakes We See Often
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sources and References
What Changed and What Must You Do?
- You can now target users inside Syria with Google ads and open accounts from inside the country, as announced.
- Old accounts suspended because of geographic restrictions need manual review: official documents, identity verification, and acceptance of updated terms.
- If your campaigns target "all countries", they may now reach Syria automatically, so review the exclusions you want.
We do not have official details for every case, because Google processes accounts manually at this stage. So our advice is to start with the steps below and follow the status messages inside your account.
Step 1: Recover the Account or Open a New One
If you have an old ad account, start by signing in and reading the status messages inside the account, because they tell you whether verification steps are required. If you have no previous experience, the safest option is creating a new account with a clear identity and an email that belongs to the business.
- Prepare the official business name, address, and phone number as they appear in the papers, and any conflict between your data and your papers delays verification.
- Make your website load fast and show contact information and a clear policy, because Google reviews the landing page.
- Do not create more than one account for the same business, because it raises suspicion.
- Choose the account currency and time zone carefully, because they cannot be changed after creation.
Avoid Expert Mode at the Start
When creating the account, Google suggests a quick path that builds an automatic campaign. We prefer switching to the "advanced mode" and creating a manual search campaign, because you control the keywords, ads, and budget instead of leaving the details to the platform.
Step 2: Understand the Account Structure
| Level | What is it? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Calculation | Your ad account with payment data and currency | Ghayat Marketing |
| Campaign | Sets the goal, budget, location, and language | Website design services in Damascus |
| Ad group | A set of close keywords and the ads serving them | Online store design |
| Ads | The text the searcher sees | Headlines, description, and link |
Give each service its own ad group with its own keywords, ads, and landing page. Mixing all services in one ad group weakens the relevance of the ad to the search and raises cost.
Step 3: Choose the Right Campaign Type
| Type | When to use it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Search campaign | When people are searching for your service now | Website design in Damascus |
| Display campaign | For awareness and remarketing | An offer for a new product |
| Video campaign | To present a service that needs explaining | Introducing a clinic or center |
| Performance Max | For stores with a catalog and rich conversion data | A store with previous sales |
For new businesses we always start with the search campaign, because it catches the buying intent already present in the searcher and gives the fastest data on the words that bring customers. Performance Max needs enough conversion data to learn from, so we do not advise it as a start.
Step 4: Build the Keyword List Wisely
- Write what your customer actually types: "online store design Damascus" is better than "complete digital solutions". Use the free keyword planner tool inside your account to see search volume and suggestions.
- Add the city or governorate name to the keyword to narrow the audience and reduce cost.
- Try different Arabic forms of the word: "تصميم موقع" and "تصميم مواقع" and "تصميم موقع الكتروني", because searchers write in multiple ways.
- Add negative keywords such as "free", "job", "course", and "download" if you do not offer them, so you do not pay for clicks that have no value.
Match Types
| Type | How does it work? | When to use it? |
|---|---|---|
| Exact match | Shows for searches matching the keyword or very close to it | For the highest value keywords and precise control |
| Phrase match | Shows for searches containing the meaning of the phrase | A good balance between reach and control |
| Broad match | Shows for various related searches | Only after enough data and with smart bidding |
Step 5: Write an Ad and a Landing Page That Agree
Current search ads are mostly built in the responsive format: you write up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google combines the best sets for each search. Write varied headlines: a benefit, a feature, a location, and a call to action.
- A headline with the keyword itself: "Website design in Damascus".
- A benefit headline: "A fast site that brings you customers".
- A credibility headline: "Experience in Syria and Turkey" (and do not write what you cannot prove).
- A call headline: "Get a quote today".
The cost per click depends on the quality of the ad and the landing page. If the ad says "professional logo design" and you send the visitor to a general home page, they will bounce and you lose money. Send them to a page about logos specifically, with an approximate price, examples, and a clear contact button.
Assets That Raise Ad Quality
- Sitelinks to the service, pricing, and contact pages.
- Short callouts such as "free consultation" and "delivery within two weeks" (if honest).
- A call asset for those who prefer calling, and a location asset for local businesses.
Step 6: Budget and Bidding
- Start with a small daily budget that allows enough clicks to be collected within two weeks.
- Rely on manual bidding or "maximize clicks" at first, then move to conversion bidding after enough data accumulates (Google usually recommends a number of monthly conversions before relying on a target cost).
- Review the search terms report weekly, because it reveals the words that consumed your budget with no benefit so you can add them as negatives.
- Set an ad schedule if your business receives calls at specific hours.
Location Targeting: Mind the Presence Option
Set the location to people "in or regularly in" the targeted areas, instead of the wider option that includes those merely searching about the area. This prevents spending money on searchers outside your market.
Step 7: Tracking and Measuring Success
Install conversion tracking from day one: a WhatsApp click, a form submission, a call, or an order. Without it you will know the number of clicks but not which ad brought a customer. The most important indicator is the cost of acquiring a lead, not the cost per click.
| Indicator | Meaning | How to act? |
|---|---|---|
| CTR | How attractive your ad is to the searcher | Improve headlines and add assets |
| CPC | What you pay for one visitor | Improve quality, landing page, and keywords |
| Conversion rate | Who turned from visitor to lead | Improve the page, offer, and site speed |
| CPA | How much you pay for a lead | Compare it with your acceptable cost ceiling |
Quality Score: Why Does Your Competitor Sometimes Pay Less Than You?
The one who pays the most does not win the best position alone. Google determines the ad rank in the auction by combining your bid with the quality of your ad and page. The account shows you a quality indicator for each keyword on a scale of one to ten, based on three elements:
- Expected click-through rate: will people click on your ad? It improves with clearer headlines and more assets.
- Ad relevance: does the ad match what the user searched for? It improves with small groups of consistent keywords.
- Landing page experience: is the page fast, clear, and does it serve the promise? It improves with loading speed, offer clarity, and mobile compatibility.
When you raise quality, the cost per click you pay for the same position falls. That is why improving the ad and the page is cheaper than raising the budget, and this is what we start with when reviewing any underperforming account.
A Practical Example: A Search Campaign for a Dental Clinic in Aleppo
This is an illustrative example of the build, not a promise of results or actual numbers. The idea is for you to see how the decisions follow each other:
| Element | Decision | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Ad groups | Braces, whitening, implants, fillings | Each service has a different search intent and a different page |
| Keywords | Phrases such as "braces Aleppo" and "dental clinic Aleppo Furqan" | Service plus city and neighborhood to catch local buying intent |
| Negative keywords | "free", "job", "college", "course" | Block clicks from those searching for something other than the service |
| Ads | Headline with service and city, a benefit, and a call to book an appointment | Matches the searcher's intent and moves them to book |
| Landing page | The service page with treatment stages, real photos, and a WhatsApp and phone button | Convert the visitor to a booking in the fewest steps |
| Tracking | WhatsApp click, call, and form submission | To know which keyword brought a patient |
A Brand Name Campaign and Remarketing
- Brand name campaign: whoever searches for your company name wants you. A small campaign on your name protects your site from a competitor appearing in first position when people search for you, and it usually costs little.
- Remarketing: someone who visited your site and did not contact you may return if you remind them with a gentle ad. You need an audience list of your site visitors, and you start when enough visitors accumulate.
Protect Your Account from Suspension
- Enable two-factor authentication on the account email and the Google account, and add a trusted backup manager.
- Do not change business or payment information repeatedly, and do not log in using repeated location-changing tools.
- Follow Google policies: no misleading claims, no prohibited content, and no use of others' trademarks without right.
- Read account messages regularly, because many suspensions begin with a warning that can be corrected within days.
Your First 30-Day Plan
| Period | What you do | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Account, tracking, building groups, ads, and landing pages | A campaign ready without errors |
| Week 2 | Launch with a small budget and daily monitoring with no big edits | First clicks and real search terms |
| Week 3 | Add negatives, stop the weak, and improve ads | Reduce waste |
| Week 4 | Read conversions and raise the budget on the strongest | A decision to scale |
Common Mistakes We See Often
- Leaving the campaign on very broad targeting without excluding areas you do not serve.
- Ignoring mobile, although most searchers in Syria use their phones.
- Stopping the campaign after three days because it did not produce sales, before the system has learned.
- Sending all ads to the home page instead of a page specific to the service.
- Not tracking calls and WhatsApp clicks, so you think the campaign failed while it brings customers.
- Relying on the account's automatic recommendations without review, because they sometimes aim to increase spending.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a new ad account from inside Syria?
According to what was announced, this has become possible. Make sure the business details match your papers and the site is clear before you begin.
Which keywords should I start with?
Phrases that carry buying intent and your city name, such as "website design Damascus", and avoid very general words at first.
How long should I wait before judging the campaign?
Leave it at least two weeks after setting up conversion tracking, because the first days are a learning period for the system.
Do Google ads replace SEO?
No, they complete each other: ads for fast results and SEO for building lasting visibility.
What is a suitable starting budget?
Make it enough to collect a reasonable number of clicks within two weeks. We calculate it for you according to your field, its competition, and your goal, and we do not give a fixed number because cost differs a lot from one sector to another.
Should I advertise in Arabic or English?
In the searcher's language. Make a separate campaign for each language with its own keywords, ads, and page, and do not mix them in one campaign.
Sources and References
- Enab Baladi: Google restores its advertising services in Syria
- PPC Land: Google removes Syria from the advertising restrictions list
- Google Ads Help Center
Manage your Google ads with Ghayat
Related articles
Why Are Facebook Pages and Ad Accounts Restricted? Common Causes, Prevention, and Recovery Steps for Business Owners in Syria and Turkey
Marketing Multiple Branches and Franchises: How Your Brand Expands from One City to Another Without Losing Its Identity in Syria and Turkey
How Do You Hire and Manage a Remote Marketing Team Between Turkey and Syria? A Practical Guide to Tasks, Communication, Tools, Pay, and Quality
