Chinese Google Ads should begin with what a customer is trying to find. Translating an English keyword list is a possible research input, but it does not establish that the translated terms express the same buying intent.
I would connect keyword research, advertisements and landing pages around the offer and the market. The goal is a useful path for Chinese-speaking customers who can buy the product or use the service.
For eCommerce, that path should support product selection and purchases. For lead generation, it should support relevant enquiries and an understandable next step.
Research the need behind the words
Start with the products or services you actually offer. Separate customers ready to buy or enquire from people looking for definitions, jobs, training or unrelated information.
Consider how people use local terminology, brand names and English terms within a Chinese-language search. Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese variants may also need review. A literal translation can miss those differences.
For an illustrative furniture-delivery service, a query about arranging delivery has a different purpose from a query about delivery jobs. The example describes intent only; it is not a verified keyword-volume report or a client campaign.
Build the keyword research into a small set of meaningful themes. Each theme should connect to an offer and a destination that can answer the relevant question.
Review the current language behaviour
Google documents a language-matching change beginning in September 2026: Search campaigns move away from campaign-level language settings towards matching based on ad language. Check the current controls in the account.[1]
This makes the relationship between search terms, advertisement language and the destination especially important. Language is not a way to identify ethnicity, and a bilingual customer can research in more than one language.
Build understandable advertisements and suitable destinations. Do not base the campaign strategy on a promise that selecting a language will isolate every Chinese-speaking person or prevent all other users from seeing an ad.
Match the landing page to the promise
The advertisement should describe a specific offer, while the page should explain it in enough detail to support the next action.
For a product campaign, include the relevant product range, price, currency, delivery and buying conditions. For a service campaign, explain the scope, service area, qualification and information needed for an enquiry.
Check the written language of forms and confirmations as well as headings. If customer support differs from the language of the advertising, explain that accurately.
You may start with a complete campaign landing page rather than translating the whole website. The important condition is that customers can continue through the buying or enquiry process without losing the information they need.
Use search-term evidence to refine the campaign
After launch, inspect the search terms the reporting makes available and how those searches relate to the offer. Relevant clicks and irrelevant clicks should lead to different decisions.
Google’s search-term guidance supports using the report to identify negative keywords. Negative matching differs from positive matching, so exclusions need careful review rather than an assumption that all related wording will be covered.[2]
For Chinese-language terms, review variants and meaning. An exclusion intended to remove job seekers should not accidentally block an important service query. Keep a record of why an exclusion was added and check the impact.
Also look for useful queries that reveal a missing explanation. Sometimes the next improvement belongs on the landing page rather than in the keyword list.
Define conversion evidence for the business model
For online stores, check that purchases and value are recorded correctly. Review currency, reporting dates and whether the recorded actions represent actual orders. A reported ROAS needs product and margin context before it guides a commercial decision.
For lead generation, distinguish the initial enquiry from a qualified lead or sale. Ask the business to provide feedback about relevance, contactability and service fit through an appropriate process.
Do not treat every small interaction as equal to a business outcome. Button clicks or engagement may help diagnose the journey, but they should not obscure whether customers buy or make suitable enquiries.
Choose changes that address the observed problem
If queries are irrelevant, review search themes and exclusions. If relevant customers click but do not continue, inspect the offer, page and form. If enquiries arrive but are unsuitable, review qualification information and the customer need being addressed.
That sequence keeps optimization connected to evidence. It is more useful than repeatedly changing copy without knowing which part of the journey needs attention.
I provide Google Ads management with multilingual campaign support. Share your account situation and target market if you want a review of keywords, measurement and the landing-page journey together.
Sources
[1] Google Ads Help, “About language targeting,” checked 15 October 2026: Official source
[2] Google Ads Help, negative keyword ideas from search terms, checked 15 October 2026: Official source