Google Ads AI Labels Now Show in California, South Korea, Vietnam
Google Ads AI labels now appear on ads targeting California, South Korea and Vietnam. What changed, where labels show and how to audit your assets.
In this article
Google Ads AI labels now cover three more places. Google’s help page on AI content label settings and disclosures now lists California, South Korea and Vietnam alongside the European Union, India and New York as locations where ads with assets marked as AI created or edited also show a visible label on the ad itself. The change was first spotted by Search Engine Roundtable on November 5, 2026.
This affects any advertiser who targets those locations and uses AI generated or AI edited images or video. That includes assets made with Google’s own tools in asset studio, not just third party tools.
Google has not published a separate announcement or a start date for the three new regions, so treat the help page as the current rule and check your accounts now.
What changed in Google Ads AI labels
Google introduced the AI label setting in July 2026. Its July policy update said the setting would roll out gradually that month across Google Ads, Display & Video 360, Campaign Manager 360, Merchant Center and Ads Editor, and named AI rules in the European Union, India and New York as the reason.
The updated Google Ads help page keeps the same mechanics but widens the list of regions where the label appears on the ad.
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Regions with a visible label on the ad | European Union, India, New York | European Union, India, New York, California, South Korea, Vietnam |
| Disclosure in My Ad Center | Yes, for assets marked as AI | Yes, for assets marked as AI |
| How you mark assets | AI label setting in Google Ads | No change |
| Official start date for new regions | Not applicable | Not stated by Google |
Google’s Merchant Center product data help page uses matching wording, saying AI regulations in all six places require disclosures or labels on ads with certain AI generated or edited assets.
How the AI label setting works
According to Google’s help page, advertisers can mark an asset as created or edited with AI, or choose not to label it. Ads with labeled assets get a disclosure in the “How this ad was made” section of My Ad Center, which people reach from the three dot menu on ads across Search, YouTube and Discover.
For campaigns that target the six listed locations, those ads also show a visible overlay. Google says it may apply labels itself in some cases, such as where the law requires it or when it receives signals from other platforms, and labels applied this way cannot be overwritten.
Google also adds SynthID watermarks and C2PA metadata to images and videos made with its Google Ads tools. The help page is clear that using the setting does not guarantee compliance with any specific law and recommends getting legal advice.
What counts as AI created or edited
Google describes it as using generative AI to make entirely new, realistic assets from prompts, or to make meaningful enhancements to existing ones. Its example is using Google’s AI to animate a set of still product photos.
That means routine fixes are a judgment call, while generated scenes, swapped backgrounds, animated stills and synthetic people clearly fall inside. New tools make this more relevant every week. For example, Google’s new video model can now create 15 second clips inside asset studio, which we covered in Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash brings 15 second AI video for marketers.
What advertisers should do now
These steps are our recommendation, based on how Google describes the setting.
- Find campaigns that target the new regions. Filter by location targeting for California, South Korea and Vietnam. Also review broad targets such as all of the United States, since they reach people in California too.
- Audit the asset library. In Google Ads, go to Tools, then Asset studio, then Asset library. Use the “AI label” status column or filter to see which assets are marked.
- Label anything AI made or meaningfully edited. Open the asset, choose “Label this asset as created or edited with AI” and save. During campaign creation, use the “Review assets” prompt and the Manage AI label option.
- Check Performance Max and Demand Gen settings. Google notes that image enhancement settings in Display, Performance Max and Demand Gen can crop labels you place inside the image yourself. If you add your own label, keep it away from the edges. Our guides to optimizing Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns cover where those settings live.
- Ask agencies and freelancers. Make AI use a required field in every creative brief and handoff, so nothing reaches the account without a known status.
- Watch performance after labeling. Compare CTR and conversion rate for labeled and unlabeled assets over the same period. If labeled assets underperform, test better creative rather than skipping the label.
- Get legal input for regulated sectors. Google itself says the setting is not a compliance guarantee, so check local rules for your industry.
Why this matters for ad accounts
AI disclosure is moving from a regional exception to a normal part of creative operations. Six markets now show labels on the ad, and the list grew without a launch post, only a help page change. Accounts that build a labeling habit now will not need a scramble each time the list changes.
It also fits a wider pattern of Google asking advertisers to carry more responsibility for what they upload, as we saw with the Google Ads terms of service change earlier this year. For general account hygiene alongside this, see our Google Ads optimization tips.
Election advertisers have a separate rule. Google’s July update says they must keep using the “Altered or synthetic content” checkbox in campaign settings under the political content policy.
