Starting 1 January 2024, Google Ads accounts using Nigerian Naira as the payment currency will be subject to operating charges if ads are served to users outside Nigeria. This new surcharge is associated with operating costs related to Nigerian market conditions.
The new operating charges will be levied only on the spending accrued from ad impressions or clicks from users located outside Nigeria. Example: If you spend ₦100 in Google Ads in January, of which ₦90 are from ads served in the Nigerian territory and the remaining ₦10 are from ads served outside Nigeria, the operating charge will only be levied on the ₦10. Further, if the rate of the operating charge in January is, for example, 100%, the value of the additional new charge will be ₦10, bringing the total payable for the month of January to ₦110, plus any applicable taxes.
What will be the operating charge rate?
The rate of this charge may be adjusted as needed, based on Nigerian market conditions. The up-to-date rate of operating charges for subsequent months will be available below and will be updated monthly.
01/2024: 50%
02/2024: 1%
03/2024: 1%
04/2024: 1%
05/2024: 1%
06/2024: 1%
07/2024: Rate of “Operating charges” is determined every month. It will be updated here once available.
When will operating charges be billed?
Monthly Invoicing
If your Ads account uses Nigerian Naira and serves ads outside Nigeria, you will see a charge, called 'operating charges', added to your Google Ads costs once at the end of each month when your invoice is generated. The actual operating charges will appear on your commercial invoice and will also be available at the end of the month on the 'Transactions' page of your Google Ads account under the 'Operating charges' line item.
These charges will be added on top of your account budget if you’ve set one up. For example, if you have a budget of ₦100 and accrue ₦60 as operating charges, you’ll be billed ₦160 (plus any taxes, such as VAT, that may apply in your jurisdiction). Learn more about adjusting your account budget
Note that any taxes, such as VAT, that may apply in your jurisdiction will also apply to the new charge.
Additional information
It is possible for a campaign that targets a particular jurisdiction, such as Nigeria, to show ads to users outside Nigeria because your business might be in a location of interest for those users. Therefore, as the advertiser, it is your responsibility to ensure that your campaign target settings align accurately so your ads are shown within your intended jurisdictions. Google will not refund or credit operating charges that were levied due to legitimate clicks and impressions served in accordance with your campaign target settings.
To check which jurisdictions your ads are served in, create a custom report in the location and distance reports as follows:
- Create a predefined distance report.
- Remove all default rows.
- Add a 'Country/Territory (user location)' row.
- Search for costs outside Nigeria.
If you do not intend your NGN account to serve ads outside Nigeria, update your location options to target only 'Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations'.
See how to update your location options
If you are not domiciled in Nigeria and do not intend your Google Ads account to use NGN (Nigerian Naira) as your payment currency, migrate your campaigns to a new account with a currency other than Nigerian Naira (you cannot change the currency of an existing account).
See how to copy your campaigns to a new account
See how to add account budgets to your new accounts in bulk (for accounts with monthly invoicing)
