How localised keywords win each market

One market, one list#

Apple Ads serves search results campaigns across 91 markets, and each market searches in its own words: local slang, local spellings, local category names that no translation engine invents. Give every targeted locale its own keyword list inside its own campaign structure, budgeted and bid separately, so performance reads per market instead of blurring into a global average. Shared lists across locales guarantee shared misfires.

Prioritise markets by opportunity rather than enthusiasm: where the app is localised, where popularity scores show demand, where costs track. Our popularity guide reads the demand side of that choice. Favour one launch market done properly over three launched thinly; depth first, breadth later.

Translation traps#

Bulk translated lists fail in predictable ways: literal renderings nobody types, formal register where shoppers write slang, single English terms splitting into three local words with different intents, and connotations no dictionary flags. Machine output is a first draft for a native speaker, never a keyword list. Exact match even matches translations as close variants, which multiplies the blast radius of a bad translation across your controlled terms.

Brief local reviewers with the app's job and audience, not just the word list; context fixes translations that glossaries cannot. Our exact match guide details the variant behaviour at stake.

Local page support#

Each locale's keywords need product page content in that language backing them: titles, subtitles and screenshots that mirror the terms you bid. Relevancy is judged per market, so an English page supporting Spanish keywords reads as a mismatch and serves like one. Localise the page before scaling the list, and keep Search Match in mind, since automation reads page language first.

Apple own keyword best practices tie relevance to the materials Apple can read. Our relevancy guide explains the fit gate, and Search Match shows what automation does per locale.

Mining in every language#

Run discovery separately per locale: local broad terms plus local Search Match, mined by someone who reads the language. The queries that surface will include phrasing no headquarters researcher would predict, which is precisely the value. Promote local winners to local exact terms and negate locally; never copy negatives across languages, since junk in one tongue can be gold in another.

Budget discovery per market to its opportunity, not equally; small locales need smaller feeders. Our harvesting guide runs the loop, and broad match covers the feeder settings.

Review rhythm per locale#

Review search terms per market on the standard weekly rhythm, with local eyes on every session. Track popularity shifts per locale, since trends, seasons and launches move demand differently country to country, and recheck translated lists quarterly for drift as language and culture move on. A term that was perfect last year can be stale, slang-claimed or newly sensitive today.

Log per market decisions where the whole team can find them; localisation knowledge walks out of the door otherwise. Apple own keyword management help covers the list mechanics each locale reuses.

Scaling without chaos#

Scale locale by locale, not all at once: prove the method in one new market, template the workflow, then roll outward with local reviewers booked before launch. Cap the count of live locales to what review capacity supports, because an unreviewed locale is an unwatched budget. Each launch reuses the same spine: local list, local page, local discovery, local fence.

Start at the Apple Ads hub for the account wide view, and ask our team to plan the market rollout before translation bills land.

Frequently asked questions#