Waze Ads Are Now Available in Spain

It feels like there’s nowhere left to hide! Streaming services that were once ad-free now have ad-supported tiers. Your favourite podcast has an interruption in the middle of it. And now Waze, the navigation app, will be introducing ads on the map too.

However, the Waze ads aren’t entirely new. They were initially rolled out in the US in July 2025 and were integrated into Google’s Performance Max campaigns by November 2025. What is new is that Google has now expanded the ads into 42 countries, including Spain.

So, while you might roll your eyes at yet another ad placement entering your daily life, if you run a business, it might be of interest to you.

How it works within Performance Max

Waze Ads are available through Performance Max campaigns set up for store goals – specifically those bidding on Store Visits, Store Sales or Local Actions Directions. If you’re already running a Performance Max campaign with store goals, Waze is now a potential additional channel within that campaign, rather than something you need to set up separately.

For those unfamiliar with Waze and Google Ads, the ads will appear directly on the map as people navigate. It’s a placement that Google can serve your ads across as part of a broader Performance Max campaign, rather than a channel you switch on independently.

Waze Ads on the Costa del Sol

Waze has continued to grow in popularity over the years in Spain, racking up an estimated 125,000 monthly users. In an area like the Costa del Sol where footfall-driven businesses such as restaurants, retailers, clinics, real estate agents, leisure venues – rely heavily on people discovering them while out and about, it feels like a natural fit.

Who is it best for?

Waze Ads won’t work for every business. They’re built around physical location and proximity, so if your business is online or doesn’t rely on walk-ins, it’s probably not worth a second thought. But for local businesses with a shopfront, a clinic, a restaurant, or the type of premises that people visit in person, it’s certainly worth exploring as part of a wider Google Ads’ strategy.

As with any new channel within Performance Max, the results will depend on how well your campaign is structured overall, i.e. your bidding strategy, your creative assets and how your goals are defined.

At Peppermint, we manage Google Ads for businesses across the Costa del Sol and internationally. If you’d like to know more about whether Google Ads would be a good fit for you or want to find out more about how it could help your business overall, get in touch with our team.