Real estate marketing on Google · Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf
Google Ads for Real Estatein Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf
Property combines the highest cost per click with the longest decision, in every market we work in. An account that measures the form alone looks profitable while sales stay empty — so we measure to the viewing.
Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province · New Cairo, the New Capital and the North Coast · Dubai and Abu Dhabi · Developers, marketers and brokers · The expat buyer
Office in New Cairo · property clients in Saudi Arabia and Egypt · billed in your market's currency
The sector
Google Ads for real estate: the viewing is the measure in every market
Google Ads for real estate runs in the auction’s most expensive sector with its longest decision. People search “apartments for sale north Riyadh”, “apartments in New Cairo” or “off plan Dubai Marina”, then compare for weeks before a viewing. An account that measures the form alone looks profitable while the sales team calls people who won’t buy.
So a property account in any market rests on three things: keywords by district, project and financing intent; a form that qualifies before it sends; and measurement that reaches the viewing and the contract. And the build differs between a developer selling its project, a marketer selling several, and a broker competing for units others also sell.
A developer’s account follows the project cycle, not the calendar: pre-launch is not launch week, which is not post-handover — and someone typing your project’s name is closer to buying than someone typing “apartments for sale”. So there is a campaign on the project name and its payment plan, YouTube for a project tour, and remarketing to visitors who didn’t book.
Each market has its regulation: Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate General Authority requires a licence to advertise property, and Dubai’s Land Department requires its permit. We ask for the licence details before launch, and don’t launch a property campaign without them.
Google Ads
The viewingis the measure, not the form
Click, then enquiry, then viewing, then contract — measurement runs to what closes, so the budget moves to the ad that brought a buyer.
TEMERALDS · Google Partner since 2017
Measurement
The full film
Luxury villas: fewer enquiries, more qualified buyers
How a villa campaign is built to keep the curious out: buyer-intent search, budget and timing filters on the form, and a CRM that feeds qualified leads back to Google.
1:22
With sound
7 chapters
Figures and brand names in the film are illustrative; results differ from account to account.
01District before project“Apartments Al Narjis”, “Sheikh Zayed compound”, “Dubai Marina” — the district is typed first, and its auction is less crowded and closer to buying than “apartments for sale”.
02Financing“Instalments”, “down payment” and “mortgage” are buying words that change both the campaign and the page.
03The long cycleWeeks to months. Measurement that stops at the form makes the campaign look like it fails when it doesn’t.
04Lead qualityA hundred unqualified leads in one of the dearest auctions cost many times what twenty qualified ones do.
What we do — a property account
Keywords by district, project and financing intent, excluding “rent”, “real estate jobs” and “broker” when you sell freehold.
A form that asks budget, purpose and unit type, so the share of qualified leads rises.
Measurement that reaches the viewing and the contract, so budget moves toward what closes.
A campaign per market in its currency and language, and a page per city or district.
Geography
How Google Ads for real estate is split across markets
Each market has its own auction, keywords and regulation — open one to see its logic.
The first marketSaudi Arabia
North Riyadh leads search, Jeddah is a commercial market with different behaviour, and the Eastern Province is four connected cities. District differs from district: Al Narjis, Al Malqa, Obhur and Khobar are separate auctions.
District before projectEgypt
New Cairo, Sheikh Zayed, the New Capital and the North Coast: searches by compound, instalments and down payment — and the coast’s season starts in spring, before summer.
Bilingual, with a permitUAE
Dubai and Abu Dhabi: off-plan sales and the international buyer, an English campaign beside the Arabic one, and the Land Department permit before advertising.
The expat buyerThe Gulf and the world
Egyptians working in Riyadh, Dubai, Doha and Kuwait search for their unit in Egypt — a separate campaign targets them where they work, with keywords naming the area they’re buying in.
The buyer
Four buyers, four campaigns
01
First home
Searches by financing, instalments and down payment. The page shows the instalment, not the full price.
02
The investor
Searches by yield and location: “land for investment”, “buildings for sale”, “apartments with rental yield”. A longer cycle and a heavier viewing.
03
Off-plan
A project not yet built: trust in the developer, the timeline and the payment plan matter more than the images.
04
The expat buyer
Searches from the country they work in for a unit at home, with higher buying power — and rentals are separated or excluded so they don’t mix with buyers.
Google Ads
The buyermay be in Riyadh
Egyptians in the Gulf search for their flat in Egypt from Riyadh, Dubai, Doha and Kuwait — a separate campaign targets them there, with keywords naming the area they’re buying in.
TEMERALDS · Google Partner since 2017
The expat buyer
The difference
Number of leads, or number of viewings?
In property especially, this difference separates an account that sells from one that produces reports.
The common way
An account that measures forms
Broad keywords in one of the dearest auctions, bringing browsers, not buyers.
Targeting the whole country for a project in one district.
A two-field form that lets every enquiry in, so sales chase people who won’t buy.
Measurement that stops at submission, so nobody knows which ad brought a viewing.
What we do
An account that measures viewings
Keywords by district, project and financing intent, excluding “rent”, “real estate jobs” and “broker” when you sell freehold.
A form that asks budget, purpose and unit type, so the share of qualified leads rises.
Measurement that reaches the viewing and the contract, so budget moves toward what closes.
A campaign per market in its currency and language, and a page per city or district.
On the first call we ask: how many viewings can your team run a week, and in which market? That number shapes the campaign, not the other way round.
The seller
Who advertises property on Google: developer, marketer and broker
01
The property developer
Sells its own project: a campaign per phase — pre-launch, launch, off-plan and handover — and a campaign on the project name to protect it from competitors.
02
The property marketer
Sells several projects for others: a campaign per project, and budget that moves toward what sells.
03
The office and broker
Competes for units others also sell: wins on district and speed of follow-up, not on the unit.
Tamleek Al Manzel in Jeddah — and our clients in Egypt
Tamleek Al Manzel Real Estate, Jeddah: three campaigns working together — Performance Max, Search on a CPA target and Search on a ROAS target — over 64 days, measured by qualified lead, not submitted form. Read directly from the Google Ads interface, published with the client’s consent.
And in Egypt: Emeralds Edition and Luxury Homes Egypt in luxury property, where searchers compare at length, search in Arabic and English together, and the buyer may be in Egypt or the Gulf.
No. Whoever guarantees a number guarantees clicks, not buyers. We commit to the method: tracking that works, weekly negatives, and measuring lead quality rather than count.
02Which markets do you run property ads in?
Saudi Arabia first, where most of our clients are, then Egypt, the UAE and the rest of the Gulf. Each market has its own campaign in its currency, language and regulation — not one campaign for the region.
03Do you target Egyptians in the Gulf?
Yes, with a separate campaign targeting Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, using keywords that name the area in Egypt. It is often among the most profitable property campaigns.
04Does property advertising need a licence?
In Saudi Arabia yes, from the Real Estate General Authority; in Dubai, from the Land Department. We ask for the licence details before launch and don’t launch without them.
05I have one project — is that enough?
Yes, and easier: a campaign focused on one project and area outperforms a scattered one, and the budget stays within what your team can follow up.
06I’m a property developer — how does my campaign differ?
It follows the project cycle: a campaign for pre-launch, another for launch week, a third for off-plan and later phases. Plus a campaign on the project name to protect it from competitors, and measurement that runs for weeks, because the booking doesn’t happen on the day of the click.
07Arabic or English campaigns?
Both, when your audience searches in both. Compounds, off-plan and the top segment are searched a lot in English; instalments and down payments in Arabic.
08How do you separate buyers from renters?
With keywords, negatives and form questions. Rentals are a separate campaign if you offer them, or excluded if you don’t.
09What budget do I need for property ads?
We work with budgets from SAR 30,000 a month or the equivalent, and property often needs more — depending on the market, city and number of projects.
10How much are the fees?
From SAR 7,500 a month or the equivalent in your currency — a fixed amount, not a percentage of spend — rising with the number of projects and markets. Media spend is separate and billed by Google to your card directly.
11Will you access my current account?
No — not before the contract, not after. We build campaigns on our own ad accounts and show you the account screen on Google Meet whenever you ask.
