Google Ads in Kenya
If you run a WooCommerce store in Kenya and use Kenyan Shillings (KES) as your store currency, there is an important detail to consider before connecting your website to Google Merchant Center and Google Ads.
I have encountered the same issue several times when setting up WooCommerce websites, and it is easy to miss because everything appears to work normally until you reach the Google Ads billing stage.
The result can be an error such as:
Something went wrong
The selected currency and country of Kenya/KES are incompatible.
[OR_PSDL_01]
Here is what you need to know.
There are two ways to connect Google to WooCommerce
When you install and activate Google for WooCommerce, you can connect your Google account and set up Google Merchant Center and Google Ads from within WooCommerce.
WooCommerce’s current documentation confirms that the extension can either create accounts for new users or detect and connect existing Google Ads and Merchant Center accounts.
This gives you two possible approaches.
Option 1: Create the accounts through WooCommerce
You install Google for WooCommerce, connect your Google account and follow the setup process.
The extension can then help you create the required Google accounts.
This is convenient, but there is a potential problem for Kenyan stores.
If your WooCommerce store is configured in KES, you can end up with a Google Ads account configured around Kenya and KES. The problem may only become apparent when you try to complete the Ads billing setup.
Option 2: Create the accounts first
The alternative is to create your Google accounts independently before connecting them to WooCommerce.
The process is:
- Create your Google Merchant Center account.
- Create your Google Ads account.
- Complete the Google Ads billing setup.
- Return to WooCommerce.
- Activate Google for WooCommerce.
- Connect your Google account.
- Select the existing Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts.
This approach gives you an opportunity to verify that your Google Ads billing configuration works before connecting it to your website.
For Kenyan WooCommerce setups, this is the approach I now prefer.
Is KES supported by Google Merchant Center?
Yes.
This is an important distinction.
Google’s current Merchant Center documentation lists Kenya with Kenyan Shilling (KES) as a supported currency for product data.
Therefore, your WooCommerce store does not need to be changed from KES simply because you want to use Google Merchant Center.
The problem discussed here concerns the Google Ads billing configuration, not the ability to use KES for your WooCommerce products or Merchant Center listings.
Where the problem appears
The issue becomes particularly frustrating when you reach Google Ads billing and receive:
The selected currency and country of Kenya/KES are incompatible. [OR_PSDL_01]
At this point, you may find that you cannot complete the payment setup for the newly created Ads account.
This is why creating the Ads account separately can be useful.
Rather than discovering a billing incompatibility after the account has already been created through your WooCommerce onboarding process, you can establish the Ads account and billing configuration first.
Why creating a new Ads account may be necessary
Google Ads does not allow you to simply change an account’s currency after the account has been created.
This makes the initial configuration important.
If an Ads account has been created with a currency that cannot be used with the billing configuration you need, creating another payment profile does not simply convert the Ads account to another currency.
In practice, you may need to create a new Google Ads account with a supported currency and billing configuration.
That is exactly the situation I have encountered more than once.
The setup I recommend for Kenyan WooCommerce stores
For a WooCommerce website operating in Kenya, I recommend separating the store currency from the Google Ads account setup.
WooCommerce
Keep the store currency as:
KES — Kenyan Shilling
Google Merchant Center
Create or configure your Merchant Center account for the appropriate market.
Kenya supports KES in Merchant Center.
Google Ads
Create the Ads account separately and complete its billing setup before connecting it to WooCommerce.
The important point is not to assume that because your WooCommerce store uses KES, your Google Ads billing account should automatically be configured the same way.
The available billing currency and payment options depend on the Google Ads billing setup available for the account.
Google for WooCommerce
Once the accounts are ready, return to:
WordPress → Marketing → Google for WooCommerce
Connect your Google account and select the existing Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts.
WooCommerce specifically documents that existing accounts can be detected and connected during setup.
The safer workflow
The complete workflow I recommend is:
WooCommerce store
KES currency
↓
Google Merchant Center
Create/configure separately
↓
Google Ads
Create separately
Complete billing setup
↓
Google for WooCommerce
Connect your Google account
Select the existing Merchant Center
Select the existing Google Ads account
This adds an extra step, but it can prevent you from discovering a Google Ads billing problem after the account has already been created through WooCommerce.
What if you already have the OR_PSDL_01 error?
If you have already created the Ads account and are seeing:
OR_PSDL_01 — The selected currency and country of Kenya/KES are incompatible
do not assume that changing your WooCommerce store currency or creating another Google payments profile will fix the Ads account.
The Ads account’s currency is tied to the account itself.
If the existing account cannot be configured for the billing arrangement you need, creating a new Ads account with an appropriate supported billing configuration may be the practical solution.
One important distinction
It is worth keeping these three things separate:
WooCommerce currency
The currency in which your store prices products.
Merchant Center currency
The currency used for your product data and listings.
Google Ads billing currency
The currency associated with the Ads account and its billing setup.
They do not necessarily have to be treated as one single setting.
For example, a Kenyan WooCommerce store can continue selling products in KES, while the Google Ads account may need to use a different supported billing currency depending on the available payment configuration.
Final takeaway
If you are setting up Google Merchant Center and Google Ads for a Kenyan WooCommerce store, don’t automatically assume that creating everything through Google for WooCommerce is the safest route.
The easier approach is to create the Google accounts separately, establish the Google Ads billing configuration first, and then connect those existing accounts to WooCommerce.
That is especially worth considering if your store uses KES.
If you encounter:
The selected currency and country of Kenya/KES are incompatible. [OR_PSDL_01]
you may be dealing with a Google Ads account whose currency configuration cannot be corrected simply through the billing settings.
Set up the Ads account correctly first. Then connect it to WooCommerce.
That small change in the order of setup can save a lot of unnecessary troubleshooting later.
