Accurate geographical targeting is critical to the success of any Google Ads campaign. Putting your ad in front of the eyes of people who are actively searching for your offering is the key, but for those users, being in the correct location is also important.
Google’s Geographic Targeting Settings
Google currently has two geographic targeting settings (one of which is listed as recommended):
Presence or Interest vs. Presence
It has been observed that when the Presence or Interest setting is active, a decent amount of traffic comes from outside the targeted areas.
In the case of home services, I could see a searcher who has a vacation home in the Miami area but lives in New York. If that person needed a plumber for their vacation home while in New York at the time, the “interest in your included locations” aspect of Presence or Interest would allow the ad to show on a search for “plumber Miami.” If you only had the Presence setting, your ad would not appear, and you could miss out on an opportunity to gain a new customer.
The question also becomes: What qualifies as “interest” in a location? Take a company that sells high-end kitchen appliances to buyers all over the U.S., but they get a decent amount of traffic from outside the U.S. while the Presence or Interest setting is active; what is causing this?
If someone in Germany searches for waffle makers, how does the searcher indicate to Google that they are interested in buying a U.S. waffle maker? Maybe they showed interest in the U.S. by searching for future travel plans, but now they have changed their focus to buying a new waffle maker… locally in Germany.
Choosing the Presence setting has been something we have tried with some success, but it tends to work as intended more often when the advertiser is targeting a whole country versus a metro area or a small radius. With a smaller area, a noticeable drop in impression traffic has been seen after changing the setting to Presence.
Using Negative Locations to Improve Targeting
To combat this, we add negative locations for countries – and states – where we don’t want to serve.
This is how our map looks for a client who targets the entire U.S. but nothing outside of the U.S.:
For a short period of time, Google limited the number of negative locations you could have in a campaign, but that is no longer the case. And these location exclusions are doing their job, as the 30-day report confirms:
Limitations on Exclusions
Unfortunately, Google won’t allow you to exclude – or target – certain countries like Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, but for some reason, your ads can still serve there:
Recommendations for Accurate Geographical Targeting
Getting geographical targeting accurate is not as easy as it could be. I would recommend testing the Presence and Interest setting with a large set of excluded locations before switching the targeting setting to Presence only.
In conclusion, achieving accurate geographical targeting in Google Ads requires a strategic approach and continuous testing. While the Presence or Interest setting can provide broader reach, it often brings in unintended traffic from outside the desired regions. Utilizing negative location targeting can effectively refine your audience and ensure your ads are seen by the right users. By balancing these targeting options and monitoring performance closely, you can optimize your campaigns to achieve better results and ultimately drive more qualified leads and sales.
