Location Data in AdWords?
April 2nd, 2008 by Mike W. Read more about Google AdWordsI just noticed this (The “Los Angeles” line). Anybody seen it before?
I’d be curious to know what the story is behind it and what sort of conversion implications it has.
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Mike is an internet marketer at MindValley responsible for running marketing tests, designing product launches, and leading an eCommerce project.
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Interresting observation you did there
Regards from one of your rss feed readers
Mike,
Simply check your AdWords campaign settings and choose a location…up to 100 of them…city, state, region, even customize the geography you want to target. You can find this option in the lower right hand side of the AdWords Campaign Settings page in each campaign with a tiny ‘edit’ link nearby.
This feature has been around for quite some time now. It works by IP address or search query — for example, I’m in Idaho but if I search for “charleston, sc mortgage” I will see ads with ‘south carolina’ or ‘5555 Harbor Way, Charleston, SC’ or ‘Charleston, SC’. And if you’re in Charleston, you simply have to query “mortgage” to get similar results because your IP is probably in the same location you are.
CTR typically increases when you use location targeting — but it is only displayed when your ad is in the right margin…not at the top. As in all things advertising on the web, CTR/conversion rates/etc will vary based on the industry, competitiveness, etc…
Feel free to email with any other questions — james at semvironment dot com.
I love your blog — keep up the great work!
To your continued success,
James
This is due to geotargeting in AdWords. When you select run your ads only in certain loacations Google ads that locale as the last line in your ad to indicate you are a local provider.
You can see some of my presentation on local search from the Virtual Investing Seminar in New Orleans last year…
http://www.socialcasterblog.com/2008/02/my-local-search.html
This is interesting because I was very, very far from LA (about a 16 hour plane ride).
As mentioned above, this is GeoTargetting.
I’ve experienced a nice increase in CTR when I tested it on a small campaign.
The problem with it in Ireland, is that the network data is very unreliable as connections are routed through larger towns/cities, which may have a negative impact.
Mike,
It was probably IP related then…next time that happens, check your IP and I’m 99% sure it will be in the vicinity of the location showing up in the ad.
I’m in Idaho…but for whatever reason, Qwest has given me an IP from Denver, Boise, and Washington, D.C. at one point.
–James
It’s Google’s Geotargeting, but its hit or miss depending 1)on if you target clientele is geographically specific, and 2) how accurate the IP tracking is at determining where the user really is (i.e. shows all AOL users being in Virginia, where the servers are located).