PPC · Targeting
One default setting in Google Ads can send your budget to people far outside your service area. Here is how to check and fix it.
Switch local campaigns to Presence
Target cities or ZIPs you serve
Check the locations report monthly
Tell us what you need and we’ll get back to you. Or book a free 30-minute call. Or call 954-539-5678.
Google Ads location targeting decides where your ads can appear. For most local service businesses, the most important fix is the advanced location option. The default, called Presence or Interest, shows ads to people in your area and to people elsewhere who have shown interest in it. Change it to Presence so only people who are in, or regularly in, your targeted locations see your ads. Then target the cities, ZIP codes or radius you really serve, exclude places you do not, and review the locations report every month.
This takes about ten minutes and often stops a steady leak of clicks from people who could never become customers.
Google’s help center calls this the “default and recommended” option. It reaches people who are likely to be in or regularly in your locations, plus people who have shown interest in them, for example someone in another state searching for services in your city.
Reaches only people who are likely to be located, or regularly located, in your targeted locations. Google suggests it when you want to exclude people elsewhere who are interested in your offering. Hotel campaigns use only this option.
Presence or Interest makes sense for travel, hotels, relocation, wedding venues and any business whose customers plan from far away. For a plumber, dental office, law firm or HVAC company that can only serve people nearby, it is usually money spent on clicks that cannot convert.
Advanced location options apply to Search, Display and Demand Gen campaigns. Other campaign types, such as Performance Max, handle location settings differently, so check each campaign on its own.
A practical rule: draw the area where you would happily send a technician today, then target that shape with cities or ZIPs. Avoid targeting your whole state because a few customers once came from far away.
Google is also clear that location targeting is “Google’s best effort” and not 100% accurate, because it relies on signals such as device settings and behavior. That is why the review step below matters.
Book a free 30-minute call. We review your Google Ads settings, locations and search terms with you and tell you what we would change first. No obligation. Pick a time.
Also check your search terms. Queries that name a city you do not serve, such as “roofer Orlando” on a Tampa campaign, are a sign to add that city as a negative keyword as well as a location exclusion.
If you search for your own ads from outside your target area, you will not see them, and clicking your own ads costs you money. Google recommends the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool instead, which lets you preview how your ads appear for a chosen location.
Google advises keeping language and location targeting consistent, with ads written in the language you target. If you target Spanish speakers in Miami, for example, write those ads in Spanish. If you serve a bilingual market, run separate campaigns or ad groups per language rather than mixing them, so the ads, landing pages and keywords all line up.
Our Google Ads management covers these settings: location options, radius and city targets, exclusions, search terms and conversion tracking. Campaigns are adjusted weekly. If you are deciding whether paid search or organic search fits your goals better, read SEO vs PPC. Local trades can also get more from search with local SEO for contractors.
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Pick a time. We look at what you have now with you and tell you what we would change first. No obligation.
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Presence shows ads only to people likely to be in or regularly in your targeted locations. Presence or Interest, the default, also reaches people elsewhere who have shown interest in those locations.
Google’s minimum radius is 1 km. Very small radii can cause ads to show intermittently or not at all because of privacy thresholds.
Usually because the campaign uses Presence or Interest, the target area is too broad, or Google’s location signals are imperfect. Switch to Presence, tighten the area, and add exclusions based on the locations report.
Yes. You can target and exclude US ZIP codes, cities, counties and a radius around an address, and add many locations at once with bulk targeting.
