Location targeting in Google Ads determines which users see your ads based on geographic signals. Misconfiguration is common and expensive: Google's default targeting setting causes many advertisers to show ads to people who are not physically in their target area, and geographic bid adjustments frequently go unoptimized for months.
Presence vs. presence or interest — the default that hurts local advertisers. Google's default is 'Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who've shown interest in your targeted locations.' This means your ad can show to someone in Berlin who searched for 'plumber in Amsterdam' — they showed interest in your location but are not there. For local service businesses, switch to 'Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations.' This is the single most impactful location targeting fix for local and regional advertisers.
Location exclusions are as important as inclusions. If you target the Netherlands but Amsterdam accounts for high spend and low conversion rate, excluding Amsterdam or applying a negative bid adjustment removes that drag. Check the geographic report (Campaigns → Insights → Where ads showed) regularly to identify underperforming locations.
Geographic bid adjustments. You can bid more or less for specific locations. An e-commerce business that converts better in specific regions can apply positive bid adjustments (+20%, +30%) to high-performing areas and negative adjustments to low-performing ones. Smart Bidding strategies with Target CPA or Target ROAS theoretically account for location signals automatically — but manual bid adjustments layer on top and can still move performance when geographic conversion rate differences are systematic.
Radius targeting. For businesses with a specific service radius — restaurants, service businesses, local retailers — radius targeting around an address is often more precise than city or region targeting. Concentric circles (inner 2km, 2–5km, 5–10km) with different bid adjustments let you maximize budget efficiency based on how customer proximity affects conversion probability.
The geographic report and performance segmentation. The geographic report shows performance by country, region, city, metro area, and postal code. Sorting by CPA or ROAS at the city level reveals geographic performance differences invisible in campaign-level data. A campaign with a 35 CPA average may have specific cities converting at 20 CPA and others at 70 CPA.
Targeting international audiences and the language mismatch problem. If you target multiple countries with the same campaign, ensure ad copy and landing page language match the target country. A Dutch-language ad targeting both the Netherlands and Belgium will underperform in French-speaking Belgian regions. Separate campaigns for different language markets typically outperform a single campaign serving multiple linguistic audiences.
Zip code targeting for hyperlocal precision. For businesses where hyperlocal targeting matters — high-cost service areas, premium retail, account-based marketing — zip code level targeting allows precise geographic control. Use it for your highest-value markets where geographic precision drives meaningful CPA differences.
Dynamic search ads and location targeting. DSA campaigns that serve based on website content are particularly vulnerable to location targeting errors because DSA expands query coverage broadly. Apply Presence targeting to DSA campaigns as a baseline configuration.
Digital Face monitors your Google Ads geographic performance distribution, flags locations with significantly above-average CPA or below-average conversion rates, and identifies campaigns where targeting settings may be mismatched with your business's service geography. Free plan at digital-face.nl, no credit card required.