Changes To AdWords Geo-Targeting Coming Soon

If you’re accustomed to geo-targeting your AdWords campaign by drawing multi-point shapes around your targeted area, you’re out of luck after July 8, when Google is rolling out some changes to its geographical targeting capabilities. After that point, you’ll still be able to edit and delete existing shapes through 2011, but you won’t be able […]

Chat with SearchBot

If you’re accustomed to geo-targeting your AdWords campaign by drawing multi-point shapes around your targeted area, you’re out of luck after July 8, when Google is rolling out some changes to its geographical targeting capabilities. After that point, you’ll still be able to edit and delete existing shapes through 2011, but you won’t be able to create new ones.

Screen Shot 2011 06 23 At 6.49.54 AM

Existing polygon targets will be changed automatically to a map point with a radius after the end of the year.

Google will also be eliminating the ability to target certain regions — metro areas in Denmark and provinces in Finland, for example — because of changes in real-life geography, and also because of overlapping areas it’s identified. In some cases, this appears to be leaving advertisers with less precise targeting capabilities. For example, Google currently supports targeting of Montrose, California, a town near Los Angeles, but, now, advertisers seeking to target that area will need to choose Los Angeles. That said, local advertisers can still choose to target a radius around a certain map point. Advertisers targeting the eliminated regions will be migrated automatically to Google’s suggested alternatives after July 8.

Additionally, Google is eliminating a leftover alternative to Location Extensions. In some places, advertisers currently have the option to show an address for campaigns that target an area around a map point. After July 8, the “Allow address to show in my ad” option will be removed.

Google announced these changes back in late May, and they’re beginning to take effect two weeks from tomorrow. In February, Google rolled out more granular geo-targeting options for 17 countries.


About the author

Pamela Parker
Staff
Pamela Parker is Research Director at Third Door Media's Content Studio, where she produces MarTech Intelligence Reports and other in-depth content for digital marketers in conjunction with Search Engine Land and MarTech. Prior to taking on this role at TDM, she served as Content Manager, Senior Editor and Executive Features Editor. Parker is a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since its beginning. She's a former managing editor of ClickZ and has also worked on the business side helping independent publishers monetize their sites at Federated Media Publishing. Parker earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.