By Afef AyedThe short answer
Google Ads' default location option targets people in your locations and people who have shown interest in them, wherever they are. For local services, switch to 'Presence': people in or regularly in your locations. For travel, interest is often the market. Check the Locations report to see how much of your spend came from outside.
What the default does
Every campaign has a location option under its location settings. The default, 'Presence or interest', includes people in your targeted locations, people regularly there, and people who have shown interest in them by what they search or read.
The second option, 'Presence', keeps only people who are in or regularly in your locations. Google marks the default as recommended, but for most local businesses Presence is the better fit.
Who should use which
Plumber, dentist, restaurant
- Fits
- Presence
- Why
- Customers have to be nearby to buy.
Shop with delivery
- Fits
- Presence
- Why
- You deliver to where people are, not to where they read about.
Hotel, tours, venues
- Fits
- Presence or interest
- Why
- Travellers plan from home, far from you.
Relocation, property, schools
- Fits
- Often presence or interest
- Why
- People research a place before they move there.
How to check your account
Open Insights and reports, then When and where ads showed, then Matched locations, and sort by cost. Clicks from countries or regions you never serve are the leak.
Then read each campaign's location option in its settings. A campaign for a local service on 'Presence or interest' is the usual cause.
What Optizads does
The audit names every campaign on 'Presence or interest' with the share of its clicks from outside its locations. It asks rather than switching, because for some businesses interest is the right answer. Once you approve, Oppy can switch a campaign to 'Presence'.
