For Google Ads location targeting, we recommend Presence for a local business. Presence reaches people in your area, or people who are there regularly. So the ad spend stays on people who can actually visit or be served. Google’s default is a different option, Presence or interest. That one also reaches people elsewhere who have shown interest in your area, and Google calls it recommended. So choosing Presence is a deliberate switch.
The location option decides who is eligible to see a paid ad. So it decides whether your ad spend reaches people who can visit or be served. Google says to expect a decrease in impressions when you switch away from the default. That’s the trade. You give up reach to gain focus. That recommendation is ours, not Google’s.
Google Ads Location Targeting Starts on the Default Option
Google says that by default, location targeting includes both physical locations and locations of interest. The default has a name: Presence or interest. Google calls it the default and recommended option. It reaches people who are likely to be in or regularly present in the location you target. It also reaches people who have shown interest in that location. The second option is Presence. Google says Presence shows your ads to people who are likely to be located, or regularly located, in the locations you’ve targeted.
Every point in this article about how those two options behave comes from two Google Ads Help pages. One is Google’s page on advanced location options. The other is the refine-location page linked further down. The recommendation to choose Presence is Spilt Media’s own view, and it’s labelled that way wherever it appears.
Google says people can show interest in a location in a few ways. Their search terms can signal it. So can a location they were in not long ago. So can content they view that relates to the location, such as pages or sites. Picture a bakery that targets its own town. Under the default, the ad can reach a person who lives in that town. It can also reach a person who is elsewhere but has shown interest in bakeries there. With Presence, the ad is aimed at people who are likely to be in the town, or there regularly.
Why Should a Local Business Choose Presence?
We recommend Presence for a local business because of who the business can serve. A local business serves people in its area, or is visited by them. Choosing Presence keeps the ad spend on those people. It keeps the spend on people who can visit or be served.
Google calls the default recommended. It also calls broad geo targeting a best practice on Search. So this is where we part from Google’s default for a local business. Google itself names two cases where targeting for Presence makes sense. One is a business in a sensitive vertical with strict targeting limitations. The other is a business that only wants to reach users in specific locations, not users who may be elsewhere but are still interested in its product or service. In our reading, that case describes the local business this article is about. A person elsewhere who has only shown interest in your town may not be able to visit or be served. Spend aimed at that person may be spend the business can’t use.
There’s an honest exception, and it’s a judgment call for the owner. If a share of your customers are elsewhere and planning a visit to your area, the default may fit your campaign better. That’s worth raising with whoever manages the account.
What Does Choosing Presence Cost?
The cost is reach. Google says to expect a decrease in impressions when you switch away from the default. It suggests changing the option only if you want to refine your campaign’s traffic. That’s the trade. You accept fewer impressions in exchange for focus on people in your area, or regularly in it.
In plain words, fewer people qualify to see your ad. Some of the people who drop out of that pool might have become customers. The setting can’t tell you which ones, and it won’t report them. Your spend concentrates on a smaller group. That’s the point of the switch, as long as that group holds your customers.
Google also says location targeting runs on a variety of signals. Google calls it a best effort to serve ads to people who meet your location settings. Google says it can’t promise perfect accuracy in every situation. So Presence narrows who qualifies. It doesn’t seal the border. A click from outside your area can still happen, and by itself that isn’t proof the setting is broken.
How Do You Check Where Your Ad Is Reaching?
You check it in the geographic performance data. Look at it after you set the option, and before you change it again. Google says that data can confirm your ads are appearing in certain locations. Google says it can also compare how your ads perform in different locations. Ask whoever manages the account to pull it.
Google’s page on refining location targeting says understanding your performance by location can help you put more effort and spend into the regions where the business does best. So look at the data before you touch the option again. The option is a decision about who qualifies. The data is what tells you how that decision played out.
Google points to two signs. One is a region that keeps sending clicks with a low conversion rate. The other is clicks from regions where you don’t want your ads to show. Google says to consider excluding those regions from your targeting. A fair reading is that the two tools do different jobs. An exclusion trims the places you name. The location option changes who qualifies everywhere you target. You can use one, the other, or both.
Change One Thing and Compare the Results
Google says you should check your overall performance metrics. The point is to make sure your settings are meeting your advertising goals, and to change them as needed. A fair reading of that is to move one setting at a time. Note the date you changed it. Then any shift in impressions or leads can be tied to something you did. Change four things at once, and you’ve lost the ability to say which one moved the number.
If you want the broader list, we have a post on settings to check on a small Google Ads budget. It covers campaign settings for a tight ad spend. This article covers one decision inside that list: who is eligible to see the ad.
And if you’re still deciding whether to advertise at all, that’s a different question. Our post on whether Google Ads works for a local business covers it.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Location Setting
Is Presence or interest the default in Google Ads?
Yes. Google says that by default, location targeting includes both physical locations and locations of interest. It calls Presence or interest the default and recommended option. Spilt Media recommends Presence for a local business instead, and that’s our recommendation rather than Google’s. So moving to Presence takes a deliberate change to the campaign.
What is the difference between Presence and Presence or interest?
Presence reaches people who are likely to be located, or regularly located, in the locations you’ve targeted. Presence or interest reaches those people and adds people who have shown interest in those locations. Google says it can pick up that interest from the terms people use in their searches. It can also come from places they’ve been, or from content they view related to the location.
Can I make sure only local people see my ads?
No setting can promise that. Google says location targeting runs on a variety of signals and is its best effort. Google also says it can’t promise perfect accuracy in every situation. Presence aims your ads at people who are likely to be in your area, or there regularly. Excluding regions that bring clicks you don’t want can trim some of the rest.
Can I exclude places where I don’t want my ads to show?
Yes. Google suggests excluding regions from your targeting in two cases. One is a region that keeps bringing clicks with a low conversion rate. The other is clicks from regions where you don’t want your ads to show. Check your geographic performance data before you decide which regions those are. The exclusion and the location option do different jobs.
Get a Second Look at Your Google Ads Location Targeting
Spilt Media’s Google Ads management page describes geo-targeting that points an advertiser’s budget at the cities that generate revenue.
The location option decides who can see your ad before any keyword or bid matters. That makes it worth a second look before more money goes into the campaign.
If you’re unsure whether your Google Ads location targeting is set the way you want, you can book a consultation with Spilt Media and talk it through.
