How to Specify Geo-Targets for a Google Ad Group

You can change a Google ad group's geo-targeting if you want to run ads in new geographic areas.

What you should know:

• Geo-targets determine the geo-modifiers for a Google ad group. Since geo-modifiers are used to build keywords, when you delete a geo-target (and its corresponding geo-modifiers along with it), keywords may also be deleted. Similarly, when you change from local targeting to national targeting, the old geo-modifiers get deleted, resulting in the deletion of corresponding keywords.

• By default, Geneva automatically creates and manages Google ad groups based on the corresponding Geneva editorial group settings. You therefore must only perform this procedure if you do not want to use the default Google ad groups created with your editorial groups.

• Depending on your reseller account, WebVisible might perform this procedure for the campaigns created by your organization.

• Any time you make changes to information in Geneva you should add a note and describe what the change is.

Before you begin:

• You must have a valid Geneva user account with permission to edit Google ad groups.

• You must disable the automanage feature for the Google ad group by clearing the Automanage check box.

Procedure:

1. Access the Google ad group with the geo-targets that you want to edit:

   1. Search for the campaign containing the associated Google ad group, and then click the campaign ID link for that campaign in the search results list. The Campaign Maintenance page opens, with the Campaign tab active.

   2. Click the Google Ad Grps tab.

   3. Click the Edit link next to the ad group’s title. The page refreshes with a form to edit the ad group.

2. Locate Geo Target Settings in section 2. There are two levels of settings to specify geo-targets:

   • The geo-target type is the type of geographic area on which to base the ads in the editorial group (for example, by country or by state). You apply one of these to your editorial group.

   • Under the geo-target type that you select is a group of geo-targets that you can select to specify the actual geographic areas you want to target. The options available depend on the geo-target type that you select for your editorial group. You apply one or more geo-targets to your editorial group.

3. Click the Edit link next to the Geo Target Type title to select the type of geographic area on which to base your targeting. Alternatively, if you have already specified a geo-target type and only want to specify specific geo-targets, the Edit link next to the Geo Targets title is available. You can click that link and skip to step 6. The page refreshes with a list of possible geo-target types.

4. Select the geo-target type for the type of area you want to reach (for example, Country or State). Keep in mind that the wider the area, the more likely you are to have a greater volume of clicks. For example, if you select an entire country you are likely to have a greater volume of clicks than if you select one state. You should select an area based on the geographic range that the advertiser is prepared to support.

5. Click one of the following buttons:

   • Accept Geo Targets: This button is available only if you have defined service locations for the business. In this case, you will also see the list of service locations above the Accept Geo Targets button. Click this button if you want the system to automatically create the geo-targets based on the service locations list and the geo-target type you have selected. The page refreshes to the original form for the editorial group, listing the automatically generated geo-targets. You can skip the next step since the geo-target areas will automatically be specified.

   • Select Geo-Targets: Click this button if you do not have service locations defined or if you have them defined but do not want to use them as geo-targets. The page refreshes with a list of specific geographic areas that apply to the selected geo-target type. Continue to the next step.

6. If you clicked Select Geo Targets, select the geographic areas that you want to target, and then continue based on the geo-target type you are using. After you make your selection, the page refreshes to the original form for the ad group.

   • If you are targeting by country, select the country (or multiple countries, if more than one) that you want to target and then click Add. Once all of the countries you want to target are listed in the box to the right, click OK.

   • If you are targeting by state, first select the country (or multiple countries, if more than one) where the states are located and then click Add. Once all of the applicable countries are listed in the box to the right, click Next. The page refreshes with specific selections for states in the selected countries. Select the state(s) you want to target and then click OK.

   • If you are targeting by Designated Market Area (DMA), select one or more DMAs that you want to target. If you want to target more than three DMAs, click the Add 3 more DMA fields link to access more DMA boxes. Once you have selected all of the DMAs you want to target, click OK.

   • If you are targeting by radius, specify the address, city, state, Zip code, and country for the region on which to focus. The more information you can provide, the better chances of matching a target area. In the Radius box, type the number of miles or kilometers from the specified location that you want to extend a radius, and then select Miles or Kilometers, depending on which unit of measure you want to use. Click Map this location to generate the area on a map. The resulting region is a circle with a size based on your specified radius and a center point based on your specified location. Click OK to accept the radius.

   • If you are targeting by city, type each city you want to include in the Cities box, one city per line, and then click OK. Note the following when entering cities:

   • • For US cities, enter just the valid city name with state name or abbreviation (for example, Boston, MA).

     • For Canadian, UK, or NL cities, enter the city name with state, province, or region name or abbreviation, followed by the country name or abbreviation (for example, Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

     • For cities in all other countries, enter the city name followed by two commas and then the country name or abbreviation (for example, Rome,,Italy).

   • The County option is inactive and cannot be used.

7. Click OK.

8. Click Save.