Location Targeting in Google Ads for Local Businesses

Location targeting decides where your Google Ads can appear. For a local business, it is one of the most important settings in the whole account. Get it wrong and you pay for clicks from people who could never become customers. Get it right and your budget goes further in the suburbs you actually serve.

This guide explains the main location options in Google Ads in plain terms. It covers the difference between presence and interest, radius targeting and excluding areas. It also looks at the reports that show where your ads really appeared. The settings sit at campaign level, so each campaign needs its own check.

The types of locations you can target

Google Ads lets you target whole countries or areas within a country. Depending on the country, those areas can be regions, cities or postcodes. You can also target a radius around an address. Location groups are another option and can be built around your business locations or places of interest.

For most local businesses, the choice comes down to a list of suburbs or a radius. A list suits a business with clear service boundaries, such as a cleaner who covers set suburbs. A radius suits a shop or clinic that people travel to. Some businesses use both across different campaigns.

Presence compared with presence or interest

This is the setting many advertisers miss. Google’s page on advanced location options describes two main choices. Presence or interest is the default and recommended option. It reaches people likely to be in or regularly in your area, plus people who have shown interest in it.

The presence option is narrower. It shows ads to people likely to be located, or regularly located, in your target area. Google says interest can be signalled by search terms, recent visits and related content a person has viewed. Presence is worked out from things such as a person’s settings, devices and behaviour.

Which one suits you depends on your business. A tourism operator may want people planning a trip from interstate, so interest helps. A plumber who can only reach local homes may prefer presence. Google notes that most campaigns see fewer impressions when they move away from the default, so expect some drop in reach.

It also helps to know that location targeting is not perfect. Google describes it as a best effort and says complete accuracy is not guaranteed. A small share of clicks may still come from outside your area. Watching your reports is the best way to see how much this happens.

Using radius targeting well

Radius targeting draws a circle around an address. Google requires the radius to be at least one kilometre. Very small circles may show ads only now and then, or not at all. A slightly wider radius is usually more practical than a tiny one.

Think about how far customers will realistically travel or how far you will drive. A café and a furniture store draw from very different distances. Traffic, rivers and highways can also make a neat circle a poor match for real travel times. In those cases a list of suburbs may describe your area better.

The rest of your marketing should match the area you target. Pages that speak to local customers make your ads work harder. Our guide on content for a local audience has ideas for this. Ads and pages that talk about the same suburbs feel more relevant to the people who see them.

Excluding locations you do not serve

Exclusions stop ads showing to people in areas you choose. By default, Google excludes people likely to be located in the excluded areas. People elsewhere who are interested in those areas may still see your ads. This is worth knowing if you exclude a suburb and still notice clicks linked to it.

Exclusions are handy when most of a region suits you but a few pockets do not. Google suggests that if you target most of a country, it can be simpler to target the whole country and exclude the rest. The same thinking works at a smaller scale. Target the wider area, then remove the places you cannot reach.

Reading your location reports

Once a campaign has run for a while, the Locations report shows performance by place. Google’s page on measuring geographic performance describes two views. The targeted locations view groups results by the places you chose. The matched locations view shows where your ads actually appeared, based on physical location or areas of interest.

Compare the two views every month or so. You may find one suburb brings most of your enquiries while another costs money with little return. That is a sign to adjust your targeting or your bids. If you have location assets, a distance report also groups results by how far people were from your nearest business location.

Google notes that figures below country level may not add up to campaign totals. Some impressions can only be matched at country level. Treat the reports as a strong guide rather than an exact count. The overall trend is what matters most.

When your service area changes

Your targeting should change when your business does. Opening a second site or moving premises are obvious triggers. If you are weighing up whether relocation is right for your business, include your advertising area in that thinking. Update the campaign settings on the day the change takes effect.

Your landing pages should be updated at the same time. An ad that names a new suburb should lead to a page that mentions it. Clear contact details and a simple layout help, as covered in our key things to consider in web design. Paid ads can also sit alongside a social media marketing strategy that reaches the same local audience.

Frequently asked questions

What is the default location setting in Google Ads?

The default is presence or interest. It reaches people in or regularly in your area and people showing interest in it. Google recommends it for most campaigns.

What is the smallest radius I can target?

Google requires a radius of at least one kilometre. Very small radius targets may show ads only sometimes or not at all. A list of suburbs can be a better choice for tight areas.

Why do I see clicks from outside my target area?

Location targeting is a best effort and Google says it is not completely accurate. With presence or interest, people elsewhere who show interest in your area can also see ads. Your matched locations report shows where clicks came from.

Can I target different areas in different campaigns?

Yes, location targeting is set for each campaign. This lets you run separate campaigns for separate suburbs or regions. It also lets you set budgets that match the value of each area.