Google has rolled out a new Regional Targeting feature that lets advertisers have their AdWords ads appear in front of those searching from specific local areas in the United States.
For instance, an advertiser could choose to have their ad for “dentists” appear only in front of those searching from within the San Francisco Bay Area. Outside this region, the ad would not be seen.
Such ad targeting is a first for a major paid listings provider. Google competitor Overture is beta testing its own local product, but that is based on advertisers choosing to be in an entirely separate ad program. In addition, ads in that program would still be seen by those outside of a particular metropolitan area.
There are advantages to both systems. In Google’s system, an advertiser can use generic terms to target a particular area. In other words, they can simply bid on the word “dentist,” narrow to the San Francisco Bay Area and know they’ll show up in that area for those searching for “dentist.” They needn’t target city variations such as “san francisco dentist,” “oakland dentist” and so on.
In Overture’s system, ads are tied to physical locations. This means that they can be attractively tied into a map, which is very useful for some types of local searches. While Google is testing its own map-based local search product, there’s no way its new regional targeting will allow ads to be placed on that map — though they could run alongside it.
Google’s system works by identifying the IP address of a user, a system it has long employed to allow advertisers to target ads to specific countries. The US targeting matches the 210 “designated market areas” that are used to define television markets.
IP matching usually works, but it is not perfect. Google says that if it can’t identify a person’s location, it will serve up national ads instead. However, it may also be that Google will incorrectly identify a person’s location. This is something that happens, albeit rarely, with its existing country targeting.
Google Buys Sprinks; Plans IPO
News on these stories has now moved to a separate article: Google Buys Sprinks, Plans IPO
Search Engine Forums Spotlight
Links to this week’s topics from search engine forums across the web.
GoGuides Hostile Takeover
Webmaster World
“Just got an email from GoGuides about a recent submission saying that they have been subject to a hostile takeover and their host is keeping their scripts and financial resources.”
Top 5 Google Do’s and Don’ts
JimWorld
“Four months ago we compiled a list of the top do’s and don’ts to consider when optimizing your site for ranking in Google. Can you make any suggestions to improve this list? Has anything changed?”
Maliciously, Repeatedly Clicking On A Pay Per Click?
Best Practices Forum
“What can I do protect myself from somebody who engages in the act of repeatedly clicking on a pay per click?”
The Alexa Toolbar
High Rankings Forum
“I have mixed feelings about the Alexa toolbar. In some ways it is a useful little gizmo, certainly great for most of my own target audience which is why I have a page about it extolling it’s virtues. On the other hand, it does track the users browsing habits. The thing is, whether it is your ISP [Internet service provider” or Alexa, someone is always tracking your browsing habits.”
Future Of Search Engine Optimization
High Rankings Forum
“Given that Google’s bought Kaltix, which is seen as I understand it as greater personalisation of SERPs [search engine results pages”, with cookies on the PC storing data – so that a [search engine” has a pretty good guess what you’re searching for, as opposed to a shot-in-the -dark guess (I exaggerate, but only a bit ) – will SEO still be relevant in the future?”
Mooter
Webmaster World
“The wait time on searches is deadly. I was almost too impatient to wait out the first phrase I typed in. The way they organize the info is brilliant though.”
Merging Many Websites Into One
High Rankings Forum
“What are the consequences?”
Is Anyone Seeing a Drop in Earning Per Click?
Webmaster World
“The supply of ads isn’t infinite. As more ads are shown and clicked on on someone else’s site, the higher-paying ads fall out of the rotation as their budgets are exhausted and the lower paying/lower CTR [click-through rate” ads start being shown, with the PSA’s [public service announcements” being the presumed bottom of the pile and paying no-one.”
Search Engine Forums Spotlight courtesy Search Engine Guide.