About Google Ads adaptive location targets

If you've already specified high-level location targets, such as a country or state in a campaign, you can let Search Ads 360 use performance data to automatically create new, focused location targets from your existing geo-location targets. If you've targeted a country, Search Ads 360 might create location targets for some provinces within the country. If you've targeted a state, Search Ads 360 might create location targets for some cities within the state.

For example, suppose you turn on adaptive location targeting in a campaign that targets France, but not specific areas of the country. Search Ads 360 might add Paris and Nice as location targets because Search Ads 360 has determined that the two areas are high performing targets, according to the goal specified for the campaign. 

Search Ads 360 can also set or recommend bid adjustments for the newly targeted geographic areas.

Locations that Search Ads 360 can subdivide

Search Ads 360 can subdivide location targets in the following types of Google Ads campaigns:

• Manual campaigns (including campaigns generated by inventory templates)
• Shopping campaigns

Automatic creation of location targets isn't supported for proximity targets.

Search Ads 360 can only create smaller geographic location targets in a campaign that targets at least one large geographic area such as a country, city, state, or province. If you've already set location targets down to the zip codes, Search Ads 360 can't create additional location targets.

After some period of time, if Search Ads 360 finds that it's not maximizing your return on investment with an auto-generated location target, Search Ads 360 will remove the location target.

You can receive an email notification whenever Search Ads 360 creates or removes a location target.

How Search Ads 360 adapts location targets in a campaign

To let Search Ads 360 automatically create location targets, do the following:

• Choose a goal for the campaign. A campaign's goal can be derived from a campaign's conversion goal or a Smart Bidding strategy (a bid strategy with a conversions or revenue goal). Search Ads 360 uses the goal's conversions and performance history to adapt the location targets in a campaign.

  Only Floodlight activity conversions, a formula column or a custom Floodlight column conversion can be used to adapt and maximize the performance of location targets.

   

  Google Analytics goals can't be used to optimize location targets.

• Optional but recommended step: Select the Location target bid adjustments check box to let Search Ads 360 set the bid adjustments for the location targets that it creates. When adaptive location targeting is combined with automatic location target bid adjustments, Search Ads 360 maximizes your return on investment. 
• Turn on adaptive location targeting.
  To auto-generate location targets, Search Ads 360 also requires that auto-tagging is enabled and requires a minimum of 32 days of performance history in a campaign. To verify the numbers of days of performance history: 

  1. Navigate to a Google Ads account.
  2. Click the Campaigns tab.
  3. Add the Creation time column to the report.
• Optional. Receive an email approximately twice a day that includes the number of location targets created or removed. The email includes a link to the change history report that lists the actual names of the location targets that have been changed. 

Larger location targets might not be subdivided

Search Ads 360 monitors performance of location targets and will only subdivide targets when the metrics indicate that a location target might positively or negatively impact performance.