Target geographic locations for delivery

You can target a line item to geographic locations such as countries, regions (provinces, prefectures, states, and so on), U.S. Nielsen DMAs (designated market areas), and cities.

Add geography targeting

Targeting by postal code is available for line items, but not yield groups.

1. Find the Targeting section of a yield group or Add targeting section of a line item.
2. Click Geography.
3. Browse or search for a geographic location.
   1. Click the check mark to include or the block icon to exclude delivering ads to users in that area.
   2. Click the down arrow  to include or exclude smaller locations within the selected area.

4. To enter a list of postal codes, click Enter text. Learn more about postal code targeting.

Targeting line items to a small geographic area or set of postal codes can significantly reduce the number of impressions and clicks delivered. 

How geography targeting works

Ad Manager allows targeting to geography, but preserves a minimum threshold of coarseness to protect the user's privacy.

Geographic areas available for targeting

Airport City Country County

DMA region Neighborhood Postal code State

The available options vary by country. United States targeting provides the most specific options, such as postal codes and neighborhoods. To get a full list of geographic values available for targeting, use the Ad Manager API match tables .

Consistent with Google's advertising policies, we don't allow publishers to target ads to Crimea, Cuba, So-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), Iran, North Korea, or Syria. You can still target ads to a different region that’s compliant with our program policies and Terms and Conditions.

Mobile devices

Geography targeting for mobile devices is dependent on how the user is connected to the internet.

Wi-Fi traffic

Geography targeting works as usual for users connected to the internet with Wi-Fi.

Carrier traffic

Only country targeting is recommended. We recommend country targeting only. Geo-targeting for carrier traffic depends on the data we receive from carrier providers, the accuracy of which depends on the quality of the data.

Postal code targeting

Postal code targeting is available for the following countries. Click Enter text in the "Add targeting" section to paste a comma-separated list of postal codes according to the format requirements.

United States (US) postal codes

• Country code is not required. For example, both US/10036 and 10036 are valid formats.
• Only 5 digit ZIP codes are valid. For example, if you enter 10036-2256, it's trimmed to 10036.

Canada (CA) postal codes

• Country code is not required. For example, both CA/A0A and A0A are valid formats.
• Only prefixes are valid. For example, if you enter A1A 1A1, it's trimmed to A1A.

Australia (AU), France (FR), Germany (DE), India (IN) postal codes

• Country code is not required. For example, selecting German postal codes and entering "22529" would target Hamburg, Germany ("Hamburg, DE").

United Kingdom (GB) postal codes

• Only the "outward code," the part of the postcode before the single space is targetable (examples: L1, SW1A, and SW15).
• Country code is not required (example: SW15 is valid).

Why weren't some codes added to the targeting criteria?
A ZIP code or postal code prefix might not be targetable because it's either invalid, can't be targeted due to privacy concerns, or it’s too small (either in landmass or population). In some cases when postal code areas are small, targeting is best-effort and might not be accurate. 

• If the code is valid but targets a post office box, you should instead target the line item to the ZIP code that's assigned to the larger area that contains the post office box.
• When targeting to the United States, you can't target to a ZIP code if you've excluded the region, state, or metro area in which the ZIP code is located.
• When targeting to Canada, you can't target to a postal code prefix if you've excluded Canada.

Common questions

How can I target a continent?

Include all countries within the continent.

How can I include a geographic area, but exclude certain postal codes?

Either include all postal codes for an area except those you want to exclude, or exclude a neighborhood or other area that is similar to the postal code area you want to exclude.

Why does my report display "N/A" values?

When targeting geographic areas, impressions are served for line items matching the specified criteria.

In some instances, all levels of geographic data may not be available from the user IP. If you’re pulling a report on a geographic dimension that’s more granular than your line item targets, the geographic values for some impressions could appear as "N/A."

Example:

1. You have a line item targeted to a specific country but are pulling a report based on the city.
2. If the information available from a user IP accurately maps the user to the country, but not to a specific city within the country, the city value for that particular impression will appear as "N/A."