About location assets

 

Incorporate store location information in your ads by setting up location assets. With location assets, your ads can display information such as the store address, a map to the store location, or the approximate travel distance to help people find your stores.

To make it easier for users, location assets now covers 2 use cases:

• Formerly Location Extensions: Used by advertisers who own their store locations directly
• Formerly Affiliate Location Extensions: Used by advertisers, such as manufacturers and aggregators, who sell products or services in stores they don’t own directly

This article provides an overview of location assets, how to create them, and how to remove them. This article also provides detailed guidance on linking a Business Profile account, and how to link location assets to a Business Profile.

Whether you’re an advertiser who owns your stores directly or a manufacturer who sells products through major retail chains, you can use location assets to help boost the performance of your ads. Below are some examples of how you can use location assets.

 

Getting started on Location Assets | Google Ads

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Advertisers who own their store locations directly

If you own your stores directly, ads with location assets help people to engage and visit your business.

Search Network example

Clara, a bakery owner, wants to draw foot traffic to her storefront. She adds a location asset to her campaign. Now, when people nearby search on mobile for one of her keywords (“best bakery nearby” or “fresh bread”), her asset is eligible to show and may give bread-lovers:

• The distance to her location, and its city (mobile)
• Her location's street address (computer)
• A clickable "Call" button
• Tappable or clickable access to a details page for her location, with information such as hours, phone number, photos, and directions

Location assets can also work with YouTube and Performance Max campaigns.

YouTube example

A major clothes retailer wants to target the audience segment “Fashionistas”, encouraging people browsing online to come into the store and make purchases. To accomplish this goal, the store’s account manager sets up location assets on YouTube ads. Here’s what would happen:

• Alongside the YouTube ad, the location asset format shows a “teaser” of business information.
• When a user clicks or taps the location within the final ad, it expands to a location page that shows more business information, such as address, phone number, and store hours.
• The store shown in the final ad is selected based on the user’s location or a location they’ve shown interest in.

Advertisers who sell products or services in stores they don’t own directly (manufacturers and aggregators)

If you’re a manufacturer who sells products through major retail chains, you can use location assets to help people find nearby stores that sell your product.

Search Network example

Here’s an example of how location assets help you attract new customers on the Search Network:

• Someone searches Google for a product.
• Your ad shows with your location asset.
• The person finds the nearest store that sells your product, either as an address or on a map.
• On mobile, the person can tap to get directions to the store.
• The person heads to the store and buys your product.

Location assets can also work with YouTube and Display campaigns.

YouTube example

Here’s an example of how location assets help you attract new customers on the Display Network or on YouTube:

• Someone who fits your targeting demographic browses websites or apps on the Display Network or watches videos on YouTube.
• The person is near to, or has demonstrated an interest in, the area where your product is sold.
• Your display or video ad shows along with your location asset that features distance, open hours, and store locations.
• The person notices the ad, clicks on “Directions,” and goes to the store that sells your product.

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Where they show

Location assets can show your business information in various formats on mobile devices and computers on the Search Network, Display Network, YouTube, and Google Maps.

Google Search Network: On the Search Network, ads with location assets can appear as a standard text ad with your location and phone number. On mobile, a clickable “Call” button may show in place of your phone number.

Here are two examples, one for advertisers with their own store locations and the other for manufacturers with affiliate store locations.

Advertisers who own their store locations directly

Advertisers who sell products or services in stores they don’t own directly (manufacturers and aggregators)

• Google search sites, like Google Maps: Your locations can appear beside, above, or below search results on Google Maps, including the Maps app.
• Search Partner Network: Your locations may show on sites and apps on the Search Partner Network when people are near, or have demonstrated an interest in, your local area.
• Google Display Network: Your locations may show on sites and apps on the Display Network when people are near, or have demonstrated an interest in, your local area.
  Note: Location assets on Display inventory are only available through Local Campaigns or Performance Max with store goals.
• YouTube Video Ads: Your locations may show on YouTube TrueView in-stream and bumper ads when people are near, or have demonstrated an interest in, your local area.
  Your locations will start showing on video ads, meaning your video ads will show information about your business locations unless you explicitly opt out.

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How to create location assets

You can choose only one type of location asset in an account. After you select your location asset type, you’ll be prompted to link a corresponding location data source in your account.

Location Asset Type	Location Data Source
You own the locations directly	Google Business Profile or Chain stores
You don’t own the locations, but they sell your products or services	Chain stores (either General retailers or Auto dealers) or Global Location Groups (for example, pharmacies in France)

Whichever way you choose, the locations you add are eligible to show with any Search, Display, or Video ad in your account, assuming they are approved through the integrity verification process.

If you mark your business or any of your locations as temporarily or permanently closed in Business Profile, your Google Ads location assets for those locations won’t show to customers in your final ad. You can read more about how to mark a location as closed in Business Profile.

If you want to assign locations to particular campaigns or ad groups, set up location groups when you create your location assets.

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Optional settings

You can choose to enable call reporting (this setting is recommended). You'll need to turn on account-level reporting to view call reporting for calls from location assets. Learn how to Manage call reporting for your campaigns.

Verify your phone number

Phone numbers with location assets will be verified to confirm they represent the business being promoted. Learn more about Phone number verification for call and location assets.

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Instructions

Add location assets

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Click the plus button , then click + Location assets.
5. To add chain locations directly to your account in Google Ads, or to link a Business Profile, follow the steps below.

Use chain locations in Ads

Keep in mind: Chain locations update automatically as stores open, move, or close, but updates to locations in the Business Profile manager may take up to a day to reflect in your Google Ads account.

1. When setting up location assets, you’ll have the option to select one or more chains. Click Select curated locations to view pre-selected chain stores that have been identified as being a good fit for the country associated with your account.
2. Follow the prompts to add the specific chain locations where your products are sold.
3. Click Save.

You can customize your locations further at the campaign or ad group level. You can choose to add all account-level locations, use just a subset of account-level locations using Location Groups, or choose “No affiliate retail chains” to keep the asset from showing for specific campaigns or ad groups.

Find and link to your Business Profile

As an alternative to chains or if your chain locations aren't available in Google's list, you may also link your Google Ads account to a Business Profile and show the Business Profile’s locations as location assets in Google Ads. To use this option, you'll need access to the Business Profile manager that lists your locations.

Note: By creating location assets (formerly location extensions) using Business Profile, you allow Google Ads to use data from your Business Profile to format ads for your campaigns in your Google Ads account. Data includes, but isn’t limited to the following: street address, phone number, hours, and merchant photos and videos.

Learn more about how to opt out of allowing your merchant photos to be used by local ads.

Check whether your business is already on Business Profile as many businesses already are. Since Business Profile verification takes time, don’t set up a new Business Profile if your business already has one.

If your business is new to Business Profile, start by creating an account. For instructions, go to Get started with Business Profile.

Link to a Business Profile you manage

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Click the plus button , and choose Location asset.
5. Choose Select a Business Profile Manager account. Select an account from the dropdown.
6. Click Continue.
7. Apply your business name or label filters if needed. Click Finish.

Link to a Business Profile using an email address

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Click the plus button , and choose Location asset.
5. Select Request access to another Business Profile Manager account. Enter the account email address.
6. Click Continue. A request will be sent to the Business Profile email. When the request is approved, locations from this account will be eligible to show as location assets with your ads.

Link to any Business Profile

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Click the plus button , and choose Location asset.
5. Your domain should show up automatically. If it doesn’t, enter a domain to discover potential Business Profiles.
6. Select Countries by clicking the pencil icon . Click Save.
7. In the list below, find the Business Profile that best matches your business. Click Select.
8. Confirm that the correct Business Profile is showing in the preview, click Continue.

Your request will be sent to the email address for the Business Profile you selected. When your request is approved, locations for that account will be eligible to show as location assets with your ads.

Edit locations or location labels in Business Profile

1. Identify the person who manages Business Profile for your business, then ask that person to add your Google Ads email address as an owner or manager. You may want to send them the Business Profile instructions: Add and remove location group owners and managers.
2. After the Business Profile manager invites you to Business Profile, an invitation is sent to the email address associated with your Google Ads account. Accept that invitation.
3. After you’ve accepted the invitation from the Business Profile, sign in to your Business Profile to make any edits to your addresses. For guidance, go to Edit your Business Profile on Google.

When you're a manager of a Business Profile, you can link to Google Ads using the instructions above for “Find and link to a Business Profile you manage”.

Opt out of using merchant photos in local ads

After you link a location asset to a Business Profile listing, local ads may automatically use your merchant photos to enhance your campaign performance. In some instances, you may want more control over the use of your photos. If you don’t want local ads to use merchant photos while still preserving the location assets, follow the steps below to opt out.

Note: If you opt out of using merchant photos in local ads, Google will preserve the original location assets in your account, which means local ads can continue to run in a sub-optimal way without merchant photos. Your merchant photos won’t be used unless you manually upload them to Google Ads. They will continue to be used in organic Google search results.

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Select Association from the “Table view” dropdown menu.
5. Click the 3-dot menu icon on the right, then select Account level automated assets.
6. Click the 3-dot menu icon on the right again, then select Advanced settings.
7. Expand the “Automated locations” entry.
8. Unselect the “Allow Google Ads to use merchant photos” checkbox, to opt out.

Set up campaign and ad group level location assets

Before using the below steps, make sure that you have location assets set up at the account level.

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Click the plus button , and choose Location asset.
5. You can select to add a campaign. If you want to add an ad group, click “Add to” from the drop down menu, then select the campaigns or ad groups you wish to add the location assets to.
6. You can select to set up campaign or ad group level location assets by using one of the 4 options under the “Show my ad with” menu.
   • All synced locations: Use all location assets synced at account level.
   • Location groups: Individually select locations to be used in the campaign or ad group. Up to 20 locations can be selected.
   • No location assets: Disable location assets in the campaign or ad group. If you select this option, location assets won't be serving in the selected campaign or ad group.
7. Click Save. You can find the campaign or ad group level location assets settings in the “Associations” view of the Assets page.

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Remove location assets

How to turn off location assets at the campaign or ad group level

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. Click the plus button , then select Location asset from the drop-down menu.
5. Choose to remove your location asset at either the campaign or ad group level using the drop-down menu.
6. Click the pencil icon , then check the boxes beside the specific campaigns or ad groups from which you want to remove your location asset.
7. Select No location asset.
8. Click Save.

How to remove location assets from your entire account

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon .
2. Click the Assets drop down in the section menu.
3. Click Assets.
4. You'll now be able to view a table with all your assets. Select Associations (legacy) from the “Table view” drop-down menu.
5. Select Location from the list above the table toolbar.
6. Check the box next to your account-level location asset.
7. Click Remove in the blue bar at the top.

Important: If you remove location assets from your account, then you won't be able to use business locations for targeting or bidding, and you won't be able to track store visit conversions, so it's not recommended.

Related links

• About assets
• Business Profile
• About Global Location Groups
• Own & manage business groups
• About location groups
• Location asset requirements