About Local campaigns

Local campaigns began automatically upgrading to Performance Max in August 2022. All new campaigns optimising to shop goals should be created in Performance Max. With the upcoming completion of the upgrade, new Local campaigns creation will no longer be supported. You can find more information on creating Performance Max campaigns for shop goals in the Help Centre.

Local campaigns are designed to help businesses provide their potential customers with the information that they need to decide when and how to visit their shops. Local campaigns streamline the process for you, making it easy to promote your shops across Google’s largest properties including the Google Search Network, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and the Google Display Network. Just add a few lines of text, a budget, some assets and the rest is optimised to help customers find you.

Google Ads Tutorials: Grow offline sales with Local campaigns

For subtitles in your language, turn on YouTube captions. Select the settings icon Image of YouTube settings icon at the bottom of the video player, then select 'Subtitles/CC' and choose your language.


How it works

When you create a Local campaign, you'll just need to define the shop locations you want to promote. You can set this by linking your Business Profile or selecting affiliate locations.

Local campaigns are focused on simplicity and growing your offline business goals. You provide us with shop locations, a campaign budget and ad assets. Using these inputs, Google’s machine learning technology will automatically optimise bids, ad placements and asset combinations. The campaign aims to maximise your in-store value (using shop visits, shop sales, call clicks or direction clicks) and promote your locations across Google properties and networks.

Local campaigns also use radius targeting for the Business Profile and affiliate local assets (ALA) locations. The radius can vary depending on the targeted locations and how far a user prefers to travel to get to them. Other factors that determine targeted radius include the vertical, population density and existence of competitors.

Where your ads can appear

Your ads will be eligible to appear across Google's properties. This includes the Google Search Network, Google Display Network, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. Here are some of the places where your ads can appear:

Google Maps

A local business displayed on Google Maps A Local services ad for a jewellery shop appearing on Google maps, including shop location. A local business displayed on Google Maps including directions
 

Local campaigns can help you to engage customers as they plan visits to different destinations. In the above example (the third image from the left), navigational ads show information that's relevant to your business for things they might need, want or be interested in.

   
 
When customers search for businesses or explore a local area within Google Maps, Google matches these actions to your business’s location. Anyone who is located nearby or shows interest in your location may see your ad.

Google can show ads in Maps search results when users search for businesses (such as 'oil change', or 'pharmacy'). Auto Suggest ads help you to showcase your offers even before the query is fully complete by showing suggested ad locations in an autocomplete search. For example, if a user types 'movies' and enters the first three characters ('m-o-v'), an ad for a cinema location near the user from an advertiser may be featured in the suggestions.

Google Search Network

A local services ad for clothing displayed on Google Maps
 

Google matches your ad to search terms that are relevant to your business and its location.

YouTube

A skippable local services ad playing on YouTube, including items offered Video ad for a clothing shop that emphasises the ad portion underneath the video. An advertisement for a local business playing on YouTube
 

Google Ads can show your ads on YouTube where they're most likely to engage potential in-store customers.

Google Display Network

An advertisement for a jewellery shop, including shop location Business profile of a clothing shop that highlights various clothing items for sale Business profile of an car shop that demonstrates various cars being offered, as well as location information
 

Your ads are eligible to appear where they're most relevant on the Google Display Network. Google Ads will optimise where your ads show to get your shops and products the most attention.

Business profile

Business profile representing in-shop offers and location attributes.
 

Local campaigns will help you utilise the Business Profile page to highlight special in-store offers and products to customers and location attributes to encourage users to visit.

Gmail

  Example of a Gmail local services ad  
 

Your Local campaign ads can reach users on Gmail across mobile surfaces. This format is currently available to local asset Local campaigns only.

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