Location targeting for Microsoft Advertising

This article applies only to Microsoft Advertising accounts in the new Search Ads 360.

By default, ads in Microsoft Advertising campaigns are eligible to display in the United States, Canada, and other countries, but you can target specific locations for the ads to appear.

You can set location targets at the campaign level or ad group level. Targets at the ad group level override targets at the campaign level.

How it works

If you don't specify location targets, your ads can appear in any location supported by Microsoft Advertising and by the languages you specified in your campaign or ad group settings. For example, if you don't specify location targets but you do specify Spanish as your campaign's language, your ads can appear in any Spanish-speaking country supported by Microsoft Advertising. Learn more in the Microsoft Advertising Help center.
If you do specify location targets, your ads can appear only in the locations you specify.
You can also specify locations to exclude. Microsoft Advertising first determines which locations you're including, then it removes any excluded locations. For example, if you include Spain and exclude Madrid, your ads can appear anywhere in Spain except Madrid.

Location targets you create in Search Ads 360 for a Microsoft Advertising account apply to both of the following groups of people:

People in your targeted locations
People searching for or viewing pages about your targeted locations

To change these options for a location target, sign into Microsoft Advertising. Learn more in the Microsoft Advertising Help center .

Adjust bids for specific locations

For each location you target, you can set bid adjustments that allow higher or lower bids for that specific location. Bid adjustments allow you to show your ads more or less frequently based on where, when, and how people search. For example, sometimes a click is worth more to you if it comes from a specific location.

Reporting on location targets

Search Ads 360 doesn't provide performance metrics for the locations you've targeted. Instead, you can use the previous Search Ads 360 experience to see a geographic location of presence report, which shows the general geographic area of customers who clicked your ads.

Set up location targeting

Click an option below for location targeting instructions.

How to reach audiences in entire countries

Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
From the page menu on the left, click Campaigns or Ad groups.
Click the name of the Microsoft Advertising campaign or ad group that you'd like to edit.
From the page menu on the left, click Settings.
Click Locations to expand the section.
Enter the name of the country that you'd like to target.
Click Save to add the location.

How to reach audiences in areas within a country

Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
Navigate to a Microsoft Advertising client account.
From the page menu on the left, click Locations.
Click the blue pencil icon .
Select the campaign or ad group you're creating a target for.
Enter the name of the location that you'd like to target. If you're entering a city name, add the country name as well. You don't want to target Paris, France, if you're trying to sell cowboy hats to customers in Paris, Texas.
Click Save to add the location.

Set location targeting for multiple campaigns or ad groups at once

This feature isn't available yet in the new Search Ads 360.

Check the Experience hub to stay up to date on your available features, including bidding.

Here's how to set location targeting for multiple campaigns at the same time:

From the page menu on the left, click Campaigns or Ad groups, then Settings.
Check the box next to any campaigns or ad groups that you want to change.
Click the Edit drop-down menu, then choose Change locations.
In the box that appears, choose whether you would like to set new locations or add new, additional locations.
Type a location in the text field. After you select a location, additional text fields will appear where you can add more locations.
Optional: We recommend you click Preview to see how your location targets will change.
Click Apply.

Tip

While on the campaign or ad groups settings page, you can click the filter icon to show only campaigns or ad groups that match specific criteria. This can make it easier to make changes in bulk.

Advanced: Targeting multiple locations in bulk

You can add a bulk list of up to 1000 location targets at a time rather than adding each location one-by-one.

To target more than 1000 locations, you can add location targets in bulk multiple times. For example, if you'd like to target 1200 locations, add your first 1000 location targets. When you're done, add the remaining 200 locations.

How to add multiple location targets in bulk

Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.
From the page menu on the left, click Accounts and select a Microsoft Advertising account.
From the page menu on the left, click Locations.
Click the blue pencil icon.
Select the campaign or ad group you're creating a target for.
Check "Add locations in bulk".
In the box, paste or type the names of up to 1,000 locations that you'd like to target (with each location on a separate line).
If you wish to restrict your results to one country, click the field below the location entry box and select your desired country.
Click Search.
We'll display all locations that matched your search in the review panel. Review your results, then click Target All to target all of the locations that matched your search, or click Target next to the location you wish to add as a target.
- If you searched for any location targets that weren't found, you'll find them in the box where you entered the list of locations.
- Clicking the gray “x” button will remove all locations from the review panel, as well as from your existing location targets or location exclusions.
Under "Targeted locations", you'll see the location targets that you've just added.
Click Save.

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