geo-targetting and relevancy

tagetting New York from LA?

[rich42]

One of my competitors has posted an ad similar to the following:

Stop Sasquatch in Seattle
Excellent Sasquatch repellant.
Free 30-day sample!
somecompany.com
Seattle-Tacoma, WA

While their product certainly works for Seattle residents - the company is actually located in California. They don't seem to have any Seattle presence.

I kind of suspect they have different ads in the same format for different geo-targets.

It's currently showing up as the #1 ad - I suspect in part due to a good CTR.

Any thoughts on this?

I can't decide whether to "turn them in" or to try a similar strategy myself...

[skibum]

Doesn't sound like there is anything to turn them in for. They want to get exposure for their product in an area other than where they do business.

If they do it in a bunch of different regions and track them separately, it may be a greast way to guage interest in their products/services in specific geographical areas so they can double down on those that work.

That kind of info could also be used for planning media campaigns & identifying geographical areas to pursue specialized sites for buying ads or text links.

[your_store]

..to try a similar strategy myself

I'd go this route. I don't think Google really has a problem with a national company doing regional targeting, but maybe AWA can pipe in.

I'm actually planning on experimenting w/ this, but I have to find time to duplicate a number of ads for all the major metropoliatan areas.

The possible benifits I see off the top of my head:

- Has to draw attention to the ad as previously mentioned.
- Being able to capitalize on local events (copy and bids)
- Measuring conversion by city to adjust bid pricing

I'm sure the list will grow once I actually start getting my hands dirty.