Viewing International Adwords ads

"google.uk" versus "&gl=uk"

[poster_boy]

Why do different ads display when visiting Google's international domains (from the US) vs. appending "&gl=[country abbreviation]" on the end of a search query URL? For instance, a search on Google.uk versus appending "&gl=uk"?

Also, are the results shown affected by a user's IP address? Will a search from the US on Google.uk show the same ads that users in the UK see?

Thanks for any help.

[ElizabethReynolds]

I'd just like to second the question, as I was about to post a similar one.

Our current vendor claims that we 'aren't able to analyze' how ads show up in other countries, however I was successful yesterday when looking for my new ads in South America...curious to see what responses we gte.

Also, is there any way to tell Google "I'm just looking for my ad"? I'm showing up as the only impresson yesterday for several ads i'm running in Mexico and Brazil.

[ams_david]

'gl' does country location

but don't forget:

'hl' does language

Different ads are shown for different languages... usually :)

[ElizabethReynolds]

Why thank you, that confirms my suspicions ;)

[poster_boy]

So is using "&hl=xx&gl=xx" fully representative of ads in country "xx"?

[poster_boy]

AWA, could you assist here? Many thanks!

[poster_boy]

Bump. AWA, can you help here, please?

[AdWordsAdvisor]

So is using "&hl=xx&gl=xx" fully representative of ads in country "xx"?

Bump. AWA, can you help here, please?

Poster_boy, unfortunately there isn't an ideal way to do what you wish to do - although you may rest assured that it is on our 'wish list'. The tool you refer to above (while often passed from member to member on this forum) is not fully developed/released. So, I'd not rely on it to give you comprehensive results.

As an aside, you can use the Ads Diagnostic Tool in your account to check on whether your ad is showing in particular regions or countries. It will not, of course, allow you to see what other ads are appearing though.

AWA

[ElizabethReynolds]

Also check out my post on "amusement for the day" where a few of us go into using the language targeter vs. the country targeter. Patient and i made a few fun discoveries.

[pmkpmk]

That's what open proxies are for. Both for IE and for Firefox exist nice proxy-switcher tools, and there are lists of free proxies available on the web. Take a proxy from the country you want to see your ads in, launch Google in that country, and voilá!