Geo-targeting question

Am I losing traffic because of this?

[starboy]

My AdWords campaign is targeted to 200 miles around my Los Angeles location. About 50% of the time I search on my KWs from my location, they don't show. The Google tool reports the reason as being that my searches originated outside my targeted area (which isn't true). (My campaign budget is set to 10 times actual usage!)

The same thing happens when I change geo-targeting to my own county plus surrounding counties, rather than a radius. Google still thinks I'm outside the targeted area half the time.

This might be a legitimate problem caused by my ISP (SBCGlobal.net), but when I do a lookup on my IP it's reported as being in Los Angeles. So why is Google confused?

So, if this happens to me, does it also happen to everyone using the same ISP? If so, I could be losing a lot of traffic. Analytics reports that 20% of my AdWords traffic originates from within my ISP. Would it be double this percentage without this problem?

I can't open up geo-targeting any further because I just have a local restaurant business.

[eWhisper]

There are many answers, and I'm short on time right now.

I'd suggest first playing with the geo-preview tool to see if that helps you narrow down who is seeing your ad:
[webmasterworld.com...]

If you have a static IP address through your provider, then the geo ads you see should be static as well.

Do you always see geo targeted ads for LA, or do you see them for different areas?

[gregbo]

Geotargeting is not reliable. You should read some of the papers that have been written on the subject, such as [scs.carleton.ca...] . An IP address is an indication of registration, not location.

[doctor gerlis]

I found the same in London, England. A high proportion of PC users in your area would have an unidentified IP location and would not see your ad because they are not recognised as being in your area. I have to go National to get them all, which is clearly a major problem in the US.

[starboy]

Thanks eWhisper, that Google tool is great.

It showed me that my mom and pop restaurant AdWords ad appears at the top of the page when searching in Philadelphia. The restaurant is in Los Angeles.

So, I'm paying for those clicks?

[gregbo]

So, I'm paying for those clicks?

Assuming G doesn't consider them invalid, yes.

[poster_boy]

I'd suggest first playing with the geo-preview tool to see if that helps you narrow down who is seeing your ad:

[webmasterworld.com...]

How do you change the geo settings for the preview tool?

[eWhisper]

It showed me that my mom and pop restaurant AdWords ad appears at the top of the page when searching in Philadelphia. The restaurant is in Los Angeles.

Was the search for 'Los Angeles' restaurant or something similar?

GEO targeted ads should show in two conditions:
1. An individual is within the targeting radius (This includes additional networks beyond Google).
2. A very explicit geo qualifier is used within the search query that describes your location and keywords. (These results only appear on Google owned properties).

[eWhisper]

How do you change the geo settings for the preview tool?

The attribute table is here:
[adwords.google.com...]