Does geo targeting non-localized searches have any benefit?

[DiscoStu]

Allow me to clarify: Say I'm using adwords to advertise a national online service (say netflix or something similar), does it increase relevance if I'm also targeting a searchers IP?

So all other things being equal, if someone searches for "online dvd rental" from a Los Angeles IP, will an ad bidding for that term AND targeting IP addresses in California do better than an ad without geotargeting?

So assuming ads, account history, structure etc is identical - will any of these do better than the other?

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Search for "online dvd rental" from a Los Angeles IP

"onlinde dvd rental" - no geo targeting
"online dvd rental" - targeting CA IPs
"online dvd rental" - targeting Los Angeles IPs

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My guess is they will all perform equally, unless the ad mentions something about the area it's targeting (which I guess would increase QS and potentially CTR?). But with a generic ad ("rent movies online today!") they should all perform equally...i.e. there is no inherent bonus in targeting a searchers IP, other than that you have the opportunity to mention his or hers location in the ad?

Just trying to figure out if there's any benefit in geotargeting nonlocalized search phrases...

[ogletree]

Geotargeting gives you a 5th line that separates you out from the other ads. You can set up you campaign to target all the states instead of US only. You will now get a state name below your ad. People will think you are local.

[DiscoStu]

Ogletree, are you saying that if I instead of just selecting US to target I specify that I want the campaign to target each of the 50 states it will show the 5th line? Or do you mean create 50 campaigns each targeting one state each?

[DiscoStu]

It does seem to work - just tested it (targeting every state with the same campaign and have the 5th line appear for all searches) :) That's a pretty smart trick...has anyone done/read any tests of how the 5th line affects CTR? I guess the next step would be to target every single city in the US?

[edited by: DiscoStu at 10:01 pm (utc) on May 22, 2009]

[ogletree]

I have not done any A/B testing but it sure could not hurt.

[DiscoStu]

Hmm so I guess unless you're interested in writing geo specific ads, there is no point in segmenting your campaigns based on location? You can simply have one search campaign with all your adgroups and target every city and get the relevant 5th line...if there was a way to do auto insert for the geographic area then I guess geo segmentation would be pretty much obsolete (aside from exclusions)