Influence of Locale

Is it an important ranking factor?

[running scared]

Last week I asked a question that I think may have not been seen by those who might be able to provide some insight.

In [webmasterworld.com...] StupidScripts talked about locale having influence over rank. He suggested that the following scenario existed:

Scenario 2:
YOU: Max CPC = $5.00, CTR = 0.8%, Locale = Idaho
THEM: Max CPC = $1.50, CTR = 0.4%, Locale = Maine
SEARCH: "maine widgets"
YOUR POSITION: #2 (locale rules)

It appears as he/she was saying that locale can trump a massive rank score (CTR x Max CPC)

YOU: $5.00 x 0.8%, Rank Score = 4
THEM: $1.50 x 0.4%, Rank Score = 0.6

I am wondering if there is evidence of locale being included as a factor and secondly, if they do, is it really as important as (anything but) Stupid Scripts suggests?

[HitProf]

Did you check out this message from AWA about the relevance of ad copy?

The positioning/pricing of new ads is effected by what amounts to a predicted CTR of the combination of the ad copy and the keyword that brings it up.

[webmasterworld.com...]

AWA is talking about CPC for new ads here, but the mechanism might be similar.

[running scared]

I got the impression that StupidScripts was referring to the IP address of the advertiser rather than whether the location was included in the ad text or not.

[justshelley]

Are you asking whether or not your own regional settings affect the "predicted CTR" (not sure if you were implying that in your original post of not). If so, I would also like to know if my regional ads would have a higher predicted CTR than a national ad for the same terms. Your question seemed to be specific as to the actual regional terms used in the search but my question would be broader - what about just a general search? I don't set up test scenarios like that because when I do regional/national campaigns, I use general terms in the regional and city/state specific terms in the regional campaign.

[HitProf]

RS you are right about SScript. It's not impossible Google might be doing this, but it really wouldn't make much sense if they did.