When a user searches Google or sites across the Google Network, we will determine to show your ad based on the user's:

• Google domain
• Query entered (called query parsing)
• Internet Protocol (IP) address
• Language preference

When a user searches on any of the hundreds of Google domains, AdWords displays ads according to the domain used. For example, if a user located in Spain searches on Google.fr, AdWords shows ads targeted to France.

For example, if a user in New York searches for hotels in Hollywood, the user sees ads targeted to the Hollywood area.

This search functionality only applies to ads that target certain areas worldwide.

We will only use the IP address to show regionally (region and city) targeted or customised ads or when a user searches Google.com from any location.

• Regionally-targeted and customised ads: If a Google user searches plumbers from a New York area IP address, we may display regional or customised ads targeted to New York, even though New York is not in the search query.


• Google.com searches: If a user with an IP address in France searches on Google.com, the user might see ads targeted to France, even though the user is not accessing Google.fr.

For example, users who choose Spanish as their language preference see ads targeted to Spanish speakers.

Google does not translate ads. If an advertiser writes an ad in English and targets the Spanish language, the ad appears in English, regardless of the targeted language.

• Target countries or territories to reach a wide audience across one or more countries.
• Target regions and cities if your business serves specific geographic areas or if you want different advertising messages in different regions.
• Target customised areas to reach specific geographic areas which may not be available in region and city targeting or if you want to define specific geographic areas.

To choose your language and location targeting options for a new campaign:

1. Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.co.uk.
2. On the Campaign Summary page, click the link for New online campaign and then choose to 'start with keywords' or 'start with placements'. You will be taken to a new page.
3. Name your campaign and ad group.
4. Select one or more languages that you wish to target.
5. Under Target customers by location, you'll see a default location. To show your ads to customers in a different place, click 'Change location', then make your selection.
6. Click 'Continue'.
7. After you complete the targeting section, finish creating your campaign.

To change your language or geographic targeting settings for an existing campaign:

1. Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.co.uk.
2. Tick the campaign that you wish to edit and click Edit Settings.
3. Select a language to target beside 'Languages'.
4. Click Edit beside 'Locations'.
5. Click OK if you receive a pop-up dialogue box.
6. Select your new locations.
7. Click Finished.
8. Click Save Changes.

For example, if you sell Spanish books, you can choose to target your ads to the Spanish language. When we detect that a user speaks Spanish by one of the methods listed in the topic above (How AdWords Targets Users), we will display your ad.

We recommend that you target the language in which your ad is written. For example, if your ad is written in English, target English-speaking users. Remember that Google will not translate your ad for you.

It is common for new advertisers to target all countries and territories in the hope of widening their reach. However, by doing this, you may target people who cannot read the language of your ad or website, which creates low-quality clicks.

To help assess where and who you should target, answer these questions:

• Where does your business sell or provide?
• Who is your intended audience?

A good strategy is to organise and name your campaigns by country (such as Germany) and your ad groups by product lines (such as coffee products and tea products). Then, tailor your keywords and ad text to the intended audience.

Make sure that your keyword list and ad text for each ad group is in one language. This ensures that the ad appears in the same language in which the keyword was entered. For example, if a user enters a keyword in Japanese, the ad will appear in Japanese.

Double-byte characters need nearly twice the display space as single-byte characters. For example, the title line of an English ad has a 25 character limit. However, the limit for that same title line is 12 characters for a double-byte language. The second and third lines of English ad text are limited to 35 characters, while the limit for double-byte characters is 17.

Two other rules to follow when creating ads with double-byte characters:

- Use single byte characters for symbols, such as punctuation marks and currency symbols.

- Use single byte characters for alphanumeric characters.

When creating a double byte character ad in the English interface, the character limit on the screen is wrong. To avoid receiving an error message, enter only the correct character length.

Figure: Japanese ad in U.S. AdWords interface

Figure: Single byte characters and numbers inside a double byte ad

Region and city targeting usually works best for region-specific businesses, such as boutiques, stores, restaurants or hotels. For example, if you sell flowers and only deliver in the New York City area, you should target your campaign to that area only.

Region and city targeting may not be offered in your country. The available options are displayed when you set up your campaign.

Here is how to do so:

• Include the names of regions and cities that you wish to target in your keywords, such as Seoul hotel and hotels in Seoul. When a user anywhere in South Korea searches for your keyword, your ad appears.
• Add the names of regions and cities that you do not wish to target as negative keywords. For example, if your ad group contains the broad-matched keyword hotels, add -Sao Paulo as a negative keyword (with the hyphen) to prevent your ad from showing for the query Sao Paulo hotels.
• Include region and city names in your ad text to reinforce the local nature of your product or service. This way, if your ad appears for a user uninterested in the targeted region, the user will not click on your ad.

Additionally, customised targeting does not limit you to the cities and regions offered by region and city targeting. For example, an advertiser owns a restaurant chain in South Wales. With customised targeting, the advertiser could choose to target the entire southern half of Wales instead of specific regions or cities.

• Enter a physical address: With this option, you enter a street or business address. (This option is available for the U.S and Canada only.) You then choose a distance (such as 50 miles or kilometres) that forms the radius of a circle around the address. Only users located within this circle or those who include in their search the names of cities within this circle will see your ads.


• Select a point on the map: Instead of entering an address, you can define the centre of your advertising circle by dragging the interactive map to place a red marker on your location. This location will automatically be converted to exact latitude and longitude coordinates, which the AdWords system will use in targeting your advertising.


• Multi-point (or polygon): Multi-point targeting lets you click three or more points on an interactive map to outline the advertising region of your choice. (Again, the system will convert the points that you select to latitude and longitude automatically.) Using multi-point targeting, you can create target areas of virtually any size and shape.