You can target a line item to geographic locations such as countries, regions (provinces, prefectures, states, and so on), U.S. Nielsen DMAs (designated market areas), and cities.
Jump to a section of this article:
- Add geography targeting
- How geography targeting works
- Mobile devices
- Postal code targeting
- Common questions
Add geography targeting
- Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
- Navigate to the "Targeting" section of a yield group
, or the "Add targeting" section of a line item
.
- For a yield group: Click Delivery, then Yield groups, then the name of a yield group, and scroll down to "Targeting."
- For a line item: Click Delivery, then Line items, then the name of a line item, and scroll down to "Add targeting."
- Click Geography.
- Browse or search for a geographic location.
- Click the check mark
to include or the block icon
to excludedelivering ads to users in that area.
- Click the down arrow
to includeor excludesmaller locations within the selected area.
- Click the check mark
-
To enter a list of postal codes, click Enter text. Learn more about postal code targeting .
How geography targeting works
Ad Manager allows targeting to geography, but preserves a minimum threshold of coarseness to protect the user's privacy.
Geographic areas available for targeting
- Airport
- City
- Country
- County
- DMA region
- Neighborhood
- Postal code
- State
The available options vary by country. United States targeting provides the most specific options, such as postal codes and neighborhoods. To get a full list of geographic values available for targeting, use the Ad Manager API match tables .
Mobile devices
Geography targeting for mobile devices is dependent on how the user is connected to the internet.
Wi-Fi traffic
Geography targeting works as usual for users connected to the internet with Wi-Fi.
Carrier traffic
Only country targeting is recommended. We recommend country targeting only. Geo-targeting for carrier traffic depends on the data we receive from carrier providers, the accuracy of which depends on the quality of the data.
Postal code targeting
Postal code targeting is available for the following countries. Click Enter textin the "Add targeting" section to paste a comma-separated list of postal codes according to the format requirements.
United States (US) postal codes
- Country code is notrequired. For example, both US/10036 and 10036 are valid formats.
- Only 5 digit ZIP codes are valid. For example, if you enter 10036-2256, it's trimmed to 10036.
Canada (CA) postal codes
- Country code is notrequired. For example, both CA/A0A and A0A are valid formats.
- Only prefixes are valid. For example, if you enter A1A 1A1, it's trimmed to A1A.
Australia (AU), France (FR), Germany (DE), India (IN), Italy (IT), and Spain (ES) postal codes
- Country code is notrequired. For example, selecting German postal codesand entering "22529" would target Hamburg, Germany ("Hamburg, DE").
- If the postal code contains any leading zeros (such as for ES or IT), the leading zeros must be included for the postal code to be valid. For example, for the Italian postal code 00185, be sure to include the two zeros.
United Kingdom (GB) postal codes
- Only the "outward code," the part of the postcode before the single space is targetable (examples: L1, SW1A, and SW15).
- Country code is not required (example: SW15 is valid).
Why weren't some codes added to the targeting criteria?A ZIP code or postal code prefix might not be targetable because it's either invalid, can't be targeted due to privacy concerns, or it’s too small (either in landmass or population). In some cases when postal code areas are small, targeting is best-effort and might not be accurate.
- If the code is valid but targets a post office box, you should instead target the line item to the ZIP code that's assigned to the larger area that contains the post office box.
- When targeting to the United States, you can't target to a ZIP code if you've excluded the region, state, or metro area in which the ZIP code is located.
- When targeting to Canada, you can't target to a postal code prefix if you've excluded Canada.
Common questions
How can I target a continent?
Include all countries within the continent.
How can I include a geographic area, but exclude certain postal codes?
Either include all postal codes for an area except those you want to exclude, or exclude a neighborhood or other area that is similar to the postal code area you want to exclude.
Why does my report display "N/A" values?
When targeting geographic areas, impressions are served for line items matching the specified criteria.
In some instances, all levels of geographic data may not be available from the user IP. If you’re pulling a report on a geographic dimension that’s more granular than your line item targets, the geographic values for some impressions could appear as "N/A."
Example:
- You have a line item targeted to a specific country but are pulling a report based on the city.
- If the information available from a user IP accurately maps the user to the country, but not to a specific city within the country, the city value for that particular impression will appear as "N/A."
