Location Targeting Changes Coming Soon to Microsoft Advertising adCenter

As Bob Wiley so eloquently put it, “There are two kinds of people in this world: those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t”.

As a card carrying member of Red Sox Nation who’s belted out “Sweet Caroline” from the top of my lungs at Fenway Park (and in more than a few bars in the Kenmore Square area), I’m pretty much obligated to say that the former applies to me -- it’s amazing what loyalty to a team will do to your otherwise flawless music aficionado credentials.

For argument’s sake, let’s say you’re an online purveyor of all things Red Sox and you want to target me, a Boston native transplanted to Mariner country who absolutely needs to represent during any and all trips to Safeco field. No doubt you’re especially sure my befreckled Irish self would consider the latest St. Patrick’s Day-themed gear must-haves, what with the High Holy Holiday being right around the corner and all (…and you’d be right).

You’ve got your keywords list built out, you’ve made your ad copy super relevant to the displaced Bostonian, now it’s just a matter of zeroing in on me and the thousands of other Sox fans who rarely, if ever, walk out of Safeco with something from the park’s souvenir shop. All that’s left to do is adjust your targeting options to make sure your “Seattle Sox Fan?” ads are showing to Sox fans in Seattle.

Until recently, setting up targeting in adCenter may have given you pause simply because the options were different from what you were used to seeing in Adwords. With the location targeting changes that are in the process of rolling out now, that small difference will soon be a thing of the past.

What’s Going to Change?

The “market” (distribution channel) is being removed as a targeting option and replaced by the industry standard “language” and “target location” as individual targeting inputs.

With this change, you can receive more relevant volume from your target location without additional work, you will also be able to target users that are physically located in your target location areas, and/or have intent to do business in your target location areas.

Location options include all countries that speak the selected language, bundles of certain countries, a single country, a single state or territory, or a single city.

This change will make adCenter targeting function much like it does in Adwords:

What You Need to Know

• If you’re in the US, UK or France, you will start seeing the feature soon; roll out has already started and will continue for a few months until complete.
• Your existing campaigns will automatically be migrated to use the new settings for each campaign and ad group – once you see the update in your account, be sure to confirm that the targeting is how you want it.
• This feature works with adCenter Desktop and the adCenter API, check out the post on the API blog for more details on impact to API users <insert link to API post>.
• Editorial Note: If your campaign status is “Approved limited”, you should reach out to your account manager or contact support to resolve the issue.

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