proximity targeting and postal code resolution

[al...@cclearly.com]

Hi.

I'm trying to understand the relation between proximity targeting, postal code, google location resolution and the actual user location.

My goal is to set different bid modifiers to different postal codes within a given radius without expanding the targeting area/population.

Consider a proximity targeting with some radius for some campaign. Suppose a postal code has partial intersection with the targeting circle. For example, half of the postal code is within the proximity circle and and half of it outside the circle.

Question 1:  At what circumstances (if at all) Ad will be shown for users outside the targeting circle area but inside the postal code area? Is it related to the "MostSpecificCriteriaId" resolution I see in the Geo Performance Report?

Question 2:  At which cases setting bid modifier to a postal code that partial intersect with the targeting circle will expands the targeting area?

Thank you,

Alon.

[Shwetha Vastrad (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Alon,

When you target both the postal code and the proximity of a given location, your effective targeting location is a union of the two locations. This guide provides more details on how ads are matched based on the location targeting options of a campaign. I would suggest that you post your questions on the AdWords Community Forum as this is more of a product related question and is not specific to AdWords API. 

Regards,
Shwetha, AdWords API Team.