# Demand Gen Location Targeting: Settings & Strategy

> Tower33 breaks down every Demand Gen location targeting method — presence vs. interest, radius, and Maps — so your spend reaches the right audience.

**Published:** 2026-10-17 | **Updated:** 2026-10-31 | **Author:** victorsoares
**URL:** https://tower33.com/articles/google-demand-gen-location-targeting/
**Type:** post

**Categories:** Google Ads

![Demand Gen Location Targeting: Settings & Strategy](https://tower33.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/sites/107/2026/10/1792148525094-53f5ef70db54-1024x572.webp)

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## Content

*Written by: Anthony Miller, Founder, Tower 33*

## Key Takeaways

- Google Demand Gen location targeting operates at the campaign level and works with the location option setting to decide whether ads reach users physically in your area or people showing interest from outside it.
- The default “Presence or Interest” setting expands reach to users outside your defined geographic targets based on interest signals, which often wastes budget for businesses that require customers to be physically present.
- Strictly local businesses like brick-and-mortar, home services, and senior living communities should override the default and select “Presence” to limit delivery to users physically in or regularly in targeted locations.
- Travel, hospitality, and nationwide D2C brands often benefit from the default “Presence or Interest” setting because buyer location at ad time does not limit their ability to purchase or travel.
- Tower33 helps multi-location brands audit and improve location targeting settings as part of a broader measurement and waste-triage discipline.

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## The Three Demand Gen Location Targeting Methods And How To Use Them

Google Demand Gen location targeting gives you three distinct methods to define geographic eligibility. Each serves a different operational need, and the path to each starts in your campaign’s **Settings** tab.

**Standard location targeting** lets you select countries, regions, cities, or postal codes. Navigate to **Campaign Settings → Locations → Search for a location** and add targets individually or in bulk. [Google Ads documentation](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043) allows bulk uploads of up to 1,000 location targets at a time via CSV, Google Ads Editor, or the API, which helps multi-location programs manage dozens of markets at once.

**Radius targeting** (also called proximity targeting) lets you draw a circle around a specific address or coordinate. Navigate to **Campaign Settings → Locations → Radius**, enter an address, and set a distance. [Google requires a minimum radius of 1 km](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043), so anything smaller fails Google’s minimum privacy thresholds and cannot be targeted. Very small radii can cause ads to show intermittently or not at all.

**Location exclusions** let you block specific geographies from receiving your ads. Navigate to **Campaign Settings → Locations → Excluded locations** and add the areas you want to suppress. Exclusions are additive, so you can layer them on top of either standard or radius targeting. [Google’s documentation](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043) notes that when you want to reach most of a country with a few exceptions, it is often cleaner to target the whole country and exclude the unwanted areas than to build individual regional targets.

All three methods apply to Google Demand Gen location targeting. The method you choose defines the geographic boundary, and the location option you choose next determines how strictly that boundary is enforced.

## Demand Gen Location Options: Presence Versus Presence Or Interest

After you define a geographic target, Google asks how strictly to enforce it. This is the location option setting, and most operators accept it without reading. Navigate to **Campaign Settings → Locations → Location options** to find it. The table below compares the two options side by side so you can see who each one reaches, what Google recommends, and which business models each fits.

| Option | Who It Reaches | Google’s Stance | Best Used For |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Presence | People physically in, or regularly in, your targeted locations | [Recommended for sensitive verticals or when physical presence is required](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722038) | Brick-and-mortar, home services, senior living, any business where the customer must be physically present to transact |
| Presence or Interest | People physically in, regularly in, or who have shown interest in your targeted locations | [Google’s default and recommended setting, described as broad geo targeting](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722038) | Travel, hospitality, real estate, nationwide D2C brands where the buyer’s physical location at the moment of the ad is irrelevant to their ability to purchase |

The editorial point of view here is direct: “Presence or Interest” is a reach-maximizing setting. Google’s own data shows it produced [5% more conversions for Travel, Real Estate, and Education advertisers on Search campaigns](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043) (Google internal data, Global, 5/21/2022–6/1/2022). That benefit applies to the right business model. For a business where the customer must be physically present to buy, that 5% reach expansion is wasted spend. It reaches people who cannot transact. The AI Overview recommends the broad setting with no caveat. This article supplies the caveat.

## A Demand Gen Location Decision Framework By Business Model

The right location option depends on your business model, not on the platform. Start with how you actually serve customers, then choose the setting.

**Strictly local businesses — brick-and-mortar, home services, senior and assisted living communities.** These businesses can only serve people who are physically present or physically reachable. A senior living community drawing from a 15-mile radius around its facility gains nothing from impressions served to adult children researching from across the country unless those adult children are the true decision-makers. For these businesses, select **Presence** instead of accepting Google’s default. The reason is straightforward: every impression served to someone who cannot physically reach your location is budget spent on a user who is geographically ineligible to become a customer.

**Nationwide D2C brands with no geographic constraint.** If you ship everywhere and your product has no physical service requirement, the buyer’s location at the moment of the ad does not limit their ability to purchase. Someone in New York who is interested in a wellness brand that ships nationally is a valid prospect regardless of where they sit when they see the ad. For these brands, **Presence or Interest** is the correct setting, and Google’s default aligns with the business model. The main risk is heavy spend on upper-funnel awareness without retargeting infrastructure and nurture systems that convert that interest into revenue. That problem sits in funnel design, not in the location option.

**Travel and hospitality brands.** Travel brands usually want to reach people planning a trip, not people already near the property. A resort in Montana wants to reach someone in Chicago who has been searching for Montana fly-fishing lodges. The buyer is almost never near the property at the moment of the ad. For these brands, “Presence or Interest” keeps the addressable audience intact. Switching to “Presence” would cut out most of the real demand. The decision framework for travel operators focuses on campaign structure, landing pages, and nurture systems that convert the interest that “Presence or Interest” surfaces.

No configuration trick resolves these tradeoffs automatically. Performance differences come from understanding your audience and using the network correctly based on your actual business goals.

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## How Radius Targeting Behaves In Demand Gen

Radius targeting in Demand Gen defines a geographic boundary, but it does not create a hard geo-fence. [Google Ads Product Expert Lion Lin confirmed in July 2026](https://support.google.com/google-ads/thread/455599899/calls-radius-issue) that radius targeting is not a hard geo-fence, and Google uses signals including device location, Wi-Fi, GPS, cell-tower data, and IP address to estimate user location. [Google also states that 100% accuracy is not guaranteed](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043).

The interaction between radius targeting and the location option is where most operators get surprised. If you set a 15-mile radius around a facility and leave the location option at the default “Presence or Interest,” your ads will reach users outside that 15-mile radius. These are people who have shown interest in the area: they have searched for the location, visited related content, or have Google Maps activity associated with it. The radius defines the anchor point, and the location option determines whether interest signals can expand delivery beyond it.

To restrict delivery to users physically within your radius, set the location option to **Presence**. Navigate to **Campaign Settings → Locations → Location options → Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations**. This combination behaves closest to a geographic boundary, although Google’s documentation makes clear that even “Presence” targeting relies on signal-based estimation rather than GPS certainty.

For multi-location programs such as senior living portfolios, home services franchises, and fitness chains, radius targeting combined with “Presence” is the standard configuration. Each location gets its own radius, and because communities typically draw from a defined local area, programs avoid competing with one another across a national footprint.

## Troubleshooting Demand Gen Ads Showing Outside Your Target Area

Teams usually see ads outside their target area because of one setting. Work through this sequence before changing anything else.

**Step 1: Check your location option.** Navigate to **Campaign Settings → Locations → Location options**. If it reads “Presence or Interest,” that setting usually explains the behavior. [This is Google’s default](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722038), and it is the same reach-maximizing setting discussed earlier. It expands delivery beyond your defined area based on interest signals. Switch to “Presence” to restrict delivery to users physically in or regularly in your targeted locations.

**Step 2: Verify your location targets.** Confirm the geographic targets you have entered are correct and that you have not accidentally excluded your own area. [Google Ads Gold Product Expert Harsh Guleria identified accidental self-exclusion as a common configuration error in May 2026.](https://support.google.com/google-ads/thread/433839524/my-ads-setup)

**Step 3: Add location exclusions for confirmed problem areas.** If geographic reporting shows consistent delivery to specific areas you do not serve, add those areas as excluded locations. Exclusions layer on top of your location option and add a second layer of suppression for known problem geographies.

**Step 4: Use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool to verify.** Avoid testing your own ads by searching Google directly, because [your own searches are filtered out to avoid inflating impressions](https://support.google.com/google-ads/thread/433839524/my-ads-setup). Navigate to **Tools → Ad Preview and Diagnosis**, set the location to your target area, and search your keyword there.

**Step 5: Pull a geographic performance report.** Navigate to **Reports → Predefined reports → Geographic** to see where clicks and impressions actually originate. This shows whether the problem is isolated or systemic and gives you data to make exclusion decisions with confidence.

## Using Google Maps Placement To Capture Live Local Intent

Google announced Google Maps as a new selectable channel for Demand Gen campaigns in 2026, [expanding Demand Gen inventory to reach users in Google Maps Browse, Directions, and Entity or Place Details modes](https://business.google.com/us/accelerate/announcements/google-maps-in-demand-gen). Advertisers can opt in or out of Maps inventory through channel controls in the campaign settings.

The Maps placement changes how location targeting behaves in practice. A user browsing Maps in Directions mode expresses live local intent because they are actively navigating, looking for nearby options, or planning a route. That signal differs from a user who searched for a keyword related to your location several days ago. [Google’s September 2026 Demand Gen Drop introduced Affiliate Location Extensions in Google Maps](https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/demand-gen-drop-september-2026), which allow retail networks and dealerships to capture local demand through Promoted Pins displayed as people browse, search, and navigate.

For local businesses, especially those using radius targeting with “Presence,” the Maps placement deserves separate evaluation from the rest of Demand Gen inventory. A user in Directions mode within your radius sends a stronger intent signal than a user browsing YouTube who happens to be in your area. Channel controls determine where ads can appear, and location settings determine the geographic audience eligible for delivery. These are two separate levers, and both need deliberate configuration.

## Managing Demand Gen Location Targeting Through The Google Ads API

For teams managing these settings across dozens of campaigns, the UI becomes the bottleneck. The Google Ads API provides a configuration path that bypasses manual UI work and exposes the same location option decision in code.

Location targeting in the API uses the [CriterionType enum (v25, updated 2026-09-23)](https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/diff-tool/v25/versus-v24/diffs/full/enums/criterion_type). The relevant criterion types are:

- **LOCATION** (criterion type 7), which handles standard geographic location targeting and appears as “Locations to target”
- **PROXIMITY** (criterion type 17), which handles radius or proximity targeting
- **LOCATION_GROUP** (criterion type 31), which handles location group targeting

The location option (Presence versus Presence or Interest) is controlled at the campaign level through the `positive_geo_target_type` field. [Google’s documentation confirms](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722038) that the default value is `PRESENCE_OR_INTEREST`, and that `SEARCH_INTEREST` can no longer be set for Search, Display, or Shopping campaigns. For Demand Gen campaigns, set `positive_geo_target_type` to `PRESENCE` when you want to restrict delivery to users physically in the targeted area.

Geographic targets are passed as geo target constant resource names in the format `geoTargetConstants/{criterion_id}`. For radius targeting, use the PROXIMITY criterion type with the center point coordinates and a minimum radius of 1 km. Bulk location management through the API becomes the practical path for programs managing more than 1,000 location targets, because the UI caps bulk uploads at 1,000 at a time and forces multiple passes for larger footprints.

## Where Tower33 Fits In Demand Gen Location Strategy

Location targeting sits as one settings layer inside a larger discipline. Getting the location option right matters, but it matters in the context of accurate conversion tracking, campaign structure that allocates budget to the right funnel stages, and measurement infrastructure that shows what actually works. A correctly configured location setting on a campaign optimizing toward the wrong conversion signal still produces bad outcomes.

Tower33 is a boutique, founder-led paid media firm, [small by design](https://tower33.com/articles/multi-location-google-ads-management/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent) and built to serve the underserved middle. Anthony Miller, Founder and Lead Strategist, leads strategy and day-to-day management on every account with no handoff. Before any agreement is signed, Tower33 audits the existing accounts, including location settings, conversion signals, campaign structure, and measurement infrastructure, and surfaces what is hurting performance. The first thirty days focus on triage and rebuild running at the same time. Non-converting spend gets cut, foundational problems get fixed, and new campaign structures launch within thirty days or less.

The agency leads the client. Observations and recommendations come from Tower33’s side, and teams do not have to chase status updates. Location targeting audits sit inside a measurement and waste-triage discipline that runs continuously rather than as a standalone deliverable. Base pricing starts at $5,000. For teams managing [senior living programs](https://tower33.com/articles/assisted-living-google-ads-management/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent), [Demand Gen campaign structures](https://tower33.com/articles/google-demand-gen-campaign-structure/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent), or [audience targeting configurations](https://tower33.com/articles/google-demand-gen-audience-targeting/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent) at scale, that discipline separates a correctly configured campaign from one that only looks correct in the settings menu.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Can You Geo Target Google Ads Demand Gen Campaigns?

Yes. Demand Gen campaigns support location targeting by country, region, city, or postal code, as well as radius targeting around a location at the campaign level, and they also support location exclusions. Very small radii such as 1 km can result in intermittent ad delivery. The location option setting, Presence or Presence or Interest, controls how strictly the geographic boundary is enforced and applies to Demand Gen alongside Search and Display campaigns.

### How Do Demand Gen Google Ads Work?

Demand Gen campaigns serve visually rich ads across Google’s discovery surfaces, including [YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Gmail, and Google Maps](https://business.google.com/us/accelerate/announcements/google-maps-in-demand-gen). They use audience signals and creative assets to reach users earlier in the buying journey before they start searching. Location targeting in Demand Gen controls which geographic audience is eligible to see those ads, and the location option determines whether eligibility expands based on interest signals beyond the defined area.

### How Does Demand Gen Location Targeting Differ From Search Location Targeting?

The core location option mechanics, Presence versus Presence or Interest, apply to both Demand Gen and Search. The meaningful difference is context. Search location targeting intercepts users who are actively querying, so the intent signal is explicit. Demand Gen reaches users across discovery surfaces where intent is inferred from behavior and audience signals, which makes the location option decision more consequential. A user browsing YouTube who shows interest in your location sends a weaker signal than a user actively searching for your service. For businesses where physical presence is required, the case for selecting “Presence” over the default is stronger in Demand Gen than in Search.

## The Setting Is Part Of The Strategy, Not The Whole Strategy

The location option is a decision you make deliberately, and Google’s recommended setting is designed to maximize reach. For the right business model, that choice fits. For businesses that can only serve people who are physically present, that same choice becomes a budget leak that compounds quietly over time.

As the decision framework showed, the tradeoffs here do not resolve through a single setting. Performance differences between campaigns that work and campaigns that fail rarely come from secret configuration tricks. They come from fluency, which means understanding your audience, understanding what the network does with your targeting inputs, and making deliberate decisions based on your business model instead of accepting platform defaults. Location targeting is one place where that fluency shows up directly in spend efficiency. [Measurement infrastructure](https://tower33.com/articles/google-search-campaign-revenue-attribution/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent) is another, and campaign structure is another. These elements compound.

Check the setting. Understand what it does. Then decide based on your business and not on the recommendation badge.

[Join the newsletter.](https://tower33.com/join-strategy-newsletter/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)

## Read Next

- [How To Configure Google Demand Gen Audience Targeting](https://tower33.com/articles/google-demand-gen-audience-targeting/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [How to Structure Google Demand Gen Campaigns That Convert](https://tower33.com/articles/google-demand-gen-campaign-structure/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [Google Ads Management for Multi-Location Businesses](https://tower33.com/articles/multi-location-google-ads-management/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [Agency vs In-House Google Ads: A Decision Framework](https://tower33.com/articles/agency-vs-inhouse-google-ads/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)
- [Programmatic Advertising Best Practices: A 10-Step Playbook](https://tower33.com/articles/best-programmatic-advertising-practices/?utm_term=google-demand-gen-location-targeting&utm_campaign=ai_growth_agent)

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## Citations

- [Google Local Services Ads Requirements: A Complete Guide](https://tower33.com/articles/google-local-services-ads-requirements/)
- [How To Optimize Google PMax Campaigns That Actually Convert](https://tower33.com/articles/optimize-google-pmax-campaigns/)
- [Best Agency for Google Search Campaigns: A Buyer’s Guide](https://tower33.com/articles/best-agency-google-search-campaigns/)
- [Google Shopping Budget Allocation: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://tower33.com/articles/google-shopping-campaign-budget-allocation/)
- [The Best Google Ads Reporting Agency Lets You Audit First](https://tower33.com/articles/best-google-ads-reporting-agency/)

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