How Do They Know You Want Doggy Toothpaste? (Behavioral Targeting in Ads)

Are you ever on a webpage, and out of the corner of your eye you notice an ad that seems to be custom made for you? You might be on a website that shares great recipes, but the ad is for toothpaste for dogs. Toothpaste for dogs may be strange enough in its own right, but what really intrigues you is that you were just searching for some doggy toothpaste the other day. How do they know you’re interested in toothpaste for dogs?

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Google Now Offering Location-Based Search Results

Google recently added the ability to search by location to its ever-growing list of search-sorting options. This will be a groundbreaking shift for local business owners taking part in paid-search.

Consider the following scenario:

You’re a dry-cleaner serving a metropolitan city and its surrounding areas, including suburbs, 2 or 3 counties, and countless incorporated town names. If you wanted to only advertise to people living in those areas who are searching for the term “dry-cleaner”, you’d have to guess what else they might type in (as it relates to their location). If your shop is in the city limits, and your customers are j

ust across the county line, they may not see your paid-search advertising.

But thanks to the change Google recently made, it won’t matter anymore.

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