We use geo-targeting quite a bit on Google with our higher volume campaigns. If you have the volume, tracking and technical ability to manage a highly decentralized campaign, you can achieve better results through discrete geo targeting, improved positioning and lower CPCs (I’ll cover this in-depth in a future Internet Marketing Review Newsletter).

We’ve been testing this in the new Yahoo! Panama system just at the top level - US Only in order to exclude Canada. The issue that we are experiencing is a reduction in overall US traffic due to a programming approach that basically goes like this:

- If you have US only in your geo-targeting setting
- AND we can identify the geographic origin of the searcher (through IP identification, account/cookie settings, etc/) and being US
- THEN we will serve your paid search ad
- OTHERWISE we will not serve the ad

So, anywhere from 20 - 30% of the traffic on www.Yahoo.com (not www.Yahoo.ca.com which is the Canadian URL) is not receiving our paid search campaign resulting in diminished impressions and lower overall business. We are going to release this geo-restriction and see what happens.

If you are currently using the geo-graphic targeting capabilities in a similar way (your product is not Canadian compliant) you might want to ask your account manager about this and make appropriate adjustments.