Google is gearing up to automatically enable location extensions in Google Ads for all accounts. Starting at the end of October, owners of accounts will have to opt out if they don't want this feature to start showing up in their existing pay per click advertising.

What is a location extension?  Why is Google automatically enabling them?

A location extension is a callout in a Google PPC ad that displays your company address and links directly to a map showing the location of a business.  

In Google's own words...

Why are location extensions important for your business? Three quarters of people who search on their smartphone for something nearby visit a related business within a day. Using location extensions, consumers can find your business locations directly from your search ads and help you drive more store visits.

Why is iMarket Disabling Location Extensions for Our Clients?

After careful consideration, iMarket has decided to proactively disable this feature across all of our accounts.  While location extensions may help certain business types, we actually consider them harmful to contractors running paid search ads for multiple reasons:

• If a user clicks on a the link in a location extension they are immediately taken to a Google map showing the location of your business.  This feature assumes that a customer will want to visit your business. While this might be a great idea for a business like a store or restaurant, for most contractors the exact location of your business is not relevant to a customer looking for your services.  In fact, you may not wish to discourage people from using your business based on location if they are within your dispatch area.
• Since the link in the location extension is part of your ad, you'll be charged if a user clicks on it. This will ultimately hurt your overall pay per click performance - it deducts from your budgeted ad funds on low quality clicks.  To be successful with paid search, it's really better to chase demand from people who have a strong interest in evaluating your company.

In our experience, we’ve rarely seen contractors convert customers using a location extension so we’ve decided to disable them. Please contact your online marketing coordinator for additional questions or further clarification.

iMarket Solutions provides digital marketing solutions for home services contractors, including Website Design and Development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Reputation Management, Email Marketing and Live Chat services. Contact us today!