Geographic negative keywords
If you’re running a national SEM campaign, it may be desirable to exclude all local queries so that you can optimize the ad language for non-geographic queries and users. To target specific locales, you could setup additional campaigns that are better optimized for those sets of keywords. The best way to exclude location-based queries is by adding negative keywords for each state and major cities. For simplicity, here is a list of all states:
ALABAMA
ALASKA
AMERICAN SAMOA
ARIZONA
ARKANSAS
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DELAWARE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
GUAM
HAWAII
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA
KANSAS
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA
MAINE
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MARYLAND
MASSACHUSETTS
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSOURI
MONTANA
NEBRASKA
NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH DAKOTA
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
OREGON
PALAU
PENNSYLVANIA
PUERTO RICO
RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
UTAH
VERMONT
VIRGIN ISLANDS
VIRGINIA
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN
WYOMING
And State abbreviations:
AL
AK
AS
AZ
AR
CA
CO
CT
DE
DC
FM
FL
GA
GU
HI
ID
IL
IN
IA
KS
KY
LA
ME
MH
MD
MA
MI
MN
MS
MO
MT
NE
NV
NH
NJ
NM
NY
NC
ND
MP
OH
OK
OR
PW
PA
PR
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
VI
VA
WA
WV
WI
WY
Here is also one of many lists of major US cities, this one comprising approximately the largest 100:
Akron
Albuquerque
Anaheim
Anchorage
Arlington
Atlanta
Aurora
Austin
Bakersfield
Baltimore
Baton Rouge
Birmingham
Boston
Buffalo
Chandler
Charlotte
Chesapeake
Chicago
Chula Vista
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Colorado Springs
Columbus
Corpus Christi
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Durham
El Paso
Fort Wayne
Fort Worth
Fremont
Fresno
Garland
Glendale
Glendale
Greensboro
Henderson
Hialeah
Honolulu CDP
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Jersey
Kansas
Laredo
Las Vegas
Lexington-Fayette
Lincoln
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Louisville
Lubbock
Madison
Memphis
Mesa
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Modesto
Montgomery
Nashville-Davidson
New Orleans
New York
Newark
Norfolk
Oakland
Oklahoma
Omaha
Orlando
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Plano
Portland
Raleigh
Riverside
Rochester
Sacramento
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
Santa Ana
Scottsdale
Seattle
Shreveport
St. Louis
St. Paul
St. Petersburg
Stockton
Tacoma
Tampa
Toledo
Tucson
Tulsa
Virginia Beach
Washington
Wichita
Yonkers
Caution should always be exercised when creating negative keywords as sometime unintended ad omissions can result. For instance, adding -st will exclude all cities that include the text “st” in the name and any that include the abbreviation for “Street”. Check all negative keyword lists for potential problems.
Pick a feed
