Geo-targeting helps tap into internet Hispanic users

 

Targeting the 81.7 million Spanish speaking Internet users or just specifically US Hispanics is possible using a number of different tools and methods, including what is known as geo-targeting.

Most major search engines offer targeted advertising in their search result pages. One such advertising network offered by the Google search engine is called AdWords. Google allows AdWords customers to place ads on search result pages based on a variety of criteria including geo-targeting.

Google geo-targeting is based on Internet Protocol (IP) address, Internet domain, query parsing and language preference detection. Using this feature, businesses can choose the geographical locations of Internet users they wish to target with their ads.

IP Address and Internet domain

 

The IP address is the information by which servers know where to deliver data requested by Internet users. The Internet domain is very similar to the IP address. Some Internet Domains have a single IP address, while others may have multiple addresses. The domain name, for example, google.com, is connected to the Internet domain.

Both IP addresses and Internet domains are linked with physical locations that often, but not always, indicate the geographical location of the Internet users identified by that information. So, if one is targeting US Hispanics, it is possible to choose only IP addresses and Internet domains of US origin.

Query Parsing

 

The keywords entered when searching on Google or other search engines are collectively known as the “query.” Each query is parsed into separate keywords or key phrases by the search algorithm.

For example, if an Internet user searches for “Los Angeles restaurants,” the search engine will recognize the geographical location “Los Angeles.”

Language preference

Google allows Internet users to choose which language they prefer using for their web searches. Hispanic consumers, for example, might prefer or require Spanish in order to use Google. This selection is also useful in geo-targeting since language can help narrow down with some degree of accuracy the location of the Internet user.

How AdWords works

AdWords allows geo-targeting on continent, country, region, state, metro and city levels. For example, businesses can select “South America” or “Central America,” or simply choose “Latin America” on the continent level.

For geo-targeting of US Hispanics, businesses would choose “United States” on the country level. Or they can be even more specific by selecting just certain states like California, Texas, New York, Florida, etc.

For micro-geo-targeting, businesses can choose specific metro areas like “New York NY (Metro)” or cities like “Los Angeles CA (City),” or even select areas by a given radius around a specific address. Google also allows advertisers to create their own custom geographical shapes to delineate precisely which areas they want covered. These latter features allow the advertiser to target specific neighborhoods, for example, of Hispanic consumers.

With AdWords, the advertiser can also choose areas to exclude from their geo-targeting campaign, and they can bundle together areas from different countries, regions, states, cities, etc.

Using Google geo-targeting allows precise geo-targeting of communities and regions including Hispanic consumer populations.

 

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This article about geo-targeting was written by Hispanic Market Advisors © 2009, your one stop source for Internet marketing and Spanish translation needs. You are free to publish it on your own website as long as you provide a link to this page.

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