Quick List of State Exclusions For Google Ads

State Exclusions for Google Ads in the Geo Feature:

Why is Important to Exclude Certain States:

Due to the targeting options for location in Google Ads, location exclusions may be of interest. Just like excluding other countries is important, sometimes excluding other states are important as well. Google defaults ad campaigns as “Presence or Interest” when selecting locations, which means a person can see search ads intended for Pennsylvania residents if they’re currently in PA or if they’re searching about PA while physically in Alaska.

For some strategies this may be helpful, and for others it may not be. Additionally, there could be gray area here and a PA focused campaign may still want to allow Ohio, New York and other surrounding states to see the ad, but NOT want that individual from Alaska to see it. The dynamic of the web, servers and platform locations being in different states causes an interesting dynamic for advertising campaigns and a good way to fight against possible spam is to leave as few possible “holes” in your targeting as possible. Excluding states, among other safety strategies, is a great way to reduce spam or fraudulent clicks.

Here is a list of all states  US for a quick exclusion list:

Simply remove the state or states you want to continue including, and use the rest as exclusion locations. One important detail is that you should use or copy/paste below (or download it here) to include, “Georgia, USA” otherwise Google Ads defaults that to the country of Georgia rather than the state.