When transitioning advertising campaigns from Google Ads to Bing Ads, marketers often expect a seamless process, especially since both platforms offer robust tools for importing campaigns.

However, one specific problem can significantly impact campaign performance: the mismatch in geographic targeting granularity, particularly when targeting specific neighborhoods like Harlem.

This issue can lead to reduced click-through rates (CTR) and wasted ad spend.

The Problem: Geographic Targeting Mismatch

Google Ads allows advertisers to target highly specific geographic areas, such as neighborhoods like Harlem in New York City.

This precision is ideal for businesses catering to local audiences, such as restaurants, retail stores, or service providers operating in a specific community.

However, when importing a Google Ads campaign into Bing Ads, Microsoft’s platform often fails to recognize these granular locations.

For example, if you target “Harlem” in Google Ads, Bing Ads does not have an equivalent neighborhood-level targeting option.

Instead, Bing Ads will default to a broader geographic area, such as the entire state of New York.

When importing from Google Ads into Bing, your neighborhood campaign may target your entire state.

The Consequences: Reduced CTR and Wasted Budget

When your campaign targeting a specific neighborhood like Harlem is translated to the entire state of New York, your ads are shown to a much larger and less relevant audience. This has several negative outcomes:

  1. Lower Click-Through Rates (CTR) 
    People outside Harlem—say, in Buffalo or Albany—are unlikely to engage with ads tailored for a Harlem-based business. For example, an ad for a Harlem coffee shop offering a local discount will be irrelevant to someone 300 miles away, leading to fewer clicks and a lower CTR.
  2. Wasted Ad Spend
     Since Bing Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, every click from an irrelevant user consumes your budget without contributing to conversions. This inefficiency can quickly drain your ad spend, especially for small businesses with limited budgets.
  3. Skewed Campaign Analytics
    Broadened targeting distorts performance metrics, making it harder to assess campaign effectiveness. A low CTR due to irrelevant impressions may prompt unnecessary changes to ad copy or keywords, when the real issue is geographic targeting.

Solutions to Mitigate the Issue

To avoid the geographic targeting mismatch and optimize your Bing Ads campaigns after importing from Google Ads, follow these steps:

Step 1: Disable Location Targeting During Import

Prevent Bing Ads from automatically importing Google’s location settings, which may be too granular for Bing to handle correctly.

How to do it:

  • Access Import Settings: In your Microsoft Advertising account, go to Import Campaigns and select Import from Google Ads.
  • Edit Scheduled Imports: If you use scheduled imports, click Import Schedule and History and choose Edit Import.
  • Adjust Import Options: In the “What to import” section, click Show advanced options.
  • Deselect Location Import: Find the Location option and uncheck it to stop importing location data.
  • Save Changes: Confirm and save your updated import settings.

Step 2: Manually Set Appropriate Location Targeting

After importing, refine your campaign’s geographic targeting within Bing Ads:

  • Open the imported campaign(s) in your Microsoft Advertising account.

  • Navigate to the Locations settings.

  • Add targeting that works reliably in Bing Ads, such as ZIP codes or a radius around a specific address.

  • Double-check your targeted areas to ensure they match your intended audience as closely as possible.

 
Step 3: Always Double-Check After Import

Whenever you import campaigns, verify the location settings immediately — especially on the first import. Don’t rely solely on automation; reviewing targeting manually can prevent wasted budget and irrelevant clicks.

Sometimes we rely too much on automation to save us time. Maybe one day the importation will be seamless but for now the old adage holds: To make a mistake is human. But to really screw up you need a computer.

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