Google Ads Defaults That Quietly Waste a Local Budget

Why defaults matter more for local advertisers

National brands can often use a wider net. A local service business usually can't. If you only send techs to ZIP codes inside a 20-mile radius, every click from someone who lives three states away—or who only "showed interest" in your city while searching from elsewhere—competes with the neighbors who can actually become customers.

Google's own help pages are clear that these defaults exist and that you can change them. That doesn't mean the defaults are always wrong. It means you should know which ones you're running, and decide on purpose.

Default 1: Search Partners are included

Google's article About the Google Search Network says that when you create a Search campaign, search partners are included by default. Your ads can show on Google Search itself and on partner sites that run Google search-related ads—places that can look like directories, product pages, YouTube search results or Watch pages, depending on the partner.

A few details from that page matter for local owners:

The clickthrough rate on partner sites does not affect your Quality Score on Google.

Google notes that ads can appear on partner sites that display and link to products for sale, and that "clicks from these sites may not always reflect highly targeted traffic."

For standard Search campaigns, Google says it doesn't tell you the exact partner website where each ad showed (full placement reporting is a separate topic, mainly discussed for some Search Partner Network reports).

You can opt out of all search partners so ads show only on Google Search.

How to check or turn Search Partners off

From Google's instructions on that same page:

Go to Campaigns in the Campaigns menu.

Hover over the campaign name and select the gear icon.

Open the Networks dropdown.

Uncheck Include Google search partners if you want ads only on Google Search. Leave Google Search checked.

Select Save.

Do this campaign by campaign. A new Search campaign can put partners back on, so glance at Networks whenever you create one.

The nuance: don't blindly cut

Search Partners aren't automatically "junk." Some local accounts see fine cost per lead there; others see cheap clicks that never call. Google itself tells you to consider whether partners match your goals. A fair way to decide:

Leave partners on for two to four weeks if the campaign is new, or turn them off if you already know partner traffic underperforms for you.

If you leave them on, segment reports (below) so you're not judging Google Search and partners as one blob.

If partner cost is high and leads are weak, turn partners off for that campaign and re-check after another couple of weeks.

The goal is a test, not a superstition.

Default 2: Location targeting is "Presence or interest"

Google's article About advanced location options states that by default, location targeting includes both physical locations and locations of interest—the option labeled Presence or interest. That means ads can show to people who are likely in (or regularly in) your targeted area, and to people who have shown interest in that area through searches, recent visits or related content—even if they aren't there now.

Google's Paris bakery example makes the risk obvious for local service: target Paris, and people who only expressed interest in Paris bakeries can still see the ads.

Google recommends Presence or interest for many advertisers and notes that switching away often lowers impressions. For a local business that only serves people who can drive to you or meet you on site, Presence ("people in or regularly in your targeted locations") is usually the cleaner fit. Google even lists "you only want to target users in specific locations" as a reason to consider Presence.

Another Google help page, Prevent clicks outside of your geo-targeted locations, confirms the default wording in the interface: "People in, regularly in, or who've shown interest in your included locations (recommended)"—and walks through switching to Presence.

How to switch to Presence

From that prevent-clicks article:

Go to Campaigns in the Campaigns menu.

Open the Settings tab.

Expand Locations, then select Location options.

Choose Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations.

Select Save.

Also confirm the locations list itself (cities, ZIPs or radius) matches where you actually work. Presence won't help if the campaign still targets an entire state you don't serve.

Keep Google's honesty in mind: location targeting uses several signals and "100% accuracy is not guaranteed." Presence is still the tighter setting for most local service accounts.

What to watch in reports after you change anything

Changing a default without reading the aftermath is how owners flip settings every Monday. Give each change a fair window, then look at the right breakdowns.

Segment by network

In Google Ads, use the segment for Network (with search partners) (or the network segment available on your campaign view) so you can compare Google Search versus Search Partners on clicks, cost, conversions and call metrics. If partners look weak while Search looks solid, you've earned the right to uncheck partners. If partners look similar, leave them on and keep watching.

Google also documents Search Partner Network placement reporting for more site-level visibility in some cases. Use it when you need to see which partner sites are getting impressions—not as a substitute for conversion tracking.

Read location reports the way Google intends

Google's guide About measuring geographic performance describes two views that confuse a lot of local owners:

Targeted locations shows results by the locations you chose to target.

Matched locations shows where the ad matched—someone's physical location or a location of interest.

If you still use Presence or interest, matched locations can include places outside your service area. After you switch to Presence, watch matched locations and any user location style columns in Report editor for traffic that still looks off-map. Exclude problem regions if needed, and remember exclusions also have their own Presence rules in Google's advanced location article.

One week, then decide

After you change Networks or Location options:

Compare the two weeks before the change with the two weeks after (or longer if volume is low).

Watch calls, form leads and booked jobs—not only click volume. Google warns that leaving the default often cuts impressions; that can be healthy if the lost clicks were never going to hire you.

Change one major default at a time when you can, so you know what moved the numbers.

A 15-minute checklist for every Search campaign

Networks: is Include Google search partners on or off on purpose?

Locations list: only areas you actually serve

Location options: Presence for most local service; Presence or interest only if you knowingly want interest-based reach (common in travel or some retail, less so for emergency plumbing)

Report segments: Network split reviewed in the last 30 days

Geographic / matched / user-location views reviewed for out-of-area clicks

New campaigns: re-check defaults the day you launch them

Related reading on our blog: Meta AI Facebook ads what to check and Google Ads account suspended phishing appeal.

How Local Business Search can help

Local Business Search audits and manages Google Ads for local and small businesses. We check Search Partners, location options, geo reports and the boring settings that quietly spend against people who will never become customers—then we keep watching the network and location reports so the defaults don't sneak back.

We're also making done-for-you how-to videos that walk through these Google Ads screens step by step. They're coming soon.