Let's say you visit a random website. What is the first question you usually encounter before you are able to access the site? No! Not the age question… Think a little harder, what is the most common information websites try to get from you? Think of where you are? That's right – the question is “where do you live.” For some reason, it seems that everyone wants to know your continent, your country, your state, your city, street, even your zip code. But why? If I want to visit, let's say Sony, why do the guys in Japan need to know that I'm American?



Well, if you think about it for a second, this location question is pretty reasonable. Yes, it can be annoying but when an international corporate giant like Sony asks you where you live, they just want to direct you to the right website and the right content. Big companies have many different levels of operations in many different countries and if you live in Germany, answering this question will get you to the German face of Sony, a different set-up, a different language and different products.

This process is called Geo-targeting which means that a company is determining your geo location on the globe. But sometimes there is more to it. Besides understanding your location and directing you to the right place, this question holds an important varying factor. What do we mean? It's pretty understandable when you're asked if you live in America or in Europe, but what difference does it make if you live in New York or Nebraska? Well, the difference is money. Because Geo-Targeting conceals what we like to call: Geo-Targeted Advertising.

When a company takes the advantages of geo-targeted advertising, they are able to maximize their advertising capabilities and reach the right places and the right potential clientele. People surf the internet from all over the world, but let's focus on American internet users and advertisers. Let's say that you have a shipping company and it's the Holidays Season. And a smart move would obliviously be buying an ad spot on a greeting cards site. But let's say that your company ships only in the Mid-West. You don't need a New Yorker reading your ad right? You need people from the area that your business is located in. That's where geo-targeted advertising kicks in.

Just think of the possibilities. We know that internet advertising can get pretty expensive, especially if you have a local business and you don't need surfers from New-Mexico clicking on your ad making you pay extra. But with geo-targeted advertising your ad will only show when people enter in the right city or address that is relevant to your business.

Want more information? You're in the right place. With more than 30 years of leadership and innovation in all aspects of marketing for the cable television industry, Wilen Group has leveraged its formidable capabilities into an all-in-one marketing powerhouse and now we want to help you – the small business owner.