Why location settings matter for local businesses
A dental clinic in Chilanzar that shows ads across the whole country pays for clicks from people in other regions, even other countries, who cannot visit. The opposite happens too: the area is so narrow that the campaign barely gets impressions and looks broken. Good geotargeting is about finding the boundary inside which a customer can realistically show up or receive an order.
One caveat: the Direct interface and its option names change over time, so check the current help pages. Before launching, also confirm that the region list in your account includes the Uzbek cities and regions you need, and pick them precisely.
Choosing regions based on real customers
The core setting is the list of regions: country, region, city. Choose them by where customers actually come from or where you can actually deliver, not where you would like to sell.
- Physical location: the city, or the part of it people will travel from
- Delivery: only cities you can reach without missing deadlines
- On-site services: the area your technicians can cover
- Nationwide online product: regions where logistics and support exist
Extended geography: when to switch it on or off
This setting shows ads to people outside your chosen region when their search mentions your region. Someone in another city or country searching for “hotel Tashkent” would see your hotel’s ad.
Turn it on when people decide in advance and from somewhere else: hotels and tours, real estate, education, medical travel, relocation. Turn it off when the customer must be nearby right now: food delivery, taxis, home repairs, call-out technicians.
A quick test: does the customer choose first and then travel to you? Extended geography helps. Do you travel or deliver to them? It mostly adds wasted clicks.
Map radius and Yandex Audiences geo-segments
For some campaign types you can draw a circle around a point, which suits cafés, salons, clinics and gyms. Set the radius by how far customers really travel. A circle that is too small gets few impressions, and because location is detected from several signals and is never perfectly exact, some of the right people will fall outside it.
Yandex Audiences also lets you build a geo-segment: people who live, work or regularly spend time in a given place, such as residents of a neighbourhood or staff of a business centre. It is sharper than a plain region, but the segment must be large enough or it will not serve.
Bid adjustments and ad copy tied to place
If leads in one city are cheaper or customers are worth more, you do not have to exclude the rest. Use regional bid adjustments instead, and apply them once real data has accumulated, not after the first handful of clicks.
Name the city or district in your copy: “Dentist in Chilanzar”, “Furniture delivered across Samarkand”. People see at once that the offer is close. If you serve several cities, create separate campaigns or ad groups with the city in the text, and add sitelinks to your contact page and map.
How to check where your budget goes
Open the region reports weekly. It is the fastest way to spot leaks.
Common mistakes: targeting the whole country for a single location, leaving extended geography on for food delivery, using a tiny radius, setting the same bids for regions with different conversion, and never reading the reports.
- Open the report builder and break results down by impression region
- See where clicks and conversions come from
- Compare against your target regions
- If impressions fall outside them, review extended geography
- Cross-check with your CRM: where payments come from, not just enquiries
The same logic in Meta Ads
The thinking does not depend on the platform: a real service area, a radius based on customer behaviour, and separate messages per city. Many businesses in Uzbekistan find customers through Instagram, where location is set by the same rules, only with different tools.
If you are unsure which channel should carry your location-based budget, the markdev team can review the task and set up Meta Ads targeting for your city or regions. Get in touch and we will talk through what fits your business.
FAQ
What should a single-location business in Tashkent choose?
Start with the city, or the part of it customers actually come from, and add a radius or geo-segment around the location if needed. Targeting the whole country for one location usually just wastes budget.
Does food delivery need extended geography?
Usually not. The customer has to be nearby, so showing ads to people elsewhere adds wasted clicks. It makes more sense for hotels, travel, real estate and education.
What map radius should I set?
Base it on how far customers really travel to you, which you can see in your CRM or by asking them. A radius that is too small limits impressions, and location detection is not perfectly precise.
How do I know my ads are showing in the wrong places?
Open the report builder with a region breakdown, compare clicks and conversions with your target regions, and check whether extended geography is switched on.
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