Issues with Zip-code Location Targeting

[nostermobile]

We are in the process of using the Ads API to generate video app install ads but before completing we need to understand why campaigns generated using the web interface and using Zip Codes for location targeting do not seem to work at all . For example, we ran 2 identical campaigns on successive weekends, with one targeting California and the other targeting the main Zip codes around Palo Alto; the California campaign yielded over 200K impressions, but the zip-code campaign yielded less than 1,000 impressions.

Has anyone successfully generated campaigns, either through the API or manually, using zipcodes?

[jaakkosf]

Postal code targeting is great for reaching a specific target audience with geo-data, but it could significantly reduce the potential reach of your campaign. You can use the reach_estimate endpoint to check how limiting a campaign to a specific set of postal codes will impact the reach for the advertiser.

While postal code geo-targeting can put your ads in front of a highly specific audience, that specificity limits the reach of your campaign. Maximize your campaign performance by only using geo-targeting when necessary.

[nostermobile]

Thanks Jacob, I understand that geo-targeting reduces the potential reach alright, and the app install campaign we implemented it on was perhaps not ideal. However, the app we are building on the Ads API is specifically designed to deliver large numbers of ads and campaigns to geo-targeted audiences in and around advertiser’s venue locations , so it’s important for us to understand how best to use the zipcode targeting capability , particularly for lead-generation and video ads
On a related issue, adding zipcodes in the web interface did not always return a reach estimate, although the last campaign we ran in Palo Alto, using 9 zipcodes in total, had an estimate audience size of 96K. Will reach_estimate endpoint always return a finite value?

Thanks
Tony