Location negative keywords and city targeting for Google Ads

Updated 28 October 2026

If your ads run only in Punjab, a click on “web design company bangalore” is wasted money. If they run in Mohali, a search for “web design punjab” is not. Location negatives need to know which city lies in which state.

Choose where the ads run

NexOper knows all 36 Indian states and union territories with 537+ cities and areas, including old and new names (Bombay and Mumbai, Gurgaon and Gurugram, Bangalore and Bengaluru). Pick the states and cities you target; every search naming another place is flagged as outside the target, while cities inside a targeted state stay allowed.

Which words sell in which city

With location targeting on, a city report shows for each place the spend, conversions and cost per conversion, the words that bring sales there, and the words that only spend. For a targeted city without data yet it suggests keywords built from the words that sell elsewhere in the account.

A note on accuracy

Google's search terms report has no location column. A search is attributed to a city only when it names the city, or its campaign or ad group does. Running one campaign or ad group per city gives the fullest picture; the report always shows how much spend it could place.