How to Use Location Insertion in Responsive Search Ads: 6 Formats and 5-Step Setup

Location insertion in Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) is a Google Ads feature that dynamically inserts a user's geographic location into an ad headline or description at the moment the ad is served. It uses the syntax {LOCATION(AttributeType):Default Text}. There are 6 available location attribute types.

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What Is Location Insertion in Responsive Search Ads?

Location insertion in RSAs is an ad customizer that automatically replaces a placeholder in the ad copy with the user's detected location when the ad is triggered. It produces personalized ad text for each user based on their physical location or the location referenced in their search query.

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Location insertion belongs to Google Ads' ad customizer family. Other customizers in the same family include keyword insertion ({KeyWord:}) and countdown customizers ({=COUNTDOWN()}). Location insertion is available in all RSA headlines and descriptions and works on Search campaigns with location targeting enabled.

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How Does Google Ads Determine Which Location to Insert?

Google Ads determines which location to insert based on the user's physical location, their search query location signal, or their Google account location history.

There are 3 signals Google uses to determine the inserted location:

1. Physical location: The GPS or IP address location of the user at the time of the search
2. Search query location: A location term typed within the search query, such as "plumber in Austin"
3. Google account data: Location history from the user's signed-in Google account

Google selects the most specific and relevant signal available. If no location can be determined with confidence, the ad displays the default text defined in the customizer syntax.

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What Are the 6 Location Insertion Formats Available in Google Ads?

There are 6 location insertion attribute types available in Google Ads RSAs, each inserting a different level of geographic specificity.

City and Metro Area are the 2 most used attribute types in performance-focused RSA copy. They produce the most relevant and specific location text for users searching within a local area.

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What Are the Character Limit Rules for Location Insertion in RSAs?

The inserted location text counts toward the RSA character limit: 30 characters per headline and 90 characters per description.

Character limit rules for location insertion include:

• The full placeholder {LOCATION(City):Default} is replaced by the actual location text at display time
• Google evaluates the character count using the longest possible inserted value across all targeted locations
• Headlines that exceed 30 characters after location insertion are replaced by the default text
• Descriptions that exceed 90 characters after insertion are replaced by the default text

A headline written as "Plumbers in {LOCATION(City):Your City}" has a base of 13 characters plus the inserted city name. A city name such as "Colorado Springs" adds 16 characters, bringing the total to 29 characters. A city name such as "Rancho Palos Verdes" adds 19 characters, exceeding the 30-character limit and triggering the default value.

Planning for the longest potential location name in the target area prevents unexpected default text from appearing.

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How Do You Add Location Insertion to a Responsive Search Ad?

Location insertion is added to an RSA by typing the {LOCATION()} customizer syntax directly into the headline or description field in Google Ads.

There are 5 steps to add location insertion to an RSA:

1. Open Google Ads and navigate to the campaign and ad group where the RSA will run
2. Click the blue plus button to create a new ad or click the pencil icon to edit an existing RSA
3. In the headline or description field, type the opening curly brace { to trigger the customizer menu
4. Select Location Insertion from the menu or type {LOCATION(City):Default Text} manually, replacing Default Text with a fallback phrase
5. Review the ad preview panel on the right to confirm the customizer syntax appears correctly before saving

The default text entered after the colon in the syntax appears whenever Google cannot determine the user's location. Examples of effective default text include "Your Area," "Nearby," or the name of the primary city the campaign targets.

Google Ads validates the syntax before the ad is approved. Ads with invalid customizer syntax are disapproved.

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When Does Location Insertion Show Default Text Instead of a Location?

Location insertion shows default text when Google cannot determine the user's location with sufficient confidence or when the detected location exceeds the character limit for the field.

There are 4 conditions that trigger the default text:

1. The user has location services disabled on their device
2. The search query contains no identifiable location signal
3. The detected location name exceeds the available character space after accounting for surrounding ad copy
4. The user's location falls outside the campaign's targeted geographic regions

Default text should function as a standalone, grammatically complete ad element. A headline reading "Plumbers in {LOCATION(City):South Austin}" reads naturally both when the location is inserted as "Plumbers in Denver" and when the default appears as "Plumbers in South Austin."

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What Are the Best Practices for Location Insertion in Responsive Search Ads?

Location insertion in RSAs performs best when the surrounding ad copy is written to read naturally with any location value and the default text reflects the primary target market.

There are 5 best practices for location insertion in RSAs:

1. Use City or Metro Area attribute types for local service businesses. State and Country attributes produce copy that is too broad for local intent queries.
2. Write the headline so it reads naturally with and without the location. "Services in {LOCATION(City):Your City}" reads correctly regardless of whether the location populates.
3. Set the default text to the primary target city. If the campaign targets Dallas, set the default as Dallas so the fallback still produces relevant ad copy.
4. Test the ad in Google's Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool across multiple target locations to verify correct display before the campaign goes live.
5. Avoid combining location insertion with keyword insertion in the same headline. The 2 customizers together produce unpredictable character count outcomes and may both default simultaneously.

RSA headlines that use location insertion consistently generate higher CTR than static headlines for multi-location campaigns. A study by WordStream found that localized ad copy improves CTR by an average of 200% compared to generic copy for service-area businesses. Location insertion automates localization across campaigns targeting 10 or more geographic areas without requiring manually duplicated ad groups.