To ensure your ads for businesses like UTDS Optimal Choice only show within the United Kingdom and block all traffic from other countries, you need to use a combination of Location Targeting and Location Options settings.

This method prevents your ads from serving to users who are physically located outside the UK or who are simply expressing an interest in the UK while being located elsewhere.

Step 1: Set Your Primary Target Location (The Inclusion)

First, make sure your campaign is explicitly set to target the entire United Kingdom.

1. Select the specific Campaign you want to adjust.

2. Click Campaign Settings.

3. Expand the Locations section.

4. Ensure the United Kingdom is listed as your primary target location.

Step 2: Configure Location Options (The Exclusion Power)

This is the most crucial step for blocking international traffic. Google has a setting that determines whether it targets users based on their physical location or their expressed interest. You must choose “Presence” to enforce the UK boundary.

1. While still in the Locations settings, click Location options (usually located below the list of targeted locations).

2. Review the two main sections:

• Target (Inclusion Setting):

• Change the default setting (usually “Presence or interest”) to Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations.

• Result: This tells Google to ONLY show your ads to users who are physically located within the UK’s borders.

• Exclude (Exclusion Setting):

• The recommended setting here is the default: Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who’ve shown interest in your excluded locations.

• Result: While you don’t need to manually exclude the entire world, keeping this option broad ensures that if you do exclude a country (e.g., Ireland, if you’re only targeting the UK), Google won’t show ads to anyone there, regardless of what they are searching for.

3. Click Save.