If your family law ad is showing to searchers in states you don't serve, the cause is almost always a location targeting setting called presence or interest. Google's default option targets people who are in your chosen location or who show interest in it, which means anyone searching about your city from another state can trigger your ad. Switching to the presence only option restricts targeting to people physically in the locations you've selected.
This one setting explains the majority of "why is my law firm ad showing in other states" complaints from self-managed accounts. It's buried two clicks deep inside campaign location settings, and Google enables the broader option by default when a campaign is created.
The rest of this article covers how the setting works, why Google defaults to it, how to verify it's the cause, and what to change.
What does the "presence or interest" setting actually do?
Google Ads location targeting has two modes. The default, labeled something like Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who've shown interest in your targeted locations, expands your reach beyond the geography you selected.
Under this setting, your ad can serve to:
- Someone physically located in your target city or state
- Someone who visits your target area regularly
- Someone in another state who searches for terms Google associates with your target location, for example "divorce lawyer Dallas" typed from a phone in Phoenix
- Someone whose recent search history suggests interest in your area
For a national retailer, that's useful. For a family law firm licensed in one state, it produces clicks from people who will never become clients.
Why does Google default to the broader option?
The presence-or-interest default maximizes reach, which generally means more clicks and more spend. Google's system is optimized to keep advertisers active and spending, so the wider net is the starting point unless you change it.
There's a legitimate use case. A hotel in Miami wants to reach travelers in Chicago researching a trip. A family law firm rarely has that use case. Someone in another state searching about divorce laws in your city is usually doing research, not shopping for representation across state lines.
How do I confirm this is why my law firm ad is showing in other states?
Two reports inside Google Ads will tell you quickly.
- User locations report. In the campaign view, open the Insights & Reports section, then Locations, then switch from "Where your users were" to compare against your targeted geography. This shows the physical location of people who clicked, separate from the location they searched about.
- Geographic report by matched location. Filter by "User location" rather than "Matched location." If you see clicks and impressions coming from states outside your service area, presence-or-interest is the reason.
If the user location data shows meaningful traffic from outside your licensed states, the setting is the cause. Check the search terms report as well. Queries like "divorce lawyer near me" or brand searches for out-of-state firms are common signals.
How do I fix the setting?
The change takes under a minute per campaign.
- Open the campaign in Google Ads.
- Click Settings.
- Expand the Locations section.
- Click Location options (this is the collapsed row most people miss).
- Under Target, select Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations.
- Under Exclude, select Presence: People in your excluded locations.
- Save.
Repeat for every campaign in the account. The setting is campaign-level, so changing it once doesn't propagate. This is why self-managed accounts often have a mix, one campaign correct and three others still on the default.
What other reasons could my law firm ad show in other states?
Presence-or-interest accounts for most cases. A few other causes are worth checking after you've corrected the setting.
- Targeted radius overlap. If you're using a radius around your office and it crosses a state line, ads will serve on the other side. Common near border cities.
- City names that exist in multiple states. Targeting "Springfield" without specifying the state pulls in matches nationwide. Always target by specific city plus state or by DMA.
- Search partners and Display network. These placements sometimes serve less precisely than Search. Disable them for a family law campaign unless there's a specific reason to include them.
- Broad match keywords with location terms. A broad match keyword like divorce attorney can match to "divorce attorney in [any city]" queries, which combined with presence-or-interest widens the geography further.
How much money does this setting waste in a typical family law account?
Family law keywords are among the most expensive in Google Ads, so wasted clicks add up quickly. On a self-managed account with the default location setting, we routinely see 10 to 30 percent of clicks coming from users physically outside the licensed service area. In markets with a distinctive city name (Chicago, Miami, Nashville), the percentage skews higher because more out-of-state searchers include the city name in their queries.
Correcting the location setting is one of the fastest single changes you can make. It doesn't require new ad copy, keyword research, or landing page work. Pair it with a strong negative keyword strategy and the same monthly budget starts producing more qualified consultation requests.
Running Google Ads for your family law firm?
ORSA manages paid search for family law practices exclusively. If your campaigns should be producing more consultations, we’ll take a look and tell you what we see.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will switching to presence-only reduce my impression volume?
Yes, and that's the point. You'll see fewer impressions and clicks, but the ones you get will be from people actually located in the geography you serve. Cost per qualified lead usually improves.
Should I also exclude states where I don't practice?
Yes. Add your non-service states as location exclusions, and set the exclusion option to Presence as well. This creates a second layer of protection against out-of-state impressions.
Does this apply to Performance Max and Local Service Ads?
Performance Max has similar location settings that need to be reviewed the same way. Local Service Ads use a separate geographic system based on the service area you set inside the LSA dashboard, so this specific fix doesn't apply there.
How often should I audit location settings?
Check them any time a new campaign is created and once per quarter across the account. Google occasionally revises defaults and interface layouts, and campaigns cloned from templates can inherit older settings. A short review during regular account maintenance keeps geographic waste from creeping back in.
Geographic leakage in a family law account looks like a targeting problem, a keyword problem, or a bidding problem. It is almost always the presence-or-interest default setting quietly matching people who merely searched about your area. The fix is one checkbox that most self-managed accounts never find.
Open your campaign settings today, check the location options row, and confirm every campaign is set to presence only for both targeting and exclusions. If you'd like a second set of eyes on your account structure, get in touch with ORSA.
