Local & Store-Visit Campaigns: How to Drive Foot Traffic
How local advertising works now that standalone Local campaigns moved into Performance Max store goals — Business Profile, local actions, and the settings that bring people through your door.
If your goal is store visits, calls and local actions rather than online sales, local advertising now runs through Performance Max with store goals (standalone Local campaigns were retired). It promotes your locations across Search, Maps, YouTube, Display and Discover, powered by your linked Google Business Profile. It optimises toward local actions — store visits, direction requests, calls. Target Presence, schedule to opening hours, and get your Business Profile reviews and photos right first.
Driving foot traffic through Performance Max
If your goal is store visits, calls and local actions rather than online sales, that’s what local advertising is for. The key 2026 point: standalone Local campaigns were retired — local goals now run through Performance Max with store goals, which promotes your locations across Search, Maps, YouTube, Display and Discover from one campaign.
Your locations power everything
Local advertising runs on your Google Business Profile. You link it to Google Ads, and your verified locations feed the ads — showing your address, hours, directions and the “call” button. No connected, accurate Business Profile, no local ads.
Local actions as the conversion
A Performance Max store-goals campaign optimises toward local actions — store visits, direction requests, calls and clicks to your location. You provide assets and your locations; Google places ads across its surfaces to drive people to your door.
| Local action | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Store visits | Modelled visits to your location (for eligible accounts) |
| Direction requests | People asking for directions to you |
| Calls & clicks | Calls to the store and clicks on your location |
Presence, hours and reviews
- Target Presence (people actually in your area), not the broad interest setting — foot traffic can’t come from another city.
- Schedule to opening hours if you’re driving calls or visits — don’t invite people to a closed shop.
- Lean on reviews and photos — for local, social proof on your Business Profile is a major deciding factor.
- Local goals now run through Performance Max store goals — standalone Local campaigns retired.
- Everything runs on a linked, accurate Google Business Profile.
- Store-goal campaigns optimise toward local actions: visits, directions, calls.
- Target Presence (people actually in your area), not the broad interest setting.
- Reviews, photos and accurate hours on your Business Profile drive local results.
Local campaign FAQs
How do I run local store-visit campaigns in Google Ads?
Are Local campaigns still available?
Do I need a Google Business Profile for local ads?
What are local actions?
What location setting should local campaigns use?
What matters most for local ad performance?
Related lessons
Want more people through the door?
Local campaigns live on your Business Profile and tight targeting. I can help you set them up to drive real visits.
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