Payments are experiencing issues due to temporary restrictions in Russia. If your payment does not go through, please submit a support request.Our support team is available 24/7 — we are always here to help with hosting and server issues.We are now accepting requests for dedicated server rental and colocation services in our data center.Reminder: we recommend enabling backups for additional data protection.A new VPS/VDS lineup with NVMe storage and improved performance is now available.Maintenance work on some servers has been completed. All services are operating normally.
Article3 min read

Yandex Direct Updates Geotargeting: Why a Visitor from Another City Could Be Your Customer

Yandex now considers more signals about a user's region of interest. I explain how to evaluate such traffic and align your ads with your online store's delivery zones.

Packages in the cargo compartment of a small delivery van
In this article

An ad campaign is set for a single city, yet the report shows visitors from other regions. The first reaction is to restrict impressions. However, a device's location does not always match the purchase location: a user might be ordering a gift for parents or selecting furniture before returning home.

On August 31, 2026, Yandex announced changes to geotargeting in Direct. Algorithms now account for more signals related to a user's region of interest. These changes apply to existing campaigns; the previous separate setting for extended geotargeting is no longer available.

Check Where the Product Needs to Go

For an online store, the delivery address is often more valuable than the visitor's location. If a user is in another city but places an order for a region you serve, you should not automatically classify this traffic as irrelevant.

Cross-reference ad data with orders: where the product was shipped, whether delivery was completed, and the reasons for cancellations. Analyze inquiries from areas where your store does not operate separately. The cause may be not only ad settings but also unclear descriptions of your service zones.

Reports must distinguish between a visitor's actual location and the region they selected for ordering. Merging these metrics under a single label creates misleading conclusions.

The site must allow users to correct their region.

Automatic city detection is convenient until it fails. The toggle switch must be prominent, and the selection must persist when navigating between the catalog and the cart. An incorrect city must not silently alter purchase conditions.

Pay close attention to regional pricing, warehouse availability, and delivery timelines. If an ad leads to an available product that disappears after the city is changed, the visitor needs an explanation and a clear next step.

For local services, explicitly state the service area. The phrase 'delivery within the city' without naming the city forces users to guess which city is meant.

Do not change settings day by day.

After algorithm updates, evaluate a sufficient time period and the quality of inquiries. A general increase in traffic from other regions does not indicate success or overspending. What matters is what happens next.

If a problem is identified, isolate it from seasonality, budget changes, and site updates. Otherwise, you may disable a valuable segment due to a coinciding checkout failure.

The goal of geo-targeting is to attract a user with the appropriate intent. The store's responsibility is to clearly indicate where and under what conditions that intent can be converted into a purchase. Only by combining these elements can you accurately assess the quality of regional promotion.

Discussion0

Share your experience and ask questions. Comments without links appear after editorial review.

No comments yet. Start the discussion.