Why Does My Delivery Report Show Locations or Demographics That I Didn't Target?

Understanding Targeting Limitations in Digital Ad Campaigns

Digital advertising offers powerful tools like geotargeting and demographic targeting, but these methods are not foolproof. Occasionally, your delivery report may show impressions from locations or demographics outside your intended targets. This article explains why these discrepancies can occur and what they mean for your campaigns.

Geotargeting Limitations

• IP Address Inaccuracy: IP addresses often reflect the location of the Internet Service Provider (ISP), not the actual user. This can result in ads being served outside your targeted area.
• VPN Usage: Users who access the internet through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) may appear to be in a different geographic location than they actually are.
• Mobile Location: Mobile users can move between locations, making it difficult to pinpoint their exact position at any given time.
• Cached and Third-Party Data: Sometimes, targeting relies on outdated or third-party data, which may not always be accurate.

Demographic Targeting Limitations

• Self-Reported Data: Users may provide inaccurate or incomplete information when signing up for services.
• Inferred Data: Machine learning algorithms make educated guesses about user demographics, which are not always correct.
• Cookie-Based Tracking: If users disable or clear cookies, it can disrupt tracking and reduce targeting accuracy.
• Data Decay: Demographic information, such as income or education level, can change over time, affecting the accuracy of targeting.
• Privacy Regulations: Laws like GDPR and CCPA limit the types of data that can be collected and used for targeting, which can impact precision.

Managing Advertiser Expectations

It's important to communicate these inherent limitations to your advertisers. While SoCast strives for the highest possible accuracy in targeting, some discrepancies are inevitable due to the nature of digital advertising technology and privacy regulations.

SoCast's Commitment

At SoCast, we are dedicated to minimizing these limitations. We continuously monitor campaign performance and adjust targeting parameters to improve accuracy. However, it's important to set realistic expectations: complete accuracy in geotargeting and demographic targeting cannot be guaranteed.