Microsoft Advertising adCenter is rolling out location targeting. The biggest change, writes Tina Kelleher in the Microsoft blog introducing the new feature set, is that setting up targeting in adCenter is now similar what one does in Adwords.

"Market" or distribution channel is being removed as a targeting option and replaced by the industry standard "language" and "target location" as individual targeting inputs, she writes.

This change means marketers can receive more relevant volume from a target location without additional work. They will also be able to target users that are physically located in the target location areas, and/or have intent to do business in the target location areas.

Existing campaigns will automatically be migrated to use the new settings for each campaign and ad group, Microsoft also says.

Go here for a detailed look at what this means for the API.

Location Key to Marketers

Location-targeting is a key area for digital marketers—as evidenced by Groupon’s recent acquisition of location services startup Hyperpublic as well as  numerous campaigns such as the one recently launched by McDonald’s for mobile users.

Mobile Plus Location

The McDonald’s campaign is also illustrative as it is supported by new stats that show location targeting has become almost essential for mobile marketers. Location-based targeting nearly doubled month-over-month as the preferred ad targeting method used to reach consumers on the Jumptap mobile ad network, employed by 61% of advertisers compared to 33% in September, a Jumptap report released in November 2011 found.

The report indicated that 22% of campaigns used device capability, up from 19% in September, while only 5% used handset, down significantly from 25%. Overall, the proportion of marketers using multiple targeting methods drastically rose in October: 80% of advertisers used more than one targeting method, up from just 10% in September.