I promote my Shopify store by paying for Facebook ads. I live in Ireland, so most of my customers are in Ireland. When I pay for Facebook adverts, I notice that there is an increase in the number of visits/sessions on my Shopify store. I only pay very small amounts for advertising, say €5.00 a day up to €10.00 a day. Obviously, Facebook wants me to see that I am getting value for my advertising, however small. Recently, I spent €20 a day on advertising, for four days. …and this is what happened. I had a large increase in visits/sessions to my Shopify store. But the majority ( a very big majority) of engagements were based in the United States. I rarely sell items to the United States. I feel that I am being manipulated by Facebook. They are ‘arranging’ that my Shopify site has more visits, but the kind of visits they are ‘arranging’ are useless to me. 99% of my sales are in Ireland. Not to exaggerate, this is a kind of theft. They take my €80, somehow arrange for visits for me from the vast United States population, but do nothing to increase visits from potential customers in Ireland. And, yes, I request that Ireland be the target location. Just wondering about this.
Topic summary
An Irish Shopify merchant sees a spike in site visits from the US when increasing Facebook ad spend, despite targeting Ireland. This traffic brings little value (99% of sales are in Ireland), prompting concerns about manipulation and wasted budget (€20/day for 4 days).
Replies suggest re-checking audience and location settings to confirm true Irish targeting. One practical step is excluding the US in Facebook Ads Manager; but exclusions don’t stop organic reach—if someone in Ireland shares the ad, US friends may still see it.
Another recommendation is to contact Facebook Support and assess whether spam or bot traffic is inflating non-target geographies.
A second merchant reports similar issues across platforms: Google Shopping limited to France showing clicks from Bangladesh/India, and Facebook delivering US visitors, hinting at broader targeting/attribution inconsistencies.
Status: Unresolved. Suggested actions:
- Re-audit geo and audience settings.
- Add explicit country exclusions (e.g., US).
- Compare geo reports in Shopify vs. ad platforms.
- Contact Facebook; investigate spam/bot activity.
- Consider impact of organic shares beyond paid targeting.
Note: A screenshot was shared illustrating how to exclude locations in Facebook Ads.
While doing FB ads, make sure you target/choose the right audience.
Hi @quay-books , did you re-check your target segment inside your campaign to make sure that you’re targeting the right region? If it’s true that you’re targeting Ireland only but somehow the majority of your traffic is still coming from the US, it’s highly recommended that you contact the Facebook Contact Support of ask for an expert to check whether your store is under spam attack or not.
Hi,
Sometimes it happens like you described. The most effective way to avoid US traffic is excluding US audience. To use this option, just switch from “Include” to “Exclude” using the drop-down menu on the left.
However, this method does not prevent the people in US from seeing your ad. Facebook simply uses this exclusion as a guide to not show it as an advertisement in that location. For example, someone In Ireland sees the ad and shares it, their friends from US will still see your ad as an organic post that their friend has shared.
I am experiencing exactly the same problem!
I was running google shopping ads actively targeting “france” only, shopify showing me clicks from Bangladesh and India… Then decided to give Facebook ads a shot. Shopify showing me landing page views from USA… Which for me is a waste of money as my target is clearly the french market. If anyone knows how to solve this issue my ears are wide open, really need to get some high quality traffic coming in, cheers!