Google’s basic ad targeting methods PART 2.

Before you start – I encourage you to read the first part of the article if you haven’t already done so. It will make it easier to „digest” the information below and learn the context and what ad targeting is in general.

Segments of recipients with similar interests

Based on our online activity, we are assigned specific interests This could be our hobbies, passions, lifestyles, habits, etc. We can choose from more than 150 different types of interests and subcategories of interests
Actually, all Google advertisers can use segments of audiences with similar interests in search networks, ad networks, videos, discovery, or performance max campaigns. However, not all campaign types will have more than 150 choices. Under this link, we can find a full list of interests and where we can use them. 

Events-of-life

We can target ads to users because of their „life events.” These are not common events, but something that happens either once in a lifetime (such as retirement) or very rarely (moving, starting a business, buying a house). These are turning points, watershed moments that can involve multiple purchase decisions, which often means greater reach than a market segment corresponding to a single purchase decision.

So, for example, a person who plans to buy a house may be interested in a mortgage, the purchase of new interior design elements, transportation services and other offers associated with such a major decision and large purchase.

Segments-in-market

In this category, we target audiences who are pre-determined to buy some product and/or service and have initially browsed the offers. These recipients are already at the final stage of the purchase path – they know what they want. We just need to convince them that our product is the best choice. 

There are more than 770 audience segments in the market, and it’s worth taking advantage of this advertising targeting option.

They’re not the only ones.

Custom Segments

Custom segments are primarily created by ourselves. They are not ready-made, selectable lists, as in the case of „segments on the market” or „life events”. We create them based on keywords, URLs or application names related to our product or service.

Google Ads will display ads in different places. Depending on which campaign we use custom segments in. We can use them in ad networks, Discovery campaigns, video and Performance Max

It used to be possible to create custom segments with similar intentions or interests. Nowadays, we don’t have that choice: based on campaign goals and keywords, the algorithm automatically interprets all signals and optimises its actions. If we have previously created lists targeting custom segments with similar intent or similar interests, we don’t need to rework them. They will automatically transform into custom segments.

Custom segments automatically select the audiences that best fit the campaign’s needs. Based on the campaign’s rate-setting strategy and goals, the system will interpret all these signals and select audiences whose characteristics will contribute to one of these goals:

The system will also select audiences whose characteristics will contribute to one of these goals.

• Range
• Consideration of purchase
• Effectiveness

How do we create custom segments?

We create custom segments based on: keywords related to users’ interests or purchase intent; keywords that users have previously searched for on Google (only for campaigns running on Google services); website addresses (URLs) that users have browsed; applications they have used.

Creating the groups themselves is very simple. We type in keywords, URLs or search for apps in the Google Play store. Here we do not have any specific maximum or minimum number of values that we add.

The bar on the right will show us estimated segment statistics based on our entered data. We will get information about average weekly reach, audience gender, age, and parental status. Keep in mind that these are just estimates, often when we add custom segments to the campaign, depending on our settings, the results can differ significantly from the estimates given here. For more precise estimates, we can add the country the campaign will target, the language and the type of campaign.

Non-standard-segments-receivers-with-similar-intentions: category created automatically (ad network campaigns)

As the name suggests, audience groups are created automatically. We can use such segments to target ads to a specific industry or landing page. Unfortunately, they are only available for English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Portuguese, Russian and Italian.

Your-data-segments (formerly known as remarketing)

Remarketing is created by audiences who have previously interacted with our ad/site/app or shared their data with us and we can get back to them. Google Ads automatically creates groups of similar audiences of already created remarketing groups. The original segment is automatically excluded in Similar Audience groups, so we will not hit the same audience twice. Note! From May 1, 2023, the Similar Audience feature will be phased out as a targeting feature.

Remarketing is quite a complex topic, so will there be a new separate article soon ?

Targeting or Watching?

When selecting specific audiences in our campaign, we also have the choice of whether our ads should be „targeted” to them or whether we choose the „observation” option.
What do these two options actually mean?

Information about the „Targeting”

setting.

When we select the „Targeting” option, we indicate exactly to Google Ads which users or websites we want to display ads.

When to use it

Let’s use the „targeting” option when we have specified audience groups and places where our ads will be displayed. This method limits the campaign’s reach precisely by specifying where and to whom our ad will be displayed.

Information about the „Watching”

setting.

The „Observation” setting does not limit our campaign reach or ad group. It does not change the audiences or display locations of the ads. With this option, we can monitor the effectiveness of our ads by referring to the audience groups or destinations we choose.

Then, based on the collected data, we can take further actions in the campaign, such as changing the rate adjustment for one particular group. We can also create new ad groups with targeting criteria set based on observations.

When to use it

Use the „Observation” setting if you don’t want to narrow down targeting in a campaign or ad group. Still, you want to monitor the effectiveness of selected criteria when displaying ads.

Widen viewer-reach

„Widen Audience Reach” is an option we can choose when we add audiences to our campaign/ad group. It allows us to reach more people who are similar to our current audience segment. Campaigns with audience reach expansion can increase impressions, views, clicks, and conversions, but they can also increase costs.

Reports about expanding reach among audiences

Reports about the expansion of reach among recipients can be found in the Google Ads dashboard under a given ad group’s „Recipients” tab. Scroll down the „Recipients” page to the very bottom of the effectiveness table until you see the row „Total: reach expansion and optimized targeting.”

Use limit-views-per-user – Frequency

Frequency is the maximum limit of ad impressions per user that we can set. We can use it in ad network campaigns and video campaigns.

The limit of impressions per user works differently depending on the type of campaign.

Campaigns on Google Ads network

Setting the frequency is not mandatory. We can choose the number of ad impressions in the context of a day, week or month. You can rewrite this value to individual ads, ad groups or campaigns. In ad network campaigns, only visible displays are included in the limit of impressions per user. Visible displays are those in which the user has seen the ad on the screen for at least 50% of no less than 1 second in the case of display ads.

The limit of impressions per user in an ad network campaign can only be determined after the campaign has been created.

video campaigns

We can only set the frequency per user in video campaigns at the campaign level.

We can set the frequency here referring to impressions and views in the same timeframes as display campaigns.

If a video from a given campaign is used in another video campaign, the views and viewings of that campaign count toward the per-user limit.

When a user reaches the view limit, Google stops showing them ads. This only applies to in-stream and bumper advertising at the auction.

Summary

For the record, selecting the right audience is one of the most important steps in creating and later optimizing a campaign. This is our foundation of basics.

As you can see, we have a great many options to choose from. We can narrow, expand, and test our reach depending on the advertising creative and other values. Again, I encourage you to experiment with different options and to optimize later based on the lessons we learn. If you don’t know where to start and how to get started at all – then get in touch with us; we will be most happy to help you find your way through this maze of targeting and select the best-performing audience.