Learn more about the different ways to use your data with Google Ads .
Ad reach with your data segments is highly dependent on where you would like to show your ads. This article explains why that may happen, and which of your data segments are compatible.
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Before you begin
If you aren't familiar with how to use your data, learn how to set up your data segments . You'll learn how to set up a campaign targeting people who visited your website or used your app and understand how segments are created.
In some cases, your segment may be ineligible or incompatible with your campaign. There are 2 reasons why your data segment may not work in your campaign:
- Your data segment does not have enough visitors or users on the selected network in your campaign settings. Learn more about list sizes .
- Your data segment type is incompatible with the selected network in your campaign settings. Below you can learn more about list type compatibility.
List type compatibility
Your data segments are grouped by the source of their data into data segment types. The most common type of list is "Website visitors", which uses a tag on your website to add people to the list. Below you can find out which list type is compatible with which types of ads.
Keep in mind that you still have to meet the size requirements .
Size of your data segment
The requirement to serve your ads varies based on the target network. The accuracy of the estimated segment size will vary depending on your segment settings, the length of time since your tag was installed, your campaign settings, and other factors.
- Google Display Network must have a minimum of 100 active visitors or users within the last 30 days.
- Google Search Network must have a minimum of 100 active visitors or users within the last 30 days. Customer lists also have the same eligibility.
- YouTube must have a minimum of 100 active visitors or users within the last 30 days. Customer lists also have the same eligibility.
"Active users", or just "Users", is the number of people who engaged with your site or app. This is different from total users reported in platforms like Google Analytics or Firebase. Google Ads focuses on users who have interacted with Google services and ads recently and meet specific criteria. If you're comparing audience sizes with GA4, check the 'Advertising' segment in GA4 for a more comparable number, as this reflects users eligible for Google Ads remarketing.
Troubleshoot audience size discrepancies and list population
- Enable Google signals: Ensure Google Signals is enabled in Google Analytics to allow audiences to populate correctly in Google Ads.
- Verify cookie implementation: Confirm that necessary cookies such as SNID, NID, ID, or IDE are correctly implemented on your website. Missing cookies can prevent audiences from populating in Google Ads.
- Allow time for population: If an audience list is newly created, it can take up to 48-72 hours for it to fully populate in Google Ads.
- Minimum active user thresholds: Remember that Google Ads has minimum active user thresholds for remarketing lists to be eligible to serve. If your list doesn't meet these thresholds, ads won't serve.
Check the information below if you have trouble with managing your data segments:
List type |
List compatibility |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search | YouTube | Display | Gmail | ||
| Website visitors* | |||||
| YouTube users | |||||
| App users |  |
||||
| Customer list | |||||
* Some visitors to your website may not be able to be targeted on Google properties. For example, visitors uploaded through Data Management Platforms can't be targeted on Google properties.
If you have a good history of policy compliance, but don't meet the Customer Match policy requirements , you can only use customer lists in the “Observation” setting and for Exclusions .
If your account is flagged for sensitive content (for example, health-related), you may be restricted from using advertiser-curated audiences like Customer Match. In such cases, you can still use predefined Google audiences (In-market, Affinity, Demographics). To resolve ineligibility due to policy violations, you may need to appeal the policy violation. If a domain is flagged, consider using a different domain.
To provide a comprehensive and consolidated view of your Audiences and make audience management and optimization simpler, you’ll find the following improvements in Google Ads:
- New audience reporting: Go to Audiences
within the Campaignsmenu
for detailed reporting about audience demographics, segments, and exclusions. You can also easily manage your audiences from this report page. Learn more About Audience reporting .
- New terms: We’re using new terms on your audience report and throughout Google Ads. For example, “audience types” (these include custom, in-market, and affinity) are now referred to as audience segments and “remarketing” is now referred to as “your data”. Learn more about the Updates to Audience terms and phrases .
