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Google Ads Audience Targeting: How to Reach the Right People

AdsWatch Blog June 2026 6 min read

Audience targeting lets you reach people based on who they are, not just what they search for. Combined with keyword targeting it is one of the most powerful levers in Google Ads.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
  1. Types of Audiences in Google Ads
  2. Layering Audiences on Search Campaigns
  3. Setting Up Remarketing Audiences
  4. Monitor Audience Performance with AdsWatch

Types of Audiences in Google Ads

Google offers several audience types at different intent stages:

1
In-market audiences: People actively researching products in your category right now. Most valuable for bottom-funnel.
2
Affinity audiences: People with strong long-term interest in a topic. Better for brand awareness.
3
Custom intent audiences: Build your own audience based on recent keywords searched or URLs visited.
4
Remarketing: People who previously visited your website. Typically your highest-converting audience.
5
Customer match: Upload your email list to target or exclude existing customers.

Layering Audiences on Search Campaigns

Audiences on search campaigns work as observation or targeting:

1
Observation only: Ads show to everyone but you collect performance data by audience segment
2
Targeting: Ads only show to people matching the audience AND the keyword
3
Best practice: start with observation for 2-4 weeks to collect data, then apply bid adjustments

Setting Up Remarketing Audiences

Build remarketing from your website visitors via Google Tag:

1
Install Google Tag on all pages
2
Create audience lists in Google Ads Audience Manager
3
Common lists: All visitors, Product page visitors, Cart abandoners, Past purchasers
4
Apply these in dedicated remarketing campaigns with different messaging

Monitor Audience Performance with AdsWatch

Audience optimizations take 2-4 weeks to show impact. Use AdsWatch daily monitoring to catch performance drops during the adjustment period.

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