Google Will Stop Using Similar Audiences In May 2023
Management Summary
Common and well-known online marketing approaches are currently evolving, primarily due to the need to develop new alternatives to protect privacy. This requires new and permanent solutions that will also exist in a world without 3rd party cookies. For this reason, Google will discontinue the previously known Similar Audiences from May 2023 and will rely on automated solutions that comply with privacy developments.
This article summarizes Google’s changes to Similar Audiences and provides an overview of new solutions and the impact of this change.
What changes with Similar Audiences?
- From May 2023, Similar Audience Segments (SAS) will no longer be able to be generated for targeting and reporting purposes – this applies to Google Ads and DV360.
- Active campaigns with SAS will be live until August 1, 2023, after which the segments will be removed everywhere.
- Access to historical reports with SAS will still be possible.
- Until May In 2023, Similar Audiences can continue to be used and the new solutions can be tested at the same time.
Timeline: Google will stop using Similar Audiences in 2023. (Source: Google)
What are the new solutions for targeting?
- Optimized Targeting (for Discovery, Display and Video Action campaigns via Google Ads and Display & Video 360)
- Audience Expansion (for Video Reach or Consideration campaigns – already available in Google Ads and from 1 HY 2023 also in DV360)
- Smart Bidding (Search & Shopping Campaigns in Google Ads)
What is “Optimized Targeting”?
- = helps to find new and relevant users beyond the manually selected targeting.
- Already available for YouTube Video Action campaigns for audience list targeting; soon available for display/video/audio.
- Optimized targeting is used for:
- Expanding audience segments (–> Expansion)
- Discovering new audiences with higher conversion probability (–> Discovering)
- Can only be used with “automated bidding” (not fixed bidding).
- No additional brand safety measures need to be taken.
- “Optimized Targeting” is stored automatically when a new LI is created that has targeted audiences (first party & Google audiences) and has set the automated bidding algorithm.
- An offline report shows how many impressions were generated by optimized targeting.
What is audience expansion?
- Audience Expansion offers a simple and goal-oriented expansion to reach relevant users. In this way, more potential customers can be reached and thus contribute to achieving the goals.
- So audience expansion generates additional conversions by expanding targeting to audience segments that are similar to the manually selected audience segments.
What do we have to consider?
- All YouTube Video Action campaigns with SAS should be switched to “optimized targeting”.
- For all other YouTube Line items, Audience Expansion (available from 2023) should be set up.
What does this update do?
- More powerful solutions (optimized targeting, audience expansion, smart bidding)
- Long-lasting strategy in the post-cookie environment
Conclusion
Automating targeting promises to continue reaching relevant audiences, measuring results and unlocking growth opportunities based on campaigns. Google provides different solutions for different campaign types that can leverage self-collected data, reach the right audience, and improve campaign performance. We recommend adjusting the campaign strategy in good time.
