Why (and when) Google is getting rid of Similar Audience

This means that Google is definitively closing users from Similar Audience, but the transition will be slow enough for marketers and companies to complete their activities. At the same time, you should already consider which of the giant's advertising products can be used to conduct your promotional activities without interruption.

While Google is best known for its search engine, online advertising is the company's key source of revenue. In the third quarter of 2022, the company earned a profit of $ 54.48 billion from this activity. For this reason, Google is very careful with changes to this product, since all of them can result in huge fluctuations in the market.

What is a similar audience

Similar Audience is one of the most popular tools in the portfolio of online advertising giants, including Google and Facebook. It allows you to reach users who represent a similar behavioral profile to the indicated target group.

In the case of Google, the list of users is most often created through remarketing - Google, for example, allows you to target people similar to a group of customers who have already visited the store once, watched a promotional video, or signed up for a newsletter.

The segment created in this way can be used in all advertising campaigns. This allows you to reach potential customers much more effectively and faster while avoiding those who are not interested in buying.

Why is Google disabling this product?

Until May 2023, you will no longer be able to add a similar segment to any existing campaign or ad group. However, you can continue to target a similar audience as part of an ongoing campaign. Moreover, from May these segments will no longer be created automatically.

From August, the entire product will be discontinued, and the similar audience functionality will not be available in any way. These groups will be retired from all campaigns, whether they are active or not, including ongoing campaigns.

Despite the removal of this product from the offer, historical data will remain available and marketers will be able to view and analyze it.

According to the company's representatives (expressed in official announcements and guides), the product is being replaced with other functionalities to offer services better suited to the needs of changing audiences and new content consumption models that must remain compatible with displayed advertisements.

More automation

The most major change is the increased role of automation in Google ads. The Similar Audiences product contained little of it and in practice required a lot of manual work to manage ads.

The new solutions introduced by Google also take care of the need to ensure user privacy with the ability to reach people who have not yet had contact with the company and are potentially interested in its services.

What will replace the Similar Audience

In this case, a specific service such as Similar Audience will be replaced by several products. Depending on the goal of the advertising campaign, Google offers several complementary products.

Optimized targeting

This product is to be used in discovery, display, or video campaigns. In this case, Google simply takes over the search for the best converting groups, without the need to use external cookies and data. According to Google, marketers who use the Optimized Targeting service can count on up to 55 percent. better results than when they use their own data from which they created segments.

According to information published by Google, the use of the Optimized Targeting tool will significantly expand the reach of each campaign, as it will allow you to go beyond manually set and clicked segments based on your data and lists. You will still be able to exclude specific groups of users.

Optimized Targeting is a tool focused on bringing the maximum number of conversions and reaching users among whom this chance is the highest. They do not necessarily have to be recipients similar to users from the group proposed as a model.

Audience Expansion

For awareness, reach and consideration campaigns, Google suggests using the Audience Expansion tool. This solution is already available in the Google panel and for display and video 360 ads it will be launched in the first half of 2023.

Unlike Optimized Targeting, the Audience Expansion tool allows you to reach more users with a similar profile to the model. This means that the campaign will bring much greater brand exposure among the target group, but this will not necessarily translate into an increase in conversion.

Smart Bidding

In search and shopping campaigns, the solution is to switch to Smart Bidding. Smart Bidding is based on solutions using machine learning, which allows you to optimize conversions on an ongoing basis, using feedback from potential customers at a specific moment.

So it is a solution similar to Optimized Targeting, which focuses on maximizing conversions and increasing sales, which is deeply justified in campaigns in search engines and Google Shopping.

Summary

Similar Audiences used to be one of the most popular tools in online advertising, but according to Google, its formula has worn out. Therefore, to make it easier for users to reach customers, a new Audience Insights tab is available in the Google Ads administration panel, where marketers can learn more about the interests and preferences of their users.

In practice, Google simply allowed new, more automated tools to take over the functions of the similar audience service. This is another step towards automation and simplification of advertising options within GAds.

According to Google representatives, the changes will not result in any decrease in advertisers' revenues and should contribute to better use of budgets.