Audiences in Google Ads: in-market, affinity and remarketing

Every click costs money, and not every click has equal value. That is exactly why audiences are among the most powerful tools available in Google Ads. By showing your ads to people who demonstrably have an interest in your product or service, the likelihood of a conversion increases significantly. In 2026, Google offers three main categories of audience targeting: in-market audiences, affinity audiences and remarketing. Each type plays a distinct role in the customer journey, follows its own logic and offers its own set of opportunities. This article explains how these three types work, what sets them apart and how to combine them strategically for the best possible ROAS.

What are audiences in Google Ads?

General vs. Audience-Targeted Advertising

Average performance for campaigns with and without audience targeting

Without audience targeting

• CTR: 1.8%
• Conversion rate: 1.2%
• Average CPC: €1.45
• ROAS: 180%
• Wasted budget: high

With audience targetingRecommended

• CTR: 3.6%
• Conversion rate: 3.1%
• Average CPC: €1.20
• ROAS: 420%
• Wasted budget: low

An audience in Google Ads is a group of people defined by a shared characteristic, based on their behaviour, interests or relationship with your brand. Google collects enormous volumes of signals across Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps and millions of partner websites. Based on all these signals, Google classifies users into audience segments. As an advertiser, you can use those segments to adjust your bids, refine your reach or focus your campaigns exclusively on that audience.

Audiences can be applied across virtually all campaign types: Search, Display, Shopping, Video and Performance Max (PMax). In Search campaigns, you add audiences in one of two modes: observation (you collect data without restricting reach) or targeting (your ads are shown exclusively to that audience). In Display, Video and PMax, audiences are the primary lever for directing your reach. Configuring your audiences correctly is therefore one of the most impactful decisions you can make when structuring your campaigns.

The combination of smart audience settings with Smart Bidding also creates a powerful synergy. Google uses audience signals as additional input for its bidding algorithms, enabling the system to better predict which user is ready to convert. Advertisers who systematically apply audiences alongside Target ROAS or Target CPA strategies see measurably better campaign performance across all key metrics.

In-market audiences: reach people with purchase intent

In-market audiences are groups of users that Google actively classifies as people who are considering a purchase in a specific category in the near term. Google bases this classification on recent search behaviour, websites visited and interactions with similar ads. Someone who has searched multiple times in the past week for "online exam practice" and visited several educational platforms may be placed by Google into the in-market audience for online education.

In-market audiences are particularly well suited for conversion-focused campaigns. The user is already in a consideration phase and therefore requires less persuasion than someone who has never encountered your product before. For ToetsJeKennis.nl, a platform for practice exams and knowledge tests, in-market audiences around categories such as "online learning", "study materials" and "exam preparation" are highly relevant. Adding these audiences to Search campaigns as a targeting layer allows bids to be increased for users who are already actively searching for testing solutions.

Key advantages of in-market audiences include:

• Precise reach among users with demonstrable purchase intent
• No first-party website data required, Google populates the audience automatically
• Scalable as Google regularly adds new segments
• Easy to combine with Smart Bidding for automatic bid adjustments
• Applicable in Search, Display and Performance Max campaigns

A common mistake is adding in-market audiences as targeting in Search campaigns, which cuts off a significant portion of potential search queries. Start with observation mode, analyse the data in your conversion reports and then manually increase bids for segments that convert best. This way you combine breadth with efficiency.

Affinity audiences: reach people based on interests

Affinity audiences are built on long-term interests and lifestyle patterns rather than current purchase intent. While in-market audiences reflect what someone wants to buy right now, affinity audiences reflect who someone is. A person who regularly watches sports broadcasts, visits fitness-related websites and searches for training schedules fits Google's affinity audience for "sports enthusiasts".

Affinity audiences are most effective for top-of-funnel campaigns focused on awareness and reach. They work well in Display and Video campaigns where you want to reach a broad audience with visual messaging. For ToetsJeKennis.nl, affinity audiences around "lifelong learners", "students" or "career-focused professionals" can be valuable for reaching new potential users who are not yet actively searching but are open to an offering like online knowledge testing.

Google also allows you to create custom affinity audiences, where you define your own interests, keywords and URLs that characterise your target group. This gives you a much more precise reach than Google's standard segments. A custom affinity audience for ToetsJeKennis.nl might consist of people who visit tutoring websites, read academic publications or search for terms like "practice exam" and "knowledge quiz". This combines the breadth of affinity targeting with the relevance of a tailored approach.

Remarketing: reach people who already know your brand

Average ROAS per Audience Type

Benchmarks for Search and Display campaigns in 2026

Remarketing (own visitors)

520%

In-market audiences

390%

Customer lists (Customer Match)

470%

Affinity audiences

260%

No audience (broad)

180%

Remarketing is the most powerful form of audience targeting available in Google Ads, simply because the audience already knows you. People who have visited your website, viewed a specific page, partially completed a form or watched a video are far more likely to convert than a completely new visitor. Remarketing allows you to re-engage these people with a targeted message at the right moment.

Google Ads offers several forms of remarketing:

• Standard remarketing: show ads to previous website visitors across the Display Network or YouTube.
• Dynamic remarketing: automatically show the exact products or services a user has viewed, with personalised ad content.
• Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA): adjust your bids and ads in Search campaigns based on prior website visits.
• Customer Match: upload a customer list (email addresses) and reach existing customers or prospects on Google Search, YouTube and Gmail.
• Video remarketing: reach people who have interacted with your YouTube channel or specific videos.

For ToetsJeKennis.nl, remarketing works particularly well in a multi-phase approach. Users who visited the homepage but have not yet created an account see ads with a direct invitation to start a free practice test. Users who have already logged in but have not completed a specific module can be encouraged to return through remarketing. This way, each segment receives a message that matches the stage they are in.

A prerequisite for effective remarketing is reliable conversion tracking and ideally server-side tracking. When cookies are blocked or browser restrictions complicate measurement, remarketing lists quickly run dry. With server-side tracking you ensure that visitor data is correctly recorded and your remarketing audiences stay populated, even in a cookieless environment. In 2026, this is no longer a luxury but an absolute necessity for any serious Google Ads strategy.

The three audience types compared

Feature	In-market	Affinity	Remarketing
Targeting basis	Recent purchase intent	Long-term interests	Prior brand contact
Customer journey stage	Consideration	Awareness	Conversion / loyalty
Best campaign type	Search, PMax	Display, Video	Search, Display, Video
Own data required?	No	No	Yes (website data or list)
Average ROAS (benchmark)	390%	260%	520%
Suitable for small budgets?	Yes	Limited	Yes (if sufficient traffic)

How to combine the three audience types strategically

The Audience Funnel: From Awareness to Conversion

How the three audience types align with the customer journey

100 Affinity audiences

Broad reach, build awareness

62 In-market audiences

Purchase intent, stimulate consideration

31 Remarketing

High intent, drive conversion

Optimal ROAS by delivering the right message at the right moment

The true power of audience targeting reveals itself when you use the three types not in isolation, but as an integrated system. Think of the customer journey as a funnel: at the top you reach new people via affinity audiences, in the middle you activate purchase readiness via in-market audiences and at the bottom you convert warm contacts via remarketing. Each audience type deserves a different message, a different format and a different bid level.

A concrete example based on the approach used for ToetsJeKennis.nl: at the top of the funnel, YouTube bumper ads run targeting affinity audiences around learning and personal development. In the middle of the funnel, Search campaigns run with increased bids for in-market audiences actively searching for exam preparation. At the bottom of the funnel, RLSA campaigns re-engage previous visitors in Search with a message tailored to the specific pages they visited.

When you combine these layers with Performance Max, the algorithm can autonomously identify the most valuable users based on the audience signals you provide. In PMax, audiences function as signals rather than hard filters. You tell the system: "these are the people who convert for us", and Google then automatically seeks out similar users. This makes it crucial to set your best-converting remarketing segments and in-market audiences as primary audience signals in your PMax campaigns.

When building a layered audience strategy, keep the following best practices in mind:

• Exclude existing converting customers from acquisition campaigns to avoid wasted budget
• Create separate ad groups per audience segment for better Ad Strength and relevance
• Monitor Quality Score per segment, as more relevant ads lower your CPC
• Refresh your Customer Match lists regularly to keep data current
• Use audience overlaps intentionally, as a user can be in multiple segments simultaneously
• Test broad match keywords combined with strong audience targeting for maximum reach at controlled costs

Technical requirements for effective audience targeting

Effective audience targeting depends entirely on the quality of your data. Several technical prerequisites are essential. First, a correctly configured Google tag or Google Tag Manager to ensure all page visits are recorded and remarketing lists are automatically populated. Second, Enhanced Conversions to allow Google to measure conversions from users who have blocked cookies. Third, server-side tracking for maximum data quality and future-proofing in a privacy-first world.

When using Customer Match, additional requirements apply. Your account must comply with Google's policies, and the data must be uploaded in anonymised form using hashed email addresses. Google then matches the list against logged-in Google users, which with a good-quality list can yield a match rate of 40 to 60 percent. The larger and more current your customer list, the greater the reach and the better the results of your Customer Match campaigns.

Frequently asked questions about audiences in Google Ads

What is the difference between in-market and affinity audiences?

In-market audiences are based on recent purchase intent: Google classifies users who are actively searching for a product or service in a specific category. Affinity audiences, by contrast, are built on long-term interests and lifestyle patterns. In-market audiences are ideal for conversion-focused campaigns, while affinity audiences work best for awareness and reach at the top of the funnel.

How many visitors do I need to use remarketing?

Google requires a minimum of 100 active users in a remarketing audience for Display campaigns and at least 1,000 active users for Search campaigns (RLSA). For YouTube remarketing, the minimum is 1,000 followers or viewers. If your website still has relatively few visitors, it is wise to first invest in growing your reach through in-market or affinity audiences, so that remarketing lists fill up more quickly.

Can I use audiences in Performance Max campaigns?

Yes, but with a different functionality than in traditional campaigns. In Performance Max, audiences act as signals: you give Google an indication of who your ideal customer is, but the algorithm can also advertise outside that audience if it sees opportunities. Strong audience signals for PMax include your own remarketing lists, Customer Match audiences and your best-performing in-market segments. The stronger your audience signals, the faster PMax learns and the better the long-term campaign results.

How do I know which audience type works best for my campaign?

The best approach is to start by adding all relevant audience types in observation mode to your existing campaigns. After at least four weeks you will have enough data to see which segments convert above average or deliver a higher ROAS. Based on those insights, you can adjust your bids via bid adjustments or create dedicated campaigns that target those audiences exclusively. In Search campaigns, combining negative keywords with audience targeting gives you the greatest possible precision.