How to Use In-Market Audiences in Google Ads

Just follow this step-by-step guide to identify and target high-intent customers in Google Ads, so you can select, layer, and optimize your bids and creatives for measurable results; use the official In-Market Audiences resource to match audience segments to your conversion goals and improve your ROI.

Key Takeaways:

• Use in-market audiences to reach users actively researching or planning purchases and align them with campaign goals.
• Combine in-market segments with keywords, custom intent, and remarketing lists to refine targeting and increase relevance.
• Apply bid adjustments or create separate campaigns for high-value in-market segments to control spend and improve ROAS.
• Monitor performance, A/B test audience combinations, and pause or optimize low-performing segments.
• Exclude irrelevant in-market segments and use observation mode first to gather data before full targeting.

Understanding In-Market Audiences

When you target in-market audiences, you’re reaching users Google identifies as actively researching or comparing purchases; the tool includes hundreds of segments across categories like Autos, Travel, Finance and Home & Garden. You’ll see the biggest gains when you align these audiences with campaign intent-using Smart Bidding on Search or Display often increases efficiency because signals reflect recent, high-intent behavior rather than long-term interests.

Definition and Importance

In-market audiences are clusters of users Google classifies by recent behavior that indicates purchase intent, such as category-specific searches and site visits. You should use them to prioritize spend during buying windows-for example, boost bids on the “Used Cars” segment when inventory is seasonal or promote financing offers to the “Home Improvement” group during renovation peaks to capture short-term demand.

Key Characteristics

They’re dynamic and time-sensitive, built from real-time search and browsing signals, available across Search, Display, YouTube and Discovery, and organized into hundreds of granular segments. You can apply them in Observation to gather lift data or Targeting to narrow reach, and they perform best when layered with demographics, remarketing lists, or keywords so you maintain scale while increasing relevance.

In practice, start by running audiences in Observation to collect conversion data for 2-4 weeks, then test modest bid adjustments-commonly +10-20% for high-value segments-while monitoring CPA and ROAS. You can also exclude low-performing in-market segments, combine them with remarketing for sequential messaging, and use Auction Insights and Audience reports to spot overlap or incremental reach.

How to Set Up In-Market Audiences in Google Ads

Accessing Google Ads

Sign in at ads.google.com, choose the account you’ll work in, then open the wrench icon (Tools & settings) and select Audience manager under the Shared library. You can also open a specific campaign or ad group and click the Audiences tab to attach segments directly. If you manage multiple clients, use an MCC to switch accounts quickly and apply consistent audience setups across properties.

Selecting In-Market Audiences

Open Audience manager, pick Audience segments and filter by In‑market segments; use the search box to find specific intents like “auto buyers” or “home insurance.” Preview estimated reach and device distribution before adding a segment, and decide whether to apply at campaign or ad group level in Targeting or Observation mode to control reach and bidding impact.

Layer in‑market segments with contextual or remarketing lists to tighten relevance: for example, combine “in‑market travel” with users who viewed booking pages. Run tests for 2-4 weeks, try bid adjustments in 10-20% increments, and pause or expand segments based on CPA and conversion rate trends rather than initial impression counts.

Tips for Optimizing In-Market Audience Campaigns

Tightening your audience mix and testing creative quickly shows which segments drive conversions: run short A/B tests for 7-14 days and track CPA and CVR. Use bid adjustments to favor high-intent lists-start with 10-25% increases on top performers and monitor ROAS. Segment by device and time-of-day to uncover hidden pockets of value. After you’ve identified winners, scale budgets and lock in exclusions to prevent wasted spend.

• Run A/B tests for 7-14 days with 5-10% of campaign budget
• Increase bids 10-25% on top-performing in-market segments
• Exclude overlapping or low-performing audiences to reduce waste
• Segment by device and hour to find high-value windows

Budgeting and Bidding Strategies

Allocate 15-25% of your initial campaign budget to in-market audiences during the test phase; if CPA improves by 10-20%, reallocate another 10% toward those segments. Use Target CPA or Maximize Conversions to automate scaling, then apply manual bid modifiers of +10-30% for top lists. Monitor CPC, conversion rate, and ROAS daily for two weeks before expanding spend.

Creative Best Practices

Use responsive search ads with up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions to tailor messages to each in-market segment, include clear offers like price or a 10% discount, and personalize headlines to intent (e.g., “SUV Financing Options” for auto shoppers). Test one strong CTA per ad and review asset-level performance weekly.

Match ad copy to landing pages to boost Quality Score-aligned messaging can lift conversions by up to 30% in many cases. Employ ad customizers for dynamic pricing or countdowns, rotate tailored sitelinks (e.g., “Lease Deals” vs “Buy Now”), and archive low-performing assets after two test cycles to keep creatives fresh.

Factors Influencing In-Market Audience Performance

Performance depends on audience size, recency of signals, overlap with other targets, and landing-page fit: segments under ~5k users show volatile CPA while 50k+ provide stable conversion data. Tests often reveal 15-25% CTR lifts when you match creatives to intent, and allocating 60-70% of spend to top segments speeds learning. Thou align bids to segment ROAS and pause low-volume slices quickly.

• Audience size – target 50k+ active users for reliable metrics.
• Signal recency – users who searched in the last 7-30 days convert best.
• Overlap/exclusions – reduce internal competition by excluding search and remarketing lists.
• Thou: test landing-page relevance and creative alignment; you should run at least three ad variations per segment.

Audience Segmentation

Divide in-market audiences into tiers (top 10-20% high intent, next 30% medium, remainder low) and apply different bid multipliers: consider +20-50% for top tiers and -10-30% for low-intent pools. You should combine Google signals with first-party behavior (site pages, time on page) and run 14-28 day experiments to reach statistical significance before scaling.

Ad Relevance and Quality

Match headlines, descriptions, and landing pages to the segment’s intent-ads citing price, delivery windows, or availability often outperform generic copy by up to 15% in retail tests. You should use responsive search ads and at least three creative variants per segment, while monitoring Quality Score components (expected CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience) for improvements within two weeks.

For a concrete example, an electronics advertiser raised conversion rate from 2.1% to 3.4% and lowered CPA 24% after implementing intent-matched RSAs and updating product pages with specs; load time under 3s and clear CTA helped. You should prioritize relevance first, then page speed and mobile UX, and track Quality Score trends to guide ongoing optimizations.

Monitoring and Analyzing Campaign Results

Monitor performance daily with segmented reports in Google Ads and Google Analytics, focusing on audience-level trends rather than campaign averages; for example, if the “Auto Buyers” in-market segment delivers a 4x ROAS and 3.5% CTR while others lag, shift budget and test tailored creatives for that segment; set automated alerts for CPA swings greater than 20% to act quickly.

Key Metrics to Track

Track impressions, CTR (aim for >3% on search, lower on display), conversion rate (target 2-5%), CPA relative to your target, ROAS (goal often >4x), impression share, and audience-level conversion volume; monitor bounce rate and session duration in Analytics to spot poor landing-page fit-if a segment converts at 0.8% vs campaign 3%, flag it for optimization.

Adjustments Based on Data

When an audience underperforms, lower bids by 10-25% or exclude it; for top performers, increase bids 10-30% and expand remarketing lists; reallocate daily budget from low-ROAS display to high-ROAS search segments, and run creative A/B tests for 7-14 days to validate lift before scaling.

Take a structured approach: segment by audience and device, then apply a +20% bid to audiences with ≥30% higher conversion rate; switch to Target CPA or Maximize Conversions when you have 15+ conversions in the last 30 days; use experiments for 2-4 weeks aiming for ~95% confidence, add negative keywords from search terms causing wasted spend, and document each change and its impact on CPA and ROAS.

Integration with Other Targeting Options

When you layer in-market audiences with keywords, demographic filters, placements, or Smart Bidding, you sharpen intent without losing scale; for example, run in-market as an observation to collect performance data, then apply a 10-30% bid increase on segments that convert above your CPA target. Use exclusions to prevent overlap (exclude high-frequency converters) and A/B test combinations across two-week windows to measure lift in CTR, conversion rate, and ROAS.

Combining with Affinity Audiences

Layer affinity with in-market to expand reach among users who have long-term interests-pair “Shoppers” or “Tech Enthusiasts” with in-market segments like “Laptops” to target both interest and purchase intent. You can run affinity as a broad bid-lift (+5-15%) while using in-market for stronger bids; case studies commonly show improved upper-funnel engagement and a 10-25% increase in assisted conversions when both are used together.

Retargeting Strategies

Seed remarketing lists with users who entered your site from in-market campaigns, then apply short-window bids (7-day) for high intent and longer windows (30-90 days) for nurturing. You should exclude converters for a set period-often 30 days-adjust bids by recency (higher for 0-7 days), and sync CRM audiences to prioritize high-LTV customers in auctions to boost ROAS.

For deeper sequencing, create layered lists: 0-7 days see dynamic product ads with strong CTAs, 8-30 days get promo-focused creatives, and 31-90 days receive brand reminders; implement frequency caps (e.g., 3 impressions/day) to avoid fatigue and test exclusions like “viewed checkout but not purchased” to isolate cart abandoners-this often yields the best incremental lift in conversion rate and lower CPA.

To wrap up

So use in-market audiences to target shoppers actively considering products similar to yours, refine bids and creatives for high-intent segments that help you convert, test audience combinations, and monitor performance to optimize spend and CPA; incorporate audience exclusions and remarketing lists to prevent overlap, and iterate regularly to keep targeting aligned with your campaign goals.

FAQ

Q: What are in-market audiences and how do they help Google Ads performance?

A: In-market audiences are Google-defined segments of users who have recently demonstrated active research or purchase intent for specific product or service categories. Using them helps you reach users further along the buying cycle, increasing the likelihood that clicks convert. They work across Search, Display, and YouTube campaigns and can improve targeting precision when combined with contextual signals such as keywords, placements, or custom intent lists. Metrics to track for impact include conversion rate, cost per conversion, ROAS, and lifetime value if available.

Q: How do I add in-market audiences to my campaign or ad group?

A: In Google Ads go to Tools & settings > Shared library > Audience manager or directly to a campaign/ad group and select Audiences. Choose to edit audience targeting, click to browse or create a new audience, then select “In-market” and pick relevant categories (there are hundreds organized by verticals). Add at the campaign or ad group level depending on your targeting strategy. Use “Observation” mode to collect performance data without restricting traffic, or “Targeting” mode when you want to restrict delivery only to selected in-market segments. After adding, pair audiences with tailored creatives and set initial bid adjustments to test impact.

Q: Should I use observation or targeting for in-market audiences, and how should I set bids?

A: Start with Observation to measure how in-market segments perform against your baseline without limiting reach. If a segment shows better conversion rate or ROAS, switch to Targeting or target-and-bid only when you want to concentrate spend. For bids, set conservative bid adjustments initially (e.g., +10-25%) and scale up for high-performance segments; reduce or exclude low-performing ones. Combine audience signals with automated bid strategies like Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, or Target ROAS, and use portfolio bid strategies when managing multiple campaigns. Always test bid changes incrementally and let algorithms gather sufficient data before making big shifts.

Q: How do I measure and optimize the performance of in-market audiences?

A: Use audience reporting and segments to compare metrics (impressions, CTR, conversion rate, cost/conversion, ROAS) for in-market vs non-in-market traffic. Run A/B tests with identical creatives and bids to isolate audience impact. If a segment converts well but has low volume, broaden by combining adjacent in-market categories or use observation with audience expansion. Exclude audiences with poor conversion performance or high CPA. Optimize creatives and landing pages to match the intent signaled by the in-market category. Monitor frequency, overlap, and audience size to avoid audience exhaustion or inflated costs.

Q: What common mistakes should I avoid and what are best practices when using in-market audiences?

A: Avoid relying solely on in-market audiences; layer them with keywords, remarketing, or custom intent for better precision. Don’t set large bid increases without sufficient conversion data-this can inflate CPA. Avoid overly narrow targeting that limits reach and prevents learning by automated bidding. Regularly review audience sizes, overlaps, and performance to prevent duplicated spend. Use exclusions to remove low-value segments and test creative and landing page variations that align with purchase intent. Finally, respect privacy guidelines and ensure conversion tracking and consent mechanisms are correctly implemented so performance signals remain accurate.