Customer Match is a Google Ads feature that lets you use your own customer data to decide who sees your ads. The advertiser uploads a list of contacts collected directly, such as email addresses, phone numbers or mailing addresses, and Google looks for matching people among its signed-in users.

This way you can reach existing customers with dedicated messages, or exclude them from campaigns meant for new customers. This is first-party data: information the business has collected itself, with people’s consent.

How it works

You upload the list in Google Ads, in the audience segments section, or through connections with a CRM and other tools. Before matching, the data is hashed (SHA256): Google compares encoded values and does not receive the list in plain text. People it does not find among its users do not enter the segment.

You can use the resulting segment to show ads, adjust bids or exclude those contacts. It works in several campaign types, including Search, Shopping, YouTube, Gmail, Display, Demand Gen and Performance Max, where it also works as a signal for automation.

What it is for

  • Offering complementary products or a renewal to people who have already bought.
  • Excluding existing customers from acquisition campaigns, so you do not spend budget on people who have already bought.
  • Reactivating customers who have not bought for a while.
  • Giving Performance Max and Demand Gen an indication of what kind of people to look for.

Requirements and rules

Not every account can use it: Google requires the account to meet certain criteria, related to compliance with advertising policies and payment history. The uploaded data must have been collected directly by the advertiser and with people’s consent, in line with the GDPR and Google’s Customer Match policies. You cannot upload lists bought from third parties.

Not to be confused with

Customer Match is not the inbox of messages Google sends the advertiser about policies, payments or verifications: that is normal account communication. Nor is it classic remarketing, which is based on site visits recorded by the tag: here the basis is customer contacts.

Frequently asked questions

Does Google see my customers’ email addresses?

The data is hashed before matching. Google uses it to find matches and not for other purposes, according to its Customer Match policies.

Do I need my customers’ consent?

Yes. The data must have been collected by the advertiser with a valid legal basis, in Europe under the GDPR, and people must be informed about the advertising use.

Can every Google Ads account use it?

No. Google makes it available to accounts that meet its requirements on policy compliance and payments.

Have questions?Want to use your customer data in campaigns without privacy mistakes?I set up Customer Match, lists and exclusions in your campaigns. Contact me for a no-obligation consultation.Discover Google Ads Management

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Remarketing Google Ads audience exclusion Google Ads privacy compliance Google Ads enhanced conversions Google Ads similar audiences