Google Ads offers different ways of targeting your ideal audience by demographics1.
Google determines demographic information for two types of users—those signed into a google account and those not signed in. Demographics data for users signed in is collected through information in the account settings and information provided on social networking sites. Meanwhile, Demographics data for users not signed in to a google account is estimated based on their activities on google properties. For example, when people browse YouTube, Google may store a “cookie” in their web browser which may later be associated with certain demographic categories based on the websites visited2.
Demographic targeting options include:
- Locations – “Countries”, “cities”, “territories”, “postal (zip) codes”, and “Radius around a location”
- Based on a variety of signals including user settings, devices, and behavior on platform… 100% accuracy is not guaranteed in every situation4
- Ages – “18-24,” “25-34,” “35-44,” “45-54,” “55-64,” “65+,” and “Unknown”
- Genders – “Female,” “Male,” and “Unknown”
- Household Incomes – “Top 10%,” “11-20%,” “21-30%,” “31-40%,” “41-50%,” “Lower 50%,” and “Unknown”
- Determined from A) Data provided by the user in their Google Account Settings B) Data provided to Google from social networking sites and website cookies C) Groups of Zip Codes associated with household income statistics from the census data3
- Parental Status – “Parent,” “Not a parent,” and “Unknown”
- Determined from surveys of respondents who are self-declared parents with children in their household5
More on the “Unknown” Category:
Google Ads can’t infer the demographics of all people. “Unknown” includes all people whose age, gender, household income, and parental status Google hasn’t identified.
- Excluding “Unknown” might prevent a substantial number of people from seeing your ads, some of whom you might want to reach2
Google Targeting Restrictions: Housing, Lending, Credit & Employment:
To be in compliance with the Fair Housing & Equal Credit Opportunity Act, housing, employment, and credit services cannot be targeted to audiences based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP code6.
Disapproved Ads — Ads not eligible to run because they violate Google Policies7
Appealing Ads — Process to oppose Google’s Policy decision & potentially approve ad8
Sources:
1https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1704368?hl=en
2https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2580383?hl=en
4https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6317?hl=en
6https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9917652?hl=en
7https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2615949?hl=en8https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1704381#zippy=