Google-Engaged Audiences: Your Secret Weapon for Google Ads Remarketing

Understanding how to effectively reach the right people at the right time with the right message is crucial for success in Google Ads. (No kidding, Jyll!) In this article, we'll cover a powerful, yet often overlooked, audience targeting option: Google-engaged audiences.   

We'll explore:

• What Google-engaged audiences are and why they're so user-friendly
• Why Google-engaged audiences are great for small businesses
• Two key limitations of Google-engaged audiences
• How Google-engaged audiences compare to traditional remarketing lists from Google Ads and Google Analytics
• The unique benefits of using Google-engaged audiences, especially for platforms like Gmail
• Key takeaways to help you refine your Google Ads training and remarketing strategy

Understanding Google-Engaged Audiences: A Simple Solution

Imagine you have a loyal customer base. You know they've interacted with your brand, perhaps by searching for your products on Google or watching your videos on YouTube. Google-engaged audiences allow you to reconnect with these specific users without needing to set up complex tracking codes.

Traditionally, for remarketing, you'd need to place a "cookie" on a user's browser when they visit your website. Or perhaps you upload a customer list containing email addresses from all of your consenting customers.

Google-engaged audiences, however, are different. Google already knows who these users are because they've interacted with your content within Google's own ecosystem—be it Google Search, YouTube, or Maps—before even landing on your website. That means no cookies are needed to reach them again via Google Ads. It's sort of like Google sharing its own customer list with you, when those users have engaged with you on Google.

Every Google Ads account automatically gets one "Engaged audiences" segment. This segment automatically populates with users who have engaged with your site from Google properties, whether through ads or organic search results. No complicated Google tags, no account linking, no data uploads are necessary.

Why Google-Engaged Audiences Are Great For Small Businesses

There are three main reasons why Google-engaged audiences are such a powerful tool for small businesses or Google Ads beginners:

1. Ease of Use: This is perhaps the biggest advantage. Unlike other remarketing options, there's virtually no setup required. An Engaged audience segment simply appears in your Google Ads account, ready for use. This is a huge benefit, especially for small business owners who don't need additional technical hurdles.   
2. Simplicity: Every Google Ads account automatically receives one Engaged audience segment, encompassing all users who have visited your website from your Google Ads on Google-owned properties and from organic search results on Google. This approach keeps things simple; no segmentation needed.
3. First-Party Data Advantage: Since Google-engaged audiences are populated by users who engage with your website on a Google-owned property, Google has direct knowledge of who these users are. This largely involves signed-in users, which translates to high audience quality. Google handles all the user consent and tracking within its own ecosystem, providing you with a seamless remarketing solution.   

Google-Engaged Audience Limitations

it's important to note two limitations. First, Google-engaged audiences only track people who clicked on your ads or search results. This means if a user visits your website from a Meta Ad, direct traffic, organic social media, or other referral sources, they won't be included in this segment.

Second, Google-engaged audiences are not compatible with the Google Display Network, since those sites and apps rely on non-Google-owned properties for data collection and ad serving.

Comparing Google-Engaged Audiences to Other Remarketing Lists

To understand the practical utility of Google-engaged audiences, I conducted a study comparing their size to two common remarketing lists: the "All Visitors" list from the Google Ads tag and the standard "All Users" list from Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This study analyzed 14 different Google Ads accounts across Search, YouTube, and Gmail networks.

Here's what my analysis revealed:

• Google Analytics (GA4) vs. Google-Engaged Audiences: The GA4 audience was generally a bit larger than the Google-engaged audience. For Search and YouTube, GA4 audiences were 28% and 46% larger on average, respectively, and 8% and 9% larger on median. However, for Gmail, the GA4 audience was actually 10% smaller on average and 9% smaller on median. This suggests that while GA4 captures a slightly broader range of traffic, Google-engaged audiences are comparable in size.   
• Google Ads Audience vs. Google-Engaged Audiences: The Google Ads audience (based on the Google Ads tag) was significantly smaller than the Google-engaged audience and the Google Analytics audience across all networks. On average, the Google Ads audience was 62% smaller for Search, 61% smaller for YouTube, and a striking 90% smaller for Gmail. This highlights a potential limitation of relying solely on the Google Ads tag for remarketing nowadays.   
• Gmail Audience Discrepancy: My study also found that Gmail-eligible audience sizes were consistently much smaller than those for Search and YouTube across all three data sources (Google Ads, GA4, and Google-engaged). This makes intuitive sense, as user engagement with Search and YouTube is generally higher and more frequent than with Gmail. However, the "Gmail dropoff" was less pronounced with the Google-engaged audience, likely because it leverages Google's own signed-in user data.   

Key Takeaways for Your Google Ads Strategy

This study provides valuable insights for any Google Ads practitioner:

• Google-Engaged Audiences are Powerful and Easy to Use: Don't underestimate the utility of Google-engaged audiences. Their automatic setup, ease of use, and surprisingly robust size (especially compared to basic Google Ads remarketing lists) make them an efficient and valuable tool. They represent a pre-qualified segment of users who have already shown interest in your site within Google's ecosystem.   
• Combine Google-Engaged with GA4 for Broader Reach: While Google-engaged audiences are strong, GA4 audiences often offer a wider reach by capturing traffic from non-Google sources like direct visits or social media. For the most comprehensive remarketing strategy, combining Google-engaged audiences with GA4-based lists will allow you to reach the largest possible pool of users who have interacted with your brand. This comprehensive approach is particularly valuable given the rise of AI tools and zero-click searches.   
• Rethink Sole Reliance on Tag-Based Google Ads Remarketing: The significant size difference between Google Ads "All Visitors" lists and both Google-engaged and GA4 audiences suggests that relying solely on the standard Google Ads remarketing tag for audience building in 2025 might lead to missed opportunities.   
• Always Use Google-Engaged for Gmail Remarketing: If you're running Demand Gen or Performance Max campaigns with a remarketing objective, and you want to reach Gmail effectively, make sure to include the Google-engaged audience in your targeting or audience signals. The "Gmail dropoff" is less severe with Google-engaged audiences, making them ideal for reaching users on this platform.   

In conclusion, Google-engaged audiences offer distinct benefits for all advertisers, from beginners to seasoned Google Ads specialists. While they may not always be the largest audience, their direct connection to Google’s first-party data makes them exceptionally powerful for remarketing strategies, particularly for reaching users on Gmail and expanding your reach in an increasingly zero-click environment.   

Further reading about Google-engaged audiences

My Bestselling Book: Inside Google Ads: Everything you need to know about Audience Targeting

My Original Study: Should you use Google-engaged audiences in 2025?