Google launches new tool for display ad targeting

Google has released custom affinity audiences – which aims to give advertisers more flexibility in targeting users based on their interests across the Google display network. This builds on from the affinity audience segments which Google launched in 2013, allowing advertisers to target users across 80 set interests and demographics reflected by the individual’s search and site behaviour. While the new Custom Affinity Audiences will still utilise Google’s interest data, advertisers will now be able to take control of their target advertising by creating their own segments, as opposed to selecting from a pre–defined set of audiences.

Additionally, until now advertisers have had to work directly with a Google rep to create a custom segment. With the release of this new tool, advertisers will be able to build custom affinity audiences themselves in AdWords. When setting up custom affinity audiences in AdWords, advertisers can mix interest segments with sites related to those interests, and Google will provide reach estimates broken down by demographics and top interests.