What is Google Ads Customer Match?

You may have heard of Google’s new ‘Customer Match’ tool within the Google Ads platform. But what is Customer Match? How can you use Customer Match to improve your Google Advertising campaigns? Hopefully our helpful article here will provide some insights to assist you.

Starting this Autumn in 2021, advertisers who have a strong / trustworthy history of compliance with all of Google’s advertising policies are to be rewarded with access to certain elements of Customer Match. A few things to note:

If you don’t meet all the requirements detailed below, you’ll only be able to use Customer Match on the 'Observation' setting – this means it is without bid adjustments, and for customer list exclusions.
If you do meet all of the requirements (well done), you’ll also be able to use the additional Customer Match features, such as the 'Targeting' setting and all the bid adjustment tools.

Customer Match lets you use your online and offline data to reach and re-engage with your customers across Google’s Search, Shopping, Gmail, YouTube and Display products. The service works by using information that your customers have shared with you through various customer touchpoints. Customer Match will then target ads to those customers and also identify and target ‘lookalike’ customers like them, offering a stronger chance of conversions / repeat conversions, whatever that conversion may be.

Requirements for using Customer Match

As mentioned, Customer Match isn’t available as standard to all advertisers, making this a premium Google product. To use Customer Match, your Google Ads account must at the very least have the following:

A good history of policy compliance.
A good payment history.
At least 90 days' history in Google Ads.
More than 50,000 USD (or equivalent alternate currency based on an average exchange rate) total lifetime spend on the account.

If your account doesn't meet the requirements criteria, then unfortunately it is ineligible to use Customer Match, at least for the moment.

Collecting customer data

When using Customer Match, you will basically have the ability to upload customer data you have, legally and according to GDPR, in your possession. You can only upload customer information that you collected in the first-party context, for example information that you collected from your websites, apps, physical shops or other situations where customers shared their information directly, and knowingly, with your company or organisation.

Further examples:

You collected information from a customer who made a purchase from your website.
You collected information from a customer who registered to receive marketing messages through your apps.
You collected information from a customer who signed up for a customer loyalty programme or similar scheme in your physical shop location.
You collected information from a customer via a social media competition, with consent to market to them in future.

As stated by Google, you must:

Ensure that your privacy policy discloses that you share customer data with third parties to perform services on your behalf, and that you obtain consent for such sharing where legally required.
Only use Google’s approved API or interface to upload customer data.
Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including any self-regulatory or industry codes that may apply.

To learn more about how you can (and if you can) utilise Google’s Customer Match tools please contact Wish.