Set up a cross-channel remarketing segment

To tailor the display of cross-channel ads (for example, to display social ads to customers who have clicked your search ads, or search ads to customers who have clicked your display ads) follow this process: (see details below):

1. In the new Search Ads 360:
   1. Label campaigns, ad groups, keywords, or ads that are relevant to your remarketing efforts.
      
      Search Ads 360 can use social ads that support click tracking to help build cross-channel remarketing lists. Search Ads 360 cannot use view tracking to build remarketing lists.
   2. Create a remarketing segment and associate it with the labeled items.
2. In the social or search platform, set up a remarketing list based on the remarketing segment you just created in Search Ads 360.
   1. For Google Ads accounts in the same sub-manager account, there is no need to create a remarketing list. Generate the remarketing tag and then add it to your site.
   2. In social engines or other search platforms such as Microsoft Advertising, or Google Ads accounts in a different sub-manager account, set up a remarketing list for your web site visitors and update your site with the remarketing tag generated by the platform. For this list, set up a URL CONTAINS rule that adds customers to the list when they click ads associated with a specific Search Ads 360 remarketing segment.

You can use Search Ads 360 remarketing segments to create remarketing lists in all supported social engines and all search platforms, including engine track, that support rule-based remarketing lists.

Search Ads 360 can use social ads that support click tracking to help build cross-channel remarketing segments. Search Ads 360 cannot use view tracking to build remarketing segments.

Learn more about how to set up rule-based remarketing lists in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.

Compliance with advertising policies

To enable sharing the remarketing segment, you must comply with the applicable advertising policies:

• To share the remarketing segment with a Google Ads account, the account needs to comply with the Google Ads policy for advertising based on interests and location.
• To share the remarketing segment with Display & Video 360, the Search Ads 360 advertiser needs to comply with the Platforms program policies.

Before you start: Prepare landing page URLs for a new parameter

A few hours after you create a cross-channel remarketing segment in Search Ads 360, the &ads_rl=URL-parameter will start to appear in the URLs that are sent to your landing pages. Search Ads 360 always precedes this parameter with the & character.

If your landing page URLs don't include other URL parameters--either directly or in a URL template--we recommend adding the ? character to the end of the URLs by doing the following:

• In a search account, specify the following account-level URL template:{unescapedlpurl}?

• With this URL template, the landing page URL from the preceding example will be http://www.example.com?ads_rl=123456.
  
  Alternatively, instead of using a URL template, you can add the ? character directly to the end of your landing page URLs.

• In a social account, you'll need to sign into the social engine and add the ? character to the end of all URLs.
• Note: If your landing page URLs already include the ? character, don't add it again. Your URLs need exactly one ? character to work with cross-channel remarketing.

URLs with fragments

If your landing page URLs include a fragment, the ads_rl parameter is added right before the # character. If your landing page URLs don't include URL parameters -- either directly or in a URL template or Final URL Suffix -- add the ? character just before the fragment (fragments should always be added to the last part of the URL). For example:
http://www.example.com?#page

In a search account, you can use a URL template or Final URL Suffix to do this, but be careful using URL templates with URLs that include fragments, especially in Google Ads accounts. Learn more about using URL templates and URL fragments.

1. (In Search Ads 360) Label items

1.  Sign in to your new Search Ads 360.

2. Navigate to a sub-manager account.

3. Create a label to identify the search campaigns, ad groups, ads, or specific keywords that are relevant to your remarketing efforts. 

   When customers click the labeled ads, Search Ads 360 adds a URL parameter to the landing page URL. The parameter uniquely identifies the remarketing segment, and other social or search platform can use that ID to add customers to a remarketing list it maintains.

   You can use a label in more than one remarketing segment, and you can add multiple labels to a remarketing segment.

4. Apply the label to campaigns, ad groups, ads, or keywords. 

   • If you label a campaign, all items in the campaign will be used to build the segment.
   • If you label specific ads or keywords, only those labeled ads or keywords will build the list. For example, if you wan to target display ads to customers who searched for used cars, you might apply a "People interested in used cars" label to a campaign focused on selling used cars. Then you'd add the "People interested in used cars" label to a remarketing segment.

   • You can also label social campaigns, ad groups, or ads if you want to use Search Ads 360 for social-to-social remarketing. Make sure the social ads you want to build the list are visible in Search Ads 360. Search Ads 360 automatically creates social campaigns, ad groups, and ads as reporting metrics become available.

Labels are hierarchical and cumulative. For example, if you apply a label to a campaign, all of the campaign's ad groups and ads will be included in the list. If you apply another label to a specific ad, the ad will be included in the campaign's label as well as its own label.

2. (In Search Ads 360) Create a cross-channel remarketing segment

For platforms other than Google Ads:

1. Click the tools and settings icon , and then click Audience manager. 

2. On the "Segments" page, click the plus button , and then click Cross-channel remarketing. 

3. Name the remarketing segment.

   We recommend you use the same name for both the Search Ads 360 remarketing segment and the corresponding list you create in the other engine. You may want to prefix the name with "SA360" or the platform name to help find and sort your lists. For example, name the segment "SA360: Safety-conscious cars" or "Facebook: Safety-conscious cars".

4. In the "Labels" area, select the labels you want to use to create your remarketing segment. People who have interacted with campaigns, ad groups, ads, or keywords with the selected labels will be added to your new segment.

5. Specify a membership duration. 

6. (Optional) Add a description for your remarketing segment.

7. Click Create segment.

8. On the next screen, under Next steps, Search Ads 360 displays the unique parameter for your new remarketing segment. You will use this value to set up a corresponding rule in the search or social platform. Click Copy to copy the URL parameter now, or you can find it later in your list of remarketing segments.

After you save the remarketing segment, it may take up to a few hours before Search Ads 360 starts appending &ads_rl=URL-parameter to landing page URLs. Similarly, if you remove the remarketing segment from Search Ads 360, it may be a few hours before Search Ads 360 stops appending the ads_rl parameter.

For Google Ads

For Google Ads accounts in the same sub-manager account, you can build a remarketing segment in Search Ads 360 or you can create the remarketing segment in Google Ads and then sync the list into Search Ads 360. The steps that follow describe how to build a Search Ads 360-generated and managed remarketing segment for search ads that will be trafficked to Google Ads.

Alternatively, see Google Ads Help for information about how to build a remarketing segment for search ads in Google Ads. RLSAs that are created in Google Ads can't be managed in Search Ads 360.

3. (Other platform) Set up a remarketing list

Before you start: On the advertiser's site, make sure you've added remarketing tags generated by the other platform. Learn more in Microsoft Advertising Help or Google Ads Help.

Google Ads

If you create a Google Ads remarketing segment in Search Ads 360, a corresponding remarketing list will be created in Google Ads for that sub-manager account. You don't need to create one manually. 

If you don't want to generate a Google Ads remarketing segment in Search Ads 360, or if you want to to use the Search Ads 360-generated remarketing segment in a Google Ads account in a different advertiser, complete the steps below.

 

Instructions

Sign in to the other platform, and do the following:

1. Create a remarketing list to track customers who clicked ads in the Search Ads 360 remarketing segment. Consider giving this list the same name as the Search Ads 360 remarketing segment.

2. Set up a rule that adds customers to the engine's remarketing list when the landing page URL contains the Search Ads 360 remarketing parameter (named ads_rl) with a value that identifies the corresponding Search Ads 360 remarketing segment.

   Use the following syntax for the rule: URL contains ads_rl=DS-parameter, where DS-parameter is the value of the URL parameter Search Ads 360 generated in Step 2. 

   For example, if the URL parameter for the remarketing segment you created in Step 2 contains something like 1234, set up a rule in the other engine that adds customers to the remarketing list with the landing page URL contains the ads_rl=1234 parameter.

   In some platforms, this may be called a “URL CONTAINS” rule. Refer to the platform's help center for information on how to set this up.

   Search Ads 360 passes a maximum of three remarketing URL-parameter values per entity level to the landing page URL. If an ad's label is included in more than three Search Ads 360 remarketing lists, the engine only sees the first three remarketing lists identified by Search Ads 360, and will add users only to those three lists.

3. Use the platform's remarketing list to target interested customers.

   • If the remarketing list was created in Google Ads, sync the Google Ads remarketing lists into Search Ads 360.
     If you've scheduled platform changes to sync regularly, make sure to wait until the next sync occurs. You'll only see your Google Ads remarketing lists after they've been synced into Search Ads 360.
   • Apply the remarketing list to a manual or Shopping campaign to do the following:
     • Display specific ads only to list members
     • Prevent ads from displaying for list members
     • Use a different bid to reach list members