Ad Manager - Audience Controls

Where to Find Audience Controls

When creating a campaign in Ad Manager, the second step is labeled 'Budget and Audience.' This step contains two parts: Budget and Audience Controls. The Audience Controls section is where you define who will see your ads.

Geographic Location Targeting

Geographic location is the first part of Audience Controls. It helps estimate your audience size by specifying where your target audience is located.

Adding or Removing Locations

Under the 'Search Locations' field, you can add or exclude geographic areas:

1. Type a city, state, country, or specific address into the search box and select a result from the dropdown. A map will display the selected location.
2. After selecting a location, it appears below the search box. Use the adjacent dropdown to set a radius around the location using a slider.
3. Another dropdown lets you choose 'Include' or 'Exclude' for the audience. Selecting 'Include' adds that area to your target audience; 'Exclude' removes it, and the map will show the location in red.
4. To remove a location, click the cross icon next to it.

Note: The radius option is only available for addresses, neighborhoods, and similar precise locations—not for broad areas like cities or countries.

EU Political Ads (Google Ads Only)

For Google Ads campaigns, you must indicate if your ad contains European Union political content. Select 'Yes' or 'No' to proceed. This step is mandatory to publish your campaign.

Intended Audience Categories

Intended Audience helps refine your target group for better ad performance. There are three types:

Target Interests

This option targets new customers based on interests, language, gender, or age range. Select from a dropdown of niche or industry-specific interests to reach people aligned with those criteria. Multiple interests can be chosen.

Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike audiences find new users similar to your existing customers. Choose a source audience from your connected ad account, and your ads will be shown to people who resemble that group. An estimated audience size is calculated based on your source and geographic settings.

Note: Lookalike audiences may not be available for Special Ad categories. Up to 15 lookalike audiences can be selected.

Retargeting

Retargeting focuses on people familiar with your brand who have interacted with it on Meta platforms. Use custom audiences or imported audiences from your ad account to re-engage these users. Up to 15 retargeting audiences can be selected.

Audiences in the dropdown may show a 'Ready' or 'Not Ready' status. Only 'Ready' audiences can be selected; 'Not Ready' ones are ineligible, and a tooltip explains why.

Combining Audiences

You can combine any two or all three audience types, but this significantly narrows your audience size and is not recommended, as it may reduce campaign effectiveness.