A new move by Google to increase ad targeting will now allow advertisers to target consumers based on email addresses that are uploaded to AdWords.

The enhanced targeting not only applies to the search engine but also to YouTube Truview and Gmail native ads.

Customer Match

Google announced the new feature, which is called “Customer Match”, in late September, although in fact a lesser version of this kind of targeting has been available through retargeting lists for search ads for years.

The updated targeting system will mean that users signed into Google accounts who have given retailers an email address will be able to be targeted by advertising across Google platforms by the organisations and companies. The instances that an email address could have been given include as part of a purchase process or signing up for a newsletter.

Google says that the data will then go through a process that it calls “hashing”, which actually conceals the address to protect personal information. Although this means that brands couldn't create a personal profile for each address, other associated behaviour such as Google searches and YouTube viewing history will be compiled to target ads.

Target appeal

Facebook and Twitter have already made moves to increase ad targeting, and these have been welcomed by marketers.

Google's new initiative looks likely to be a lucrative one as the tech giant will receive larger portions of the more costly ads that are delivered to consumers.

As well as Customer Match, another feature called “Similar Audiences” will be rolled out by Google to advertisers in the coming weeks, and their “Universal App Campaigns”, which was announced in May, continues to move forward with the aim of simplifying advertising mobile applications across its platforms.

Google will use captured images, videos and descriptions for apps contained in their Play app store and add them into ad templates, which will come up on search engine result pages as well as on YouTube, Google Play and the entire network of third-party sites.