Overview
Audiences are combinations of cohorts connected using boolean logic to define target users for campaign targeting. Within a plan, you can build audiences that combine up to 15 cohorts across 3 groups, with real-time metrics showing unique users and pageviews as you build. This guide covers how to find relevant cohorts, combine them using boolean logic, and optimize audience reach.Creating a New Audience
Find cohorts
Use one of the cohort discovery methods (see below) to find relevant cohorts for your campaign.
Add cohorts to the audience
Click the + button next to a cohort or use the Add cohort button on recommendation cards to add cohorts to your audience.
Configure boolean logic
Adjust the boolean logic (ANY, ALL, NONE) within groups and between groups to define your targeting criteria.
Review metrics
Check the real-time Unique Users and Pageviews estimates to ensure your audience meets campaign requirements.
Finding Cohorts
There are four ways to discover cohorts when building an audience:Recommendations Tab (AI Required)
The Recommendations tab shows AI-powered suggestions for cohorts likely to be relevant based on:- The advertiser and plan information you provided
- Likely targeting criteria for the advertiser
- Trending cohorts with recent user growth
Recommendations require AI products to be enabled for your workspace.
AI Search (AI Required)
Use natural language to describe the audience you’re trying to build. AI Search finds relevant and adjacent cohorts even if you don’t know your exact taxonomy or cohort naming conventions. Example searches:- “Users interested in luxury automobiles”
- “Health and fitness enthusiasts”
- “Parents with young children”
AI Search requires AI products to be enabled for your workspace.
Cohort Library
The Cohort Library provides a complete list of all your cohorts with:- Search: Find cohorts by name
- Filter by tags: Filter cohorts by taxonomy tags
- Filter by type: Filter by cohort type (e.g., behavioral, contextual)
Affinities Tab
The Affinities tab helps you expand reach by finding cohorts that overlap with or index highly to a seed cohort.Select a seed cohort
Choose a cohort from the dropdown that most closely matches your targeting requirement.
Boolean Logic
Within Groups
Each cohort group can use one of three operators:| Operator | Logic | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ANY | OR | Users must be in at least one of the cohorts in the group |
| ALL | AND | Users must be in all of the cohorts in the group |
| NONE | NAND | Users must not be in any of the cohorts in the group |
NONE logic is only available for groups after the first group. The first group cannot use NONE logic.
Between Groups
Groups are combined using:- OR: Users meeting criteria of either group
- AND: Users meeting criteria of both groups
Example Combinations
Targeting car enthusiasts who are also in-market:- Group 1 (ANY): Auto Enthusiasts, Car Reviews Readers
- AND
- Group 2 (ALL): In-Market Auto Buyers
- Group 1 (ANY): Parents with Kids 0-5, Parents with Kids 6-12
- AND
- Group 2 (NONE): Students, College Age
Managing Cohorts in the Audience Builder
Limits
- Maximum 3 groups per audience
- Maximum 5 cohorts per group
- Maximum 15 cohorts total per audience
Reorganizing Cohorts
Cohorts added from the Search or Affinities tabs are automatically added to the latest group. To move cohorts between groups:- Click and hold on the cohort you want to move
- Drag it to the desired group
- Release to drop the cohort in its new position
Real-time Metrics
As you build your audience, the following metrics update in real-time:| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Est. Unique Users | Estimated distinct users meeting the audience criteria (last 30 days) |
| Est. Pageviews | Estimated pageviews from audience users (last 30 days) |
- Each individual group
- The total audience
Using the Analyze Tab
The Analyze tab provides visualizations to understand audience composition:Browser Breakdown
Shows the percentage of audience unique users across different browsers compared to your total user base. Identify browsers where the audience is over or under-represented.Domain Breakdown
Shows the percentage of audience unique users across domains compared to your total user base. Useful for understanding where your audience is most active.Cohort Uniqueness
Shows how each cohort contributes to the overall audience:- Pink bar: Users unique to that cohort (not in other cohorts)
- Grey bar: Users also included in other cohorts in the audience
When using ALL (AND) logic, the Cohort Uniqueness chart won’t show incremental users since users must be in all cohorts to qualify.
Viewing Targeting Logic
After building your audience, access the targeting logic panel to see:- Cohorts List: Full cohort names with their cohort IDs
- Boolean Expression: Standard representation of your audience logic
- GAM Expression: Copy-ready expression for Google Ad Manager line items (GAM 360 only)
Best Practices
Start broad, then refine — Begin with ANY (OR) logic to maximize reach, then add groups with AND logic to narrow the audience if needed. Use the Analyze tab — Check the Cohort Uniqueness visualization to understand which cohorts add incremental reach vs. overlap with existing cohorts. Name audiences descriptively — Use the targeting requirements from the brief as the audience name for easy reference. Consider both reach and relevance — Balance audience size with targeting precision. An audience that’s too narrow may not deliver sufficient scale.What’s Next
After building an audience, explore Plan Insights to analyze your audience in detail:Using Plan Insights
Analyze audience reach, overlap, and composition with Plan Insights