Remarketers rejoice! Google OKs RLSA for GA

Last week Google Analytics-based RLSA quietly slipped out of beta, and we’ve already set it up in some client’s AdWords accounts.

RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Advertisers) is Google’s long-winded name for what most people think of as search retargeting. However, Google states RLSA is not really search retargeting or search remarketing – that’s because users’ search histories are not utilised.

When first released a little under a year ago, RLSA targeting options were extremely limited. Advertisers could only target people who had visited their site (and had received a cookie), and by the search keywords they subsequently used.

Now RLSA campaigns can be targeted to previous site visitors based on some behaviour tracking – but not all – captured by Google Analytics.

For privacy reasons, audiences have a maximum life of 180 days, and can’t be targeted by demographics, language, location, operating system, device category and a range of other dimensions.

Why should you care?

Remarketing often produces comparatively low-cost conversions, as ads are targeted to people already familiar with the advertiser’s site.

Now, with Google Analytics in the mix, advertisers should see better results from RLSA. Where options were previously limited, they can now customise ads, keyword selection, bids and audiences based on site behaviour.

Other search marketing news this week:

• Apple Siri Proactive vs Google Now on Tap
  Apple scrambles to play catch up with Google by enhancing Siri, but Google isn’t sitting on its hands. Google Now on Tap could be a game changer.
• Impressive location-aware search from Google
  You can now use natural language queries to ask Google for information about landmarks, buildings & businesses around you without specifying them by name.

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