But now social networks allow you to target based on seemingly every demographic option. The ability to combine purchase intent from keyword-based ads with the demographic information of social networks is the Holy Grail of online advertising. Demographic Targeting in AdWords First, I’ll address what demographic information Google is providing. For Search, Display, and Video campaigns, advertisers can target based on Age and Gender. Age 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Unknown Gender Male Female Unknown In a recent discussion with my Google rep about a client, we found that about 40 percent of searchers were falling in the unknown category for both Age and Gender, with 60 percent of total searchers being classified. In addition, some sites might provide us with demographic information that people share on certain websites, such as social networking sites. For people who aren’t signed in to their Google Account, we sometimes infer their demographic information based on their activity from Google properties or the Display Network. If you click Ads Settings, you can see what demographic info Google has about you, assuming you have a Google account. If older customers are valuable, this could improve your landing page execution. In short, Google AdWords has demographic data if you know where to look.
Online advertising is all about getting your offer in front of the right person at the right time. Keyword-based search ads have long been the gold standard for timing, as the consumer is signaling his intent simply by performing the search. However, search engines, such as Google and Bing, did not, originally, capture demographic information of the searcher.
Then social networks came along, starting with Friendster and MySpace. Facebook now dominates social media. Regardless, these sites were built around an identity of a person. Initially the ads on social networks were rudimentary. There were few targeting options.
But now social networks allow you to target based on seemingly every demographic option. From gender to age to location to job title to industry to what kind of cereal you buy — the options are nearly limitless for ensuring that your ads are shown to the right person. But you still don’t know when social media users need your product or service. So you’re forced to blanket them with ads, hoping to be prominent when the time is right.
The ability to combine purchase intent from keyword-based ads with the demographic information of social networks is the Holy Grail of online advertising. While no company has completely found the answer, Google has made important strides.
Demographic Targeting in AdWords
First, I’ll address what demographic information Google is providing. It’s not quite the Holy Grail, yet. For Search, Display, and Video campaigns, advertisers can target based on Age and Gender. Here are the options.
Age
- 18-24
- 25-34
- 35-44
- 45-54
- 55-64
- 65+
- Unknown
Gender
- Male
- Female
- Unknown
In a recent discussion with my Google rep about a client, we found that about 40 percent of searchers were falling in the unknown category for both Age and Gender, with 60 percent of total searchers being classified. He noted that 60 percent was better than most accounts, which typically are about 50 percent.
So how, exactly, does Google know about searchers’ age and gender?
How AdWords Determines Demographics
Demographic information is valuable, in part, because it’s difficult to obtain. Therefore it’s important to understand how Google obtains the data so we know how much confidence to place in it. Here is the statement from Google.
When people are signed in from their Google Account, we may use location signals and demographics derived from their settings. Consumers can edit their demographic information by visiting Ads…
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