Website visitor audiences: building a retargeting list from one tag

The simplest audience to build is the people who already visited the advertiser's website. It needs one tag on the site and no customer data upload.

How it works

The tag records visits to the site. Visitors are grouped into an audience the advertiser can target or exclude in any campaign. This was the first DMP feature, shipped in DMP v1.0, and it is still the starting point for most retargeting.

Setting it up

1. Copy the tag from the audiences section of the account.
2. Add it to every page of the site, or install it through Google Tag Manager.
3. Create an audience from it: all visitors, or visitors of certain pages such as the product or checkout pages.
4. Choose a lookback window. Engager and converter audiences support windows from 7 to 180 days. Shorter windows are more relevant; longer ones are bigger.
5. Wait for it to fill. The reach counter shows how many people the audience holds.

Useful audiences to build first

• Cart abandoners: visited checkout, didn't buy.
• Product viewers: saw a product page in the last 14 days.
• Buyers: to exclude from acquisition campaigns.

Consent

On EU traffic the tag must respect the visitor's consent choice. Use a consent banner that passes TCF 2.2 signals.

Related: Audiences: retargeting and suppression · Engager and converter audiences, and lookback windows