Google has joined the ranks of existing social media titans to offer a new way to personalize your advertisements to potential clients using your own lists.

Customer Match allows advertisers to upload their client lists in AdWords. The launch of this revolutionary access extends beyond basic web searching to include YouTube Trueview advertisements and the ads within Gmail.

This is the first time that Google has enabled businesses and advertisers to cater their ads specifically to first-party data, meaning their own client lists in AdWords. Google will take the uploaded email addresses match them with sign-in Google users. Specific individual users will be anonymized for privacy and those ad-goers will be able to set specific prices and create targeted ads to audiences built from their customer-owned email lists.

Until now, advertisers have only been able to target their ads to potential-clients with retargeting lists created by Google Analytics. Retargeting Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) are built via cookies which are individually managed – meaning that the any person can delete or block their own cookies. Advertisers were able to bid and provide ads to audiences when they search on Google search engines.

This revolutionary feature from Google will enable them to play ball with other social media magnates – Facebook and Twitter who already, very successfully, allow Custom and Tailored Audiences. Advertisers from around the globe have been eager for Google to join the ranks with their own feature.

Radical Audience Expansion

Customer Match will allow advertisers to reach existing customers, subscribers, buyers, or program participants, but an expansion – Similar Audiences; will enable them to target new prospects as well. The expansion for Customer Match lists can be targeted on YouTube and Gmail.

To launch Customer Match, you simply upload your client lists to Similar Audiences in AdWords – there is no limit to the number of lists you are able to upload – one reason why it’s so important to build, maintain, and clean your client lists.

Customer Match and Similar Audiences will be available globally over the next few weeks. So make sure to hone your lists so their ready in time for the launch!