We had a great live chat yesterday, April 15, 2025, over on the PPC Chat Slack with Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales. I’d encourage you to head on over and read all the comments as we had a great discussion with the community too.
This post is a recap of some of the questions asked that Jyll answered directly.
Q: Which is better: setting up retargeting with Google Analytics or the Google tag?
A: Google tag is better than Google Analytics, but Google Analytics is better than nothing. And if neither is possible, try the new Google-engaged audience, since it doesn’t require any tagging / linking / setup to work.
Done is better than perfect 🙂
Here is a link to Jyll’s Inside Google Ads podcast episode talking about conversion tracking, but the same points apply.
Q: Which campaign types can you use with remarketing/retargeting?
A: You can include “Your data segments” for targeting in your Search, Shopping, Display, Demand Gen, Video campaigns. You can observe them in Search, Shopping, Display. You can exclude them in Search, Display, Demand Gen, Video. And you can include them in your Audience signal for PMax (and App, I think – but App is not my specialty!).
Q: Can I still use retargeting if my client doesn’t have Google Analytics on their website, and I can’t make any changes to their website like adding a tracking code?
A: YES! This is one of the newest Google Ads features that Google let completely go under the radar – it’s called the Google-engaged audience, every Google Ads account gets one, and it requires no code / tracking / consent / etc. to work. It is a game changer for small businesses, and I don’t use the term “game changer” lightly.
I wrote an article for Search Engine Land about it, which goes live tomorrow (find that post here). I’ve got a chapter on it in my book, Inside Google Ads: Everything you need to know about Audience Targeting, which comes out on Amazon tomorrow and I also spoke to Santosh about it on the Guided PPC Podcast, if you want to check that out.
Q: Are all types of retargeting (1st party, tag behaviours, engaged audiences) equal in terms of privacy on Google’s part?
A: Definitely not. Certain types, like website-based remarketing (whether tag or GA4), are heavily impacted by privacy, consent, etc. While others, like YouTube-based remarketing, have seen virtually no impact. If the retargeting audience is based on data that lives on that platform (YouTube for Google Ads, IG engagers for Meta Ads, etc.) it tends to be much more durable.
Q: I’d love Jyll to speak to how brands can build in retargeting knowing that we’re losing a lot of our control (both from ad platforms and regulation)?
A: First-party data (your customer’s personally identifiable information) is the best thing you can collect. Owning that relationship with your customers, not being reliant on Google or another platform to reach your audience. I go into much more detail about this in my book, but tl;dr, all businesses should be thinking about how to collect, store and use customer data as it’s one of the only competitive advantages you can have vs. your competitors.
Q: I heard a PPC colleague say last week that if they were running Google Search Ads and wanted to add retargeting, they wouldn’t use Google. They feel they’d get better results by complementing the search campaign with Meta retargeting. What do you think?
A: Google and Meta are like a Venn diagram, they share some of the same data and they each have some of their own data. It’s not an either/or proposition. If you can only afford to retarget in one place, by all means, go for it on Meta.
But if they haven’t tested YouTube remarketing, or the Google-engaged audience, or Customer Match on Google, these could be great things to try via Demand Gen, or even via RLSA, to complement the strategy.
Q: What are your thoughts on frequency capping for retargeting?
A: I think that it’s probably unnecessary for most businesses. These are your retargeting lists, your most qualified customers (or potential customers), why wouldn’t you want to reach them? Frequency capping can drive up your costs. I think a better way to fight ad fatigue is to refresh your creative more frequently, rather than putting in frequency caps.
Q: What are the top Dos and Don’ts for doing retargeting well?
A: A top Do is to ensure you spend time and effort on your ad creative. Just because you’re reaching a highly qualified audience, it doesn’t mean that the click/view is a given. Creative still matters a lot!! DO focus on your ad creative.
And a top Don’t would be if you’re using dynamic remarketing, don’t forget to ensure you have it set up properly. I am not a Merchant Center expert, but I know that there’s more to it than just launching a dynamic remarketing campaign and thinking you’re done! There are some finicky steps required in GMC and potentially in your website code/tags as well? So definitely DON’T forget to look into that if you’re leveraging dynamic remarketing.