Everything you need to know about search remarketing lists in Google Ads

Most users tend to use remarketing on the Display Network for all users who have visited a website, because it is easy to implement and usually performs well. However, today I would like to talk about Google Ads search remarketing lists.

How does it work?

• The lists pull users who have already visited your site to return to make the desired conversion.
• But instead of showing ads on Google's display network again, this is done in search results.
• If the user clicks, visits the website but does not perform the desired action, it is included in the corresponding segmentation for that search or another list of words.

For example, a user searches Google for "SEO tool" that is, SEO tools, in Spanish. 

In this way when the user re-searches on the subject to get more information, we can show him an ad again with an interesting bid and a higher possibility of bringing it back for less money than what was paid to secure the first click.

There are two common ways to implement remarketing lists in a search ad strategy:

1. Optimize and increase the bids for the word with which the user was attracted on the first visit. For example: increase bids by 50% for "SEO tool".
2. Bid on keywords that have never been targeted before. For example, broader terms. Ads will only show to users on your remarketing list who are searching for those words, not to all users who are searching.

Why is search remarketing better than display remarketing?

Display remarketing is very common, it is the base option to implement. However, it has some gaps that can affect the benefit that we can get from our budget.

First we could mention the Ad Blockers: Unfortunately it is a rising trend, according to Statista its use today corresponds to 30% of internet users in the United States. In Latin American markets its use may not be as widespread, however it is not less and it would not be a surprise if it gradually increases in the future.

Second, there is the so-called "Banner Blindness" or blindness to banners. Ads have become so invasive that users completely ignore them. This is where remarketing for search comes into play (RLSA). With this tool there are no intrusive Pop Ups.

This is how it is implemented:

First we have to make sure that the remarketing tag is installed on our website. This can be checked in Google Tag Manager. If not, it can be quickly installed in the "Audience manager" section located in the Google Ads dashboard.

Then we must select the tab "Audience sources".

The Google Ads tag can be easily copied and pasted, or the code to be mailed to install on the website.

Now that we have the tag installed, the remarketing lists can be installed in the search results.

For this we can configure a new campaign or use an existing one.

Once we have created this new campaign, we must go to the "Audiences" section.

There we have two options:

1. Targeting: Ensures that the ad will only show to users on the remarketing list in search results.
2. Observation: Segment the members of the list and also those who have not visited the site yet. It is a broader combination that allows you to cover more users.

For a specific retargeting campaign I suggest using option 1, this allows us to be more specific with the message to be communicated.

In the "Audiences" section we must select "How they have interacted with your company."

Here we must select the options for each remarketing list that we want to include in the audience.

After this we can save our list. Have you already used them? Tell us about your experience.