Most first-time visitors leave without making a purchase, which means much of your ad spend may go to one-time clicks. Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) help you reconnect with people who have already shown interest in your brand and focus your budget on higher-intent audiences. This guide covers the RLSA basics you need to bring past visitors back and improve ROI.
Quick summary:
- Remarketing lists for search ads allow advertisers to target previous website visitors when they conduct follow-up searches on Google.
- You can optimize your advertising budget by adjusting bids specifically for users who have already shown interest in your products or services.
- Creating tailored ad copy for past visitors significantly increases the likelihood of them returning to complete a purchase.
- Modern remarketing strategies require leveraging Google Analytics 4 to build precise audience segments based on specific user behaviors.
- Integrating your remarketing lists with automated smart bidding strategies maximizes conversion volume while maintaining your target acquisition costs.
What is Remarketing Lists in Google Ads?
RLSA, which stands for remarketing lists for search ads, is a feature by Google Ads that allows you to customize your search ad campaigns for people who have previously interacted with your website or app.
With RLSA, you can modify your bids, create ads, or broaden your keywords to help you reach your most valuable prospects when they’re searching on Google.
How does RLSA work?
RLSA works by using cookies to track users who visit your website. When these users leave your site and continue to use Google, your ads will be more likely to appear in their search results. This allows you to stay connected with your audience, even after they leave your website.
Here’s how it works in detail:
RLSA audiences are created by adding a snippet of code (called a tag) to your website. This tag automatically adds your audiences to specific lists based on the actions they take on your site.
Once the tags are placed, you can bid money on these segments and add them to your marketing campaigns. When these audience members later search on Google or other Google Display Network sites using specific keywords, they may see customized ads based on their previous sessions on your site.
Benefits of RLSA Campaigns
RLSA helps advertisers reconnect with past visitors, target higher-intent audiences, and improve ad efficiency. A Think with Google case study found that G Adventures achieved a 199% higher conversion rate after using RLSA.
Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) in Google Ads offer several benefits for advertisers aiming to reconnect with past website visitors in the search network. Here are the top 6 benefits:
Personalized ad content
RLSA allows advertisers to create highly targeted ads specific to pre-qualified prospects who have previously interacted with their website. You can tailor your ads based on the products or services users view on your website. This customization enhances relevance and increases the likelihood of capturing the user’s attention. For example, if a user has visited your site and shown interest in a product, you can remind them that it’s still available for purchase.
Increased bid control
Advertisers can set bid adjustments for specific audience segments within their RLSA campaigns. This bid control enables them to prioritize and allocate more budget to audiences with higher conversion potential, optimizing the use of ad spend.
For example, you can increase your bid by 25% for users who have visited your website in the last 30 days. Or, you could show a different ad to site visitors who have placed items in a shopping cart but have yet to purchase them.
Enhanced targeting precision
RLSA enables advertisers to target specific audience segments based on their past behaviors, such as pages visited or actions taken on the website. This precision helps in reaching users who are more likely to convert.
By aligning ad content with users’ previous interactions, RLSA campaigns deliver more relevant and targeted ads. Improved ad relevance positively impacts quality score, potentially leading to better ad placements and lower costs per click.
Focus on high-value audiences
Through bid adjustments and targeting strategies, advertisers can prioritize high-value audience segments, increasing the likelihood of conversions. This focus on specific, engaged audiences contributes to maximizing return on investment (ROI) for advertising campaigns.
Cross-device targeting
RLSA extends across devices, allowing advertisers to reconnect with users who visited their website on one device and continue engagement on another. This cross-device targeting increases the chances of reaching users wherever they are in their purchase journey. By targeting users across multiple devices, you can continuously engage with them, maximizing your return on investment.
Basic Google RLSA requirements
- Availability: RLSAs are available when users search through Google or Google partner sites.
- Minimum cookies: Your list needs a minimum of 1,000 cookies before you can use this feature.
- Membership limit: The membership limit for these lists is capped at 540 days.
- Data source: You can use a remarketing list or customer match email address lists. The use of third-party data for RLSA is prohibited.
- Bid room: You can decrease your bids by as much as 90% or increase them by 900%. If a searcher is in two remarketing lists, Google will use the higher bid.
How to set up RLSA for your Google Ads campaigns?
RLSAs rely on proper Google Ads setup for proper execution (as is the case with all remarketing campaigns). Setting up RLSA in Google Ads involves a few key steps that you should follow below:
Step 1: Create a new audience segment
Sign in to your Google Ads account.
Click on the wrench icon. Under Shared Library, click on Audience Manager.
Click on the blue plus icon to create a new audience.
Next, select Website visitors or anything else depending on where you installed the remarketing tag.
Enter the page URL (and name your segment).
Step 2: Edit your audience segment
Once you’ve done with your audience creation, go to your Search campaign. Click on your ad group and select Audiences on the left side bar. Click on Edit Audience Segments.
Choose between 2 options: targeting or observation.
- Targeting: this option only shows ads to your selected pre-defined audience segments, typing in the keywords you bid on.
- Observation: this setting shows data on those audiences, but still allows ads to show to other users outside those audience segments if they type in the keyword you bid on.
Step 3: Add the remarketing tag to your site
The remarketing tag should be added to every page of your site. This tag lets Google know to add each website visitor to your list.
We’ve published an article thoroughly explaining how to enable remarketing on Google Ads. You can check it out here.
Step 4: Add the remarketing list to existing campaigns and ad groups
Once you’ve created a remarketing list, you can add it to an existing ad group or campaign that is targeting the Search Network.
Remember, the remarketing list is a collection of website visitors or app users gathered by snippets of code added to your site or app. Depending on your goal, create your necessary remarketing lists and choose a list duration.
If you experience any issues during the process, you can refer to the help of a trusted digital marketing agency, like Mega Digital.
Top strategies to optimize remarketing lists for search ads campaigns
Optimizing your remarketing lists for search ads campaigns can significantly improve your ad performance. Here are some strategies from Mega Digital that I believe will do wonders for your business:
1. Leverage GA4 for specific audience segments
Instead of placing all previous visitors into one remarketing list, use GA4 to segment users based on their website behavior, engagement, and purchase intent. Useful audiences include cart abandoners, product or pricing page visitors, highly engaged non-converters, past customers, and homepage visitors.
Mega Digital tip: Start with a few audiences that show clear purchase intent. Creating too many small segments may limit the data available for bidding and optimization.
2. Combine RLSA with Smart Bidding
Add remarketing audiences to campaigns using Smart Bidding strategies such as Target CPA or Target ROAS. Google can use these audience signals alongside other auction-time data to assess conversion potential and adjust bids automatically. This approach works best when conversion tracking is accurate and the campaign has sufficient historical data.
3. Create tailored ads for each segment
Match your ad copy, offer, and CTA with what each audience has already done on your website. For example:
- Offer cart abandoners a limited-time discount or free shipping
- Show pricing page visitors a free trial or consultation
- Recommend complementary products to past customers
- Highlight specific benefits to product page visitors
Mega Digital tip: Do not simply tell previous visitors to “come back”. Address the reason they may have left, such as price concerns, product uncertainty, or a lack of urgency.
4. Adjust your strategy for each audience segment
Not every remarketing audience has the same conversion potential. Users who abandoned a cart or repeatedly visited a product page may justify greater bidding priority than homepage visitors. For weaker segments, consider adjusting bids or improving the ad copy, offer, and landing page before excluding them.
5. Use negative keywords and audience exclusions
Negative keywords prevent ads from appearing for irrelevant searches, while audience exclusions prevent specific users from seeing a campaign. Depending on your goals, you may exclude:
- Existing customers from new-customer campaigns
- Past buyers of a one-time product
- Employees or internal website visitors
- Audiences that consistently generate low-quality traffic
6. Strengthen your strategy with first-party data
Collect consented first-party data through sign-ups, lead forms, account registrations, and customer interactions. You can use this data with Customer Match to complement website-based remarketing audiences and reduce reliance on browser tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Search audience generally needs at least 100 active users within the last 30 days and must comply with Google’s personalized advertising policies. Check its eligibility status in Google Ads Audience Manager before using it.
No. RLSA is only available for Search campaigns, but YouTube campaigns can use data segments or Customer Match for remarketing.
RLSA can help convert previous visitors who have not purchased yet. It cannot target completely new users who have never interacted with your business.
RLSA audiences must comply with Google’s privacy, data-use, and personalized advertising policies. Audiences based on sensitive categories or ineligible demographic and interest data may not be available for targeting.
Conclusion
RLSA helps businesses reconnect with past visitors, improve targeting, and make better use of their search budget. By combining relevant audiences, bidding strategies, and ongoing optimization, advertisers can improve campaign efficiency and ROI. As a Google Premier Partner, Mega Digital is one of the Google Ads Agencies businesses can consider for RLSA setup and optimization support.
