Short answer: Customer Match lets you upload a list of your customers’ contact details to Google Ads and reach them, or leave them out, when they use Google signed in. Any account in good standing can use a list to observe and to exclude. Targeting a list and adjusting bids for it also need 90 days of history and a minimum spend.
What Customer Match does
Google says Customer Match lets you use your online and offline data to reach and re-engage your customers across Search, the Shopping tab, Gmail, YouTube and Display. You upload a file with contact details, and Google matches it to Google accounts. When those people are signed in, your ads can reach them.
Google also adds every Customer Match list in your account automatically to campaigns with Smart Bidding and optimized targeting. For now that works on YouTube campaigns, and Google says Search ads will follow. Lists aren’t used with manual bidding strategies. Our Smart Bidding guide explains those strategies.
Who can use Customer Match
Your account needs a good history of policy compliance and a good payment history. With that, Google lets every account use a list in the Observation setting and for exclusions. The rest depends on account history and lifetime spend.
| Feature | Every account in good standing | Accounts with 90 days and the spend Google sets |
|---|---|---|
| Observation setting | Yes | Yes |
| Exclusions | Yes | Yes |
| Targeting setting | No | Yes |
| Manual bid adjustments | No | Yes |
Our summary of Google Ads Help, read November 6, 2026.
Google says the Observation setting doesn’t change who can see your ads or where they show; it lets you monitor how your ads perform with that audience. An exclusion keeps your ads away from the people on the list, such as current clients.
What you can upload
Google allows only customer information you collected first-hand. Examples are a purchase on your website, a sign-up for marketing messages in your app or your loyalty program in your store. Your privacy policy has to say that you share customer data with third parties that perform services for you. You also need consent where the law or Google’s policies require it.
You can’t upload data of anyone under 13, and you can’t use sensitive interest categories to target ads. For injections such as Botox, which Google treats as a sensitive interest category, our guide to Botox advertising covers which audiences those ads can’t use. Our guide to a website privacy policy covers what that page should say.
How to format the file
The file is a CSV encoded in ASCII or UTF-8. The column headers must be in English, such as Email, Phone, First Name, Last Name, Country and Zip, while the data itself can be in any language. Phone numbers follow the E.164 format, with the country code.
If you upload plain text, the emails, phone numbers and names in the file are hashed with SHA256 on your computer before it is sent. Google says it doesn’t receive actual email addresses: it compares those codes with hashed codes of Google accounts, and deletes the data file after processing.
How to create a Customer Match list
- Check that your account has a good history of policy compliance and payments.
- Prepare a CSV file with English column headers, such as Email and Phone.
- Write phone numbers in E.164 format, with the country code.
- Go to Audience manager within the Tools icon, select the plus button and then Customer list.
- Choose your file and check the box that confirms the data follows Google’s Customer Match policies.
- Set a membership duration of up to 540 days and select Upload and create list.
- Wait up to 48 hours, then add the list to a campaign as observation or as an exclusion.
How to keep the list working
Memberships expire after 540 days. To keep a list eligible, at least 100 members have to be added or updated within that window, so Google recommends refreshing lists regularly by adding new customers.
The match rate shows how much of your list Google could connect to its users. Google says it reflects whether the data has the right format, not how the list will perform, and it’s common for some customers not to match.
Meta has its own version, a customer list custom audience, which our Facebook ad targeting guide covers.
Before you upload a customer list
- Every contact came to you directly, from your site, app or store.
- Your privacy policy says you share data with service providers.
- The file is a CSV with English column headers.
- Phone numbers carry the country code.
- Nobody on the list is under 13.
- You know you’ll refresh the list before 540 days pass.
RememberCustomer Match works with what your customers gave you. Upload only first-party data, keep the list fresh, and start with observation and exclusions if your account can’t target lists yet.
If you’d rather have someone set this up, our Google Ads service handles Google Search campaigns, and the ad account is yours. Message us on WhatsApp or use the form.
Quick answers about Customer Match
Can a small Google Ads account use Customer Match?
Yes, for observation and exclusions, as long as the account has a good history of policy compliance and payments. The Targeting setting and manual bid adjustments also need 90 days of history and more than a minimum lifetime spend that Google sets.
What customer data can I upload?
Only information you collected first-hand, such as from a purchase on your website, a sign-up in your app or your loyalty program in your store. Your privacy policy has to say that you share customer data with third parties that perform services for you.
Does Google see my customers’ email addresses?
Google says it doesn’t receive actual email addresses. In a plain text file, emails, phones and names are hashed with SHA256 on your computer before it is sent. Google then compares those codes with hashed codes of its own accounts.
How long does a customer list take to be ready?
Google says processing the upload can take up to 48 hours. When it ends, the upload page shows how many rows uploaded and your match rate percentage, which tells you how much of the list Google could use.
How long do people stay on a Customer Match list?
Memberships expire after 540 days. To keep a list eligible, Google asks that at least 100 members be added or updated within that window, so refresh it regularly by adding new customers.
Sources
All read on November 6, 2026. Google Ads Help: About Customer Match. Customer Match policy. How Google uses Customer Match data. Create a Customer Match list by uploading a data file.