Define your own user groups with custom audiences

You can define your own user groups with custom audiences in Play Console. Custom audiences allow you to create groups of users, based on specific behaviors or characteristics. You can then create and target content specifically for those users.

Understand custom audiences

There are two main ways to create custom audiences: 

• Use the Play Grouping API to share user tags 
• Use email lists to target specific email addresses

You can create custom audiences based on specific user behaviors or attributes. This allows you to target these users with content made just for them. For example, you could create a custom audience of users who frequently use a specific feature, but have never bought from your app. You could then target these users with an event that specifically promotes the premium version of the feature that they frequently use.

You can create custom audiences in Play Console using either the Play Grouping API, or a CSV to provide an email list containing your audience's email addresses. 

Play Grouping API: You use the Google Play Grouping API to tag users so that Google Play can customize the content these users see across the Play Store. Firstly, you create tags created with the API. You can then use these tags in Play Console to define audiences for targeting Play Store content (for example, promotional content).

Email lists: You provide a custom audience data source (CSV file) which we use to target the provided email addresses. When we have enough matched email addresses, you can use the custom audience to create events that deliver a customized Play Store experience for this audience. Matching usually takes around 24 hours.

Important: If you plan to use email lists, take the time to expand and read the sections below, which contain some important things to know.

Create and manage custom audiences

You can set up or manage your custom audiences on the Custom audiences page (Grow users > Store presence > Custom audiences) in Play Console.

(Optional) Integrate the Play Grouping API

Note: If you want to use email lists, you can use email lists and skip this step.

The Play Grouping API creates a live data feed of users that you have tagged. For example, users that frequently use a specific feature but have never bought from your app. You could target these tagged users with an event specifically promoting the premium version of the feature that they frequently use.

If you want to use the Play Grouping API as the data source for your custom audience, follow these steps:

1. Open Play Console and go to the Custom audiences page (Grow users > Store presence > Custom audiences).
2. Click Get started.
3. Click Set up API integration.
4. Follow the instructions on the Play Grouping API page.
5. Under "Task 1: Link a Google Cloud project," click Link project. Note the following:
   • Before linking, the status in this section will read "Not linked." 
   • After you link a Google Cloud project, you won't be able to change it for 14 days.
6. In the "Link Google Cloud project" table, browse the table or use the search bar to find and select the Google Cloud project you want to link.
7. Click Link project. Note the following: After successfully linking, the status will read "Linked." If you're unable to link a project, you may need to contact the Google Cloud project owner to request access.
8. Under "Task 2: Integrate the Play Grouping API" follow the steps in the linked documentation to integrate the Play Grouping API. Note the following:
   • Note: Before linking, the status in this section will read "Inactive." This will change to "Active" after you have successfully followed the steps to integrate the API.

After successfully linking your Google Cloud project and integrating the Play Grouping API, you can use the Play Grouping API as a data source when creating a new custom audience.

Create a new custom audience

To create a custom audience:

1. Open Play Console and go to the Custom audiences page (Grow users > Store presence > Custom audiences).
2. Click Create audience.
3. Enter an audience name. This must be a unique name to identify your audience. Users won’t see this.
4. Choose a data source. You have two options:
   • CSV: To use a CSV as your data source, select CSV and upload one CSV with at least 5,000 email addresses. The matching process takes around 24 hours, and this audience is available for 90 days.
   • API: You can choose this option if you have successfully integrated the Play Grouping API.
5. Click Create audience.

Note: If you update the audience while an event that uses it is running, we will run with the old audience until the new audience has been matched and seamlessly swap over when ready.

View your custom audience information

You can view custom audience information on the Custom audiences page. The "Custom audiences" table shows the following information:

• Custom audience: The name you entered when creating your custom audience.
• Status: Custom audiences can have the following statuses. Along with the status, we also list the number and names of places (such as an event) in which this custom audience is used, if any.
  • Matching user accounts: It takes around 24 hours to confirm if there are enough matched accounts to use.
  • Audience too small: This custom audience doesn’t have enough matched users. When an audience is too small, any place it's in use will be paused. To resume using this audience, upload a new CSV with at least 5,000 email addresses.
  • Audience has expired: Your custom audience has expired because it was last updated more than 90 days ago. Upload a new CSV file to use the audience again.
  • Audience expires soon: This audience expires soon. When an audience expires after 90 days, any place it's in use will be paused. To prevent this, upload a new CSV with at least 5,000 email addresses at least 24 hours before the expiration date. We recommend editing the custom audience as soon as possible to make sure it doesn’t expire.
  • Ready to use: This audience is ready to use and/or is in use.
• Data source: The means of matching you chose when creating your custom audience (either CSV or API).
• Last updated: Expiration periods reset when a new CSV is uploaded to a custom audience. This will either be:
  • Expires in [number of days]; or
  • Expired

You can click the three-dots icon at the end of each row in the table followed by View performance for that audience or Edit. View performance opens the relevant page for where that custom audience is used.

Edit an existing custom audience

To create a custom audience:

1. Open Play Console and go to the Custom audiences page  (Grow users > Store presence > Custom audiences)
2. Find the audience you want to edit in the "Custom audiences" table.
3. At the end of the row for the custom audience you want to edit, click the three-dots icon followed by Edit.
4. Make the required changes.
5. Click Save.