Two common issues with Customer Match are upload problems and small reported Customer Match list sizes. Both can be traced to problematic data file formatting or incorrect hashing. In addition to useful hashing tools, this article will walk you through the steps to ensure your files and the data within your file are in the required format for maximum matching. Additionally, we’ll explain common causes and fixes for low traffic and list processing issues. Before you beginThere is often confusion about the difference between the number of records in the uploaded file and the list size shown in Google Ads. When you upload a file, your customer data will first be validated to ensure that it’s in an acceptable format for upload. After validation and when the upload is complete, you’ll be provided with a percentage of your customer data that passed validation, was successfully uploaded, and will be matched to Google Accounts. Once the matching process is complete, the column that shows your customer list size will display a bucketed number of customer data that was successfully matched. Learn more about how Google uses Customer Match data Note that it’s possible that not every customer match record you uploaded is tied to an active Google account. As such, the number of records uploaded may not be equal to your Customer Match list size. How to troubleshoot upload issues and low list sizeCustomer Match data files must follow specific formatting guidelines in order to be accepted. Incorrect formatting, including incorrect hashing, can lead to an upload error or a low number of matched records. Check all of the below items as any can cause a low list size. For additional formatting guidelines, read Create a customer list.
Additionally, if you’re hashing before you upload your file:
Sample Formatting Here’s an example of the correct file formatting using rows and columns where the first row must be headers.
Here’s an example of the correct file formatting using a CSV file.
In both examples, multiple email and postal code columns/values may be added and headers must be in English.
Low upload success rate The first 1,000 rows in your data file are pre-checked before upload for issues. Error messages will explain fixes. Rows after the first 1,000 will not be pre-checked - a percentage of successfully uploaded rows will be displayed. Please check that you are happy with the percentage. If not, review your data file using the above criteria. Hashing Issues If incorrect hashing was performed before the file was uploaded, or if your customer data doesn’t follow the formatting guidelines, your data file may still be accepted but Google Ads won’t match the customer data to Google Accounts resulting in a low list size. Pre-hashed emails that technically follow our formatting requirements may successfully upload, but an incorrect hashing method would result in Google Ads inability to match the hashed output to a Google Account. For example, if your email addresses included spaces, the hashed output will not equal a recognizable email for matching to a Google Account. If you choose to hash your data files before upload, continue to the “Hash data files” section for further troubleshooting.
Google Ads will hash your data file for you if you choose to upload a data file of unhashed customer data in Google Ads. The private customer data in your file (Email, Phone, First Name, and Last Name) will be automatically formatted and hashed on your computer before they are sent securely to Google's servers. The hashing is done locally on the computer that is used to upload the data files, and therefore can be done securely from within an advertiser's own corporate network. If you choose to pre-hash your files:
“No or low volume” is often caused by too small of a list, too narrow of targeting, and/or low bids or budget compared to other remarketing campaigns. For Customer Match ads to serve, they must have a minimum threshold of active users at the time the ad is served (active users are the number of users on your list that are active on Gmail, Search, YouTube, or Display). At any given time, the number of active users will likely be less than your total audience list size - not everyone is signed in all the time. We recommend audience list sizes of at least 1,000 users to prevent ads from not serving. Any additional targeting restrictions you add on top of the Customer Match list will further narrow down the audience list of potential users your campaign can target, ultimately leading to low or no volume.
Customer Match uploads can take up to 48 hours to process. If you upload or make changes to your audience lists each day you may see a constant “In progress” status as a result. For example, let’s say your audience lists take 6 hours to process. You upload new audience list updates every 4 hours, everyday. Each time you upload a new audience list, it will trigger an “In progress” status so your audience list will always show as “In progress” even though previous updates were complete.
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