Google Ads - Audiences (via custom parameters)

The goal is to send the ClickPatrol classification to Google Ads as a custom parameter, then build a segment in Audience Manager that filters on it. Use this route when you do not use GA4, or when you prefer to keep audience building entirely inside Google Ads.

Before you start#

This setup runs through Google Tag Manager. Three things need to be in place:

• The ClickPatrol tag in Tag Manager, firing on all pages
• The ClickPatrol event trigger, so other tags can react to the classification
• A Google Ads Remarketing tag that sends the classification as clickpatrol_status. The full configuration is in Google Ads - Events

ClickPatrol events only fire on ad traffic. The parameter therefore travels with the ClickPatrol_Legitimate and ClickPatrol_Suspicious events, not with every page view.

Check that the parameter is arriving#

Google only offers a custom parameter in the segment builder once it has actually received it. There is nothing to switch on in Google Ads beforehand, but there is something to verify:

• In Tag Manager, click Preview and open your site with ?source=f appended to the URL, which simulates ad traffic.
• Select the ClickPatrol event in Tag Assistant, open your Google Ads Remarketing tag, and confirm that clickpatrol_status is filled.
• Allow 24 to 48 hours after publishing the container before the parameter becomes selectable in Audience Manager.

To check whether your Google tag is receiving data at all, go to Tools > Data manager > Connected products and open the Google tag card.

Build the segment in Google Ads#

• Click the Tools icon, open Shared library and click Audience manager.
• Stay on the Your data segments tab, click the plus button and select Website visitors.
• Give the segment a clear name, for example CP Legitimate 540d.
• Under Segment members, choose Visitors of a page.
• In the Actions section, leave the action on Web page visit and set the number of days.
• Click Refine action.
• In the first parameter drop-down, select clickpatrol_status. Custom parameters appear here alongside the standard options such as page URL and referrer URL.
• Set the operator to equals and enter ClickPatrol_Legitimate as the value.
• Under Pre-fill options, choose whether to add visitors from the past 30 days or start with an empty segment.
• Click Create segment.
• Repeat for CP Suspicious 30d with the value ClickPatrol_Suspicious.

Use the segments#

• Start with CP Suspicious as an exclusion. Add it as a negative audience at account level under Shared library, so new campaigns inherit the exclusion instead of starting unprotected.
• Use CP Legitimate for targeting, or as the seed list for a Lookalike segment in a Demand Gen campaign. Google retired Similar Segments in August 2023, so on Search, Display and Video you add CP Legitimate as an audience signal and let optimized targeting expand from it.

Why exclusion comes first, and how to prove the effect on your cost per lead, is covered in Building audiences with ClickPatrol.

Notes#

• Parameter names and values are not case sensitive in the segment builder, so clickpatrol_legitimate matches the same visitors as ClickPatrol_Legitimate.
• Custom parameter values must be non-personally identifiable and non-sensitive.
• Use the AND and OR buttons to combine conditions, for example clickpatrol_status equals ClickPatrol_Legitimate together with Page URL contains /pricing.
• A segment needs at least 100 active users in the last 30 days before it is eligible to serve on Search, Display or YouTube.
• Membership duration can be set up to 540 days.
• If clickpatrol_status is missing from the parameter list, the tag has not sent it yet. Recheck the Tag Assistant step above and confirm the container is published.