Ace Your 2026 Google Account Strategist Interview – Strategize, Succeed, Shine!

Custom Intent Audiences target people who are actively researching or in the market for your product, based on signals you define. You shape this audience by entering keywords or URLs that represent the topics or buying intent you care about, or you can choose from auto-created options. This approach reaches users while they’re showing purchase intent, often in real time, rather than targeting broad interests or demographic traits.

This differs from Similar Audiences, which looks for people like your existing customers; Demographic Audiences, which filter by age, gender, and other static traits; and Affinity Audiences, which covers broad, long-term interests. The strength of Custom Intent is its focus on current intent signals that you control through keywords and URLs, allowing more precise and timely targeting.