Google Lowers Audience Size Limits Across Ads: What It Means for Advertisers

Google has quietly rolled out a significant update to its advertising ecosystem one that levels the playing field for small and niche advertisers.

Google has reduced the minimum audience size requirement to just 100 users, making remarketing and customer list targeting far more accessible across Google Ads.

This update removes a long-standing limitation that previously restricted advanced audience strategies to only large advertisers.

What’s New in Google Ads?

Google has lowered the minimum audience size threshold to 100 active users across:

• Search campaigns

• Display campaigns

• YouTube campaigns

• Remarketing lists

• Customer Match lists

Earlier, advertisers needed at least 1,000 users to activate many of these audience-based strategies. With this update, even smaller lists can now be used effectively.

Additionally, Audience Insights will now display data for segments with as few as 100 users, down from the earlier 1,000-user requirement.

How This Change Evolved

This move didn’t happen overnight.

In May, Google first reduced the minimum requirement for Customer Match lists in Search campaigns from 1,000 users to 100.The latest update expands this threshold consistently across all networks and audience types, signaling a clear shift toward broader accessibility.

Why This Matters for Advertisers

This update is especially impactful for:

• Small and medium-sized businesses

• Niche advertisers

• Local brands

• B2B companies with limited but high-quality data

• Businesses relying on first-party data

Key Benefits

• Easier access to remarketing strategies

• Better use of first-party customer data

• More personalized ad targeting

• Ability to activate audience-based campaigns earlier

• Reduced dependency on large traffic volumes

Previously, many advertisers were blocked from using remarketing simply because their audience lists were “too small.” That barrier is now gone.

What Advertisers Should Watch Next

With smaller audience thresholds now live, advertisers should pay attention to:

• How performance changes with smaller, more precise segments

• Whether Google introduces additional privacy safeguards

• How audience insights evolve with limited datasets

• The balance between personalization and compliance

Smaller segments often mean higher intent, but they also require careful strategy to avoid over-segmentation or frequency fatigue.

Bottom Line

By lowering the minimum audience size limit to 100 users across Google Ads, Google is opening up advanced audience targeting to a much broader range of advertisers.

This update empowers businesses of all sizes to:

• Leverage remarketing

• Activate customer lists

• Build smarter, more personalized campaigns

• Compete more effectively without needing massive traffic volumes

For advertisers who rely on precision rather than scale, this is a major win.