How to Import Audience from Google Analytics 4 to Google Ads

Building a powerful, custom audience in Google Analytics 4 is a great first step, but that data is most valuable when you put it to work. If you're ready to move beyond basic keyword targeting and reach people based on their specific actions on your site, this guide is for you. We'll walk through exactly how to import your GA4 audiences into Google Ads so you can launch smarter, more effective remarketing and display campaigns.

The Power of Smarter Targeting: Why This Matters

Connecting your GA4 audiences to Google Ads isn't just a technical task, it's a strategic move that unlocks a more sophisticated level of advertising. Before we get into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why."

Go Beyond Basic Remarketing

Standard Google Ads remarketing lists are often based on simple rules, like "visited any page." With GA4, you can create audiences based on incredibly specific behaviors. Think about the possibilities:

• Engaged Users: Target users who visited more than three pages, scrolled 90% of the way down a key page, and spent over two minutes on your site.
• Video Viewers: Remarket a special offer to users who watched at least 50% of your embedded product demo video.
• Potential Power Users: Target free trial users who have triggered specific in-app events, like feature_used_xyz.
• Cart Abandoners: Create a list of users who triggered the add_to_cart event but not the purchase event within the same session.

These behavior-based segments are full of user intent, making your ads much more relevant and your budget more efficient.

Find High-Value Lookalike Audiences

Once you've defined a high-value audience in GA4 - like "all users who made a purchase over $200" - you can use that valuable list in Google Ads to create "Similar Segments." Google Ads will then find new users who share characteristics with your best customers, effectively expanding your reach to a highly qualified new audience.

Refine and Optimize Existing Campaigns

Importing audiences isn't just about targeting, it's also about exclusion and optimization. You can use GA4 audiences to:

• Exclude Recent Purchasers: Stop showing ads for a product to someone who just bought it. This saves you money and prevents an annoying user experience.
• Make Smarter Bid Adjustments: Add an "Engaged Users" audience to an existing Search campaign with an "Observation" setting. You can then tell Google to bid, say, 25% higher when someone from that highly engaged group searches for one of your keywords.

The Pre-Flight Checklist: What You Need First

Before you get started, let's make sure you have everything in place. Answering these questions now will save you from hitting a roadblock later.

1. Do you have the right permissions? You need to have at least 'Editor' role access to the Google Analytics property you want to link. For Google Ads, you'll need Administrative access. It's also critical that you use the same Google account email for both platforms to make the linking process seamless.

2. Is Google Signals enabled in GA4? Google Signals collects session data from sites and apps that Google associates with users who have signed into their Google accounts and turned on Ads Personalization. Enabling it is essential for more robust cross-device remarketing.

• How to check: In GA4, go to Admin &gt, Data Settings &gt, Data Collection. Make sure the toggle for "Google signals data collection" is on.

3. Is Personalized Advertising enabled in your Google Ads link settings? This setting allows your GA4 audiences to be used for remarketing in Google Ads. Without it, you can only use them for reporting.

• How to check: In GA4, go to Admin &gt, Product Links &gt, Google Ads Links. Click on your linked account and check the configuration. Make sure "Enable Personalized Advertising" is turned on.

4. Is auto-tagging enabled in Google Ads? This is less about sending audiences to Google Ads and more about getting rich campaign data from Google Ads back into GA4. It’s a best practice for a healthy data connection.

• How to check: In Google Ads, go to Settings &gt, Account Settings. Ensure "Auto-tagging" is checked.

Step-by-Step: Linking GA4 and Importing Your First Audience

Once your checklist is complete, you're ready to get this done. The process involves two main phases: linking the accounts and then creating and managing the audience itself.

Phase 1: Link Your Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads Accounts

If you haven't already, this is the foundational step. This connection is what allows data to flow freely between both platforms.

1. Navigate to the Admin panel in your GA4 property by clicking the gear icon in the bottom-left corner.
2. In the "Property" column, look for the "Product Links" section and click on Google Ads Links.
3. Click the blue Link button. A new screen will appear.
4. Click Choose Google Ads accounts. A list of Google Ads accounts associated with your email address will show up. Select the one you want to link and click Confirm.
5. Click Next. Now you'll be on the "Configure settings" page. This is important.
6. Ensure Enable Personalized Advertising is turned ON. This is the master switch that allows audiences created in GA4 to be used for ads.
7. Leave Enable Auto-Tagging ON. Even if it's already on in Google Ads, this ensures the setting stays synced.
8. Click Next, review your choices, and then click Submit.

That's it! Your accounts are now linked. You should see it in the list with a "Linked" status.

Phase 2: Build a Custom Audience in GA4

Now for the fun part. Let's create a practical, high-value audience from scratch. For this example, we'll build a classic "Shopping Cart Abandoners" audience.

1. In the GA4 Admin panel, under the "Property" column, go to Audiences.
2. Click the blue New audience button.
3. You'll be brought to a screen with suggested audiences. We want to build our own, so click on Create a custom audience.
4. Give your audience a clear name. Let's call it "GA4 - Cart Abandoners (30 Days)". It's a good practice to include the source and duration in the name for easy identification within Google Ads.
5. Now, we set the conditions. Under "Include users when," click the dropdown and find the event named add_to_cart. This is the first positive condition.
6. Next, we need to exclude users who completed a purchase. Click Add group to exclude below the include condition.
7. Under "Permanently exclude users when," select the purchase event. This ensures that anyone who buys is removed from this list.
8. At the top right, set the Membership duration. This is how long a user stays in the audience after meeting the criteria. For cart abandoners, 30-60 days is a common range. Let's choose 30 days.
9. When you're happy with the setup, click Save.

You’ve just created your first behavior-based audience! GA4 will now start populating this list with users who meet these specific conditions.

Phase 3: Verify the Audience in Google Ads

Your beautiful new audience won't appear in Google Ads instantly. It can take 24-48 hours for GA4 to populate the audience and for it to sync over to Google Ads.

Here's where to find it when it arrives:

1. Log in to your Google Ads account.
2. In the top menu, go to Tools and settings &gt, Shared Library &gt, Audience manager.
3. You should see your new GA4 audience, named "GA4 - Cart Abandoners (30 Days)," in the list. The "Type" column will say "Google Analytics."

Don't be alarmed if the audience size columns (Search, YouTube, Display, etc.) say "Too small to serve" or "Populating." This is normal. Audiences need to reach a minimum size (e.g., at least 100 active users within the last 30 days for Display campaigns) before you can start targeting them.

Now What? How to Use Your GA4 Audience in Google Ads

With your audience synced, you can now apply it to your campaigns. You generally have three options: Targeting, Observation, and Exclusion.

Using an Audience for Targeting

This means your ad group will only show ads to the people in this specific audience. It's perfect for focused remarketing campaigns.

• In your Google Ads campaign, navigate to the ad group where you want to use the audience.
• Click on the Audiences tab in the left-hand menu.
• Click the edit pencil icon or "Add Audiences."
• Select "Targeting" at the top of the module.
• Under Browse &gt, How they have interacted with your business, you will find your Google Analytics lists. Select your "GA4 - Cart Abandoners (30 Days)" audience and click Save.

Using an Audience for Observation

Adding an audience in "Observation" mode doesn't restrict your targeting. Your ads will still show to everyone you're targeting through keywords or other methods. However, it allows you to see how that specific audience performs and apply bid adjustments for them.

• Follow the same steps as above, but in the final step, make sure "Observation" is selected instead of "Targeting."
• Once you've collected some data, you can go back to the Audiences tab and set a bid adjustment (e.g., "+20%") for your best-performing GA4 audiences to bid more aggressively when those valuable users are searching.

Using an Audience for Exclusions

Excluding audiences is just as powerful. You can add a GA4 audience of "Recent Purchasers" to your acquisition campaigns to ensure you're not spending money advertising to existing customers.

• From your Campaign view, click into the Audiences tab.
• At the top of the Audience table, you'll see a tab labeled Exclusions. Click it.
• Click "Add audience exclusions" and select your "Purchasers" list to prevent them from seeing your ads.

Final Thoughts

By connecting GA4 to Google Ads, you've transformed your analytics platform from a passive reporting tool into an active, strategic part of your advertising engine. Building audiences based on real user behavior allows for more relevant messaging, better ROI, and a more intelligent approach to spending your marketing budget.

Mastering this workflow between individual tools is a huge step up, but it often highlights just how much manual work goes into connecting your data. It’s what inspired us to build a better way. At Graphed, we automate the painful process of connecting all your marketing and sales data - from Google Ads and GA4 to Shopify, CRMs, and ad platforms - into one place. You can then ask questions in plain English like, "Show me my ad spend versus revenue this month," and get a real-time dashboard instantly, saving hours of manual reporting and helping you see the full picture without the friction.