Similar Segments vs In-Market Audiences: One of These Is Gone
In short: This comparison is now historical: Google removed similar segments in 2023, while in-market audiences remain a live, selectable option. Both answered the same question - how do I reach likely buyers I have not met - but similar segments did it by resembling your seed lists, and in-market does it by Google's own category-shopping model. The lookalike job did not disappear; it moved inside optimized targeting and Smart Bidding, where your lists act as signals instead of producing a visible segment. Reach for in-market when you want a category you can see and report on, and feed your lists to optimized targeting when you want the machine to find people who resemble them.
By the AdFlint research team · Fact-checked against current Google and Meta platform behavior · Last reviewed July 2026
In-Market Audiences
Targets people Google has identified as actively researching or comparing products in a defined category, based on their recent search and browsing behavior.
You attach an in-market segment to a Display, Video, Demand Gen, or Search ad group and Google matches users whose recent activity signals active purchase research. Reach for it when you want intent-led reach beyond your own keyword footprint. The common mistake is applying it to Search as targeting rather than observation, which narrows an already intent-qualified audience for no gain.
Full definitionSimilar Segments
Google's retired audience expansion feature, which generated lookalike-style segments from a seed list before being removed in 2023 in favor of automated targeting.
Similar segments once derived a resembling audience automatically from a remarketing or Customer Match seed, and Google sunset them so campaign-level automation could do that expansion instead. Your seed lists remain valuable as signals feeding optimized targeting and Smart Bidding rather than as sources for a derived list. Advertisers still hunting for the setting almost always want optimized targeting or Customer Match.
Full definitionSide by side.
The differences that actually change what happens in your account.
| In-Market Audiences | Similar Segments | |
|---|---|---|
| Status in the platform today | Live - selectable on Display, Video, Demand Gen, and as a Search layer. | Removed in 2023 - it cannot be created or applied anywhere. |
| What powered membership | Google's model of active category shopping, no input from you. | Resemblance to a seed you supplied - a remarketing list or Customer Match upload. |
| Where the job lives now | Unchanged - the segment works as it always has. | Inside optimized targeting and Smart Bidding, which expand from your seeds per auction instead of building a list. |
| What your seed lists do | Nothing - in-market ignores your first-party data entirely. | They still matter, but as signals steering automation rather than as the parent of a visible segment. |
| Visibility and control | A named row in reporting you can include, exclude, or observe. | Its successor is invisible - expansion happens per auction with no separate audience to inspect or bid on. |
| What replacing it requires | Nothing - keep using it. | Reliable conversion tracking, because the successor optimizes toward conversions instead of resemblance. |
What actually separates them.
Similar segments no longer exist as a selectable audience, so any playbook, script, or saved report referencing them is describing a control the account no longer has.
Lookalike expansion moved from a visible, biddable list to per-auction decisions inside optimized targeting, so you can no longer set a separate bid or budget for lookalike traffic.
In-market defines its audience by category and ignores your data, while the similar-segments successor is driven by your seeds, so first-party list quality now shapes expansion instead of building a segment.
The successor optimizes toward your conversion goal rather than resemblance to the seed, which means weak conversion tracking now breaks the lookalike job in a way it never broke similar segments.
In-market performance still appears as its own reporting row, while expansion traffic reports apart from your chosen segments, so auditing where prospecting money went requires reading both.
Which one should you use?
Use In-Market Audiences when
- You want prospecting you can name, report on, and exclude - a visible category rather than invisible expansion.
- You have no first-party seed lists worth feeding to automation.
- Your conversion tracking is thin or delayed, which starves conversion-driven expansion but does not affect a fixed segment.
- You want an intent layer on Search, which lookalike-style expansion never provided.
Use Similar Segments when
- Your playbook or client brief still calls for similar audiences - translate it to optimized targeting seeded with the same remarketing or Customer Match lists.
- You wanted lookalikes of your converters - keep those lists attached as audience signals so automation expands from them.
- You relied on similar segments for scale beyond your lists - turn on optimized targeting and judge the expansion share in reporting instead.
- You used to bid separately on a similar segment - accept that this lever is gone and steer with targets and exclusions now.
Common questions.
Why can't I find similar audiences in Google Ads anymore?
Google sunset similar audiences in 2023 and folded the lookalike job into automated features. Existing segments stopped serving and the option disappeared from audience pickers. Nothing is wrong with your account - the feature is gone platform-wide.
What is the closest replacement for similar segments?
Optimized targeting with your remarketing and Customer Match lists attached as signals. It expands beyond your chosen audiences toward people predicted to convert, using your seeds as a starting point, which is the same job similar segments did with less automation. The practical difference is that it needs trustworthy conversion data to aim at, so fix tracking before leaning on it.
Do my remarketing and Customer Match lists still matter now that similar audiences are gone?
Yes, arguably more than before. They still work directly for retargeting, suppression, and bid layering, and they now also serve as the seeds that steer optimized targeting and inform Smart Bidding. A clean, regularly refreshed list improves the invisible expansion even though you never see a lookalike segment built from it.
Can I still bid separately on lookalike traffic?
No. Because expansion now happens per auction inside automated targeting rather than through a distinct segment, there is no object to attach a bid adjustment to. Your controls are the ad group's optimized targeting toggle, your bid strategy targets, and exclusions. If you need hard separation, the only structural option is isolating fixed segments in their own ad groups with expansion off.
Or stop choosing between them.
AdFlint picks the setting, writes the ads, and keeps optimizing inside the Google and Meta accounts you already own.
Related comparisons
- Affinity Audiences vs In-Market Audiences
- Custom Segments vs In-Market Audiences
- Customer Match vs In-Market Audiences
- In-Market Audiences vs Remarketing Lists
- Demographic Targeting vs In-Market Audiences
- In-Market Audiences vs Life Events Targeting
- In-Market Audiences vs Optimized Targeting
- In-Market Audiences vs Topics Targeting