Audience segments data

Audience segments are pre-built groups of consumers, such as in-market car buyers or frequent travellers, that advertisers can target on digital channels. Media buyers, agencies and brands use them to reach likely customers without building audiences from scratch. Segments are usually delivered as identifiers inside ad platforms rather than as files of people.

Typical fields

• Segment name and taxonomy path
• Description and qualification rules
• Estimated reach by country and channel
• Identifier types (cookies, mobile ad IDs, hashed emails, connected TV IDs)
• Recency window and refresh frequency
• Activation partners and price per thousand impressions

Sources and collection

Segments are built from consented first-party data shared by publishers and apps, purchase or loyalty data, survey responses and modelled lookalikes. Quality depends on how recent the signal is and whether a segment is deterministic (based on observed behavior) or modelled (predicted from similar users). Consent frameworks and privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA decide what can be shared and where.

Delivery and pricing

Most segments are activated through demand-side platforms, data management platforms or clean rooms rather than downloaded. Pricing is often a CPM fee added to media cost, or a fixed fee for custom segments; some providers license segments for a flat monthly fee.

Before you buy

• Ask how each segment is built and whether it is observed or modelled.
• Check the consent basis and the countries where the segment can lawfully be used.
• Confirm support for your activation partners and expected match rates.
• Check that sensitive categories, such as health conditions, are excluded.
• Run a test campaign with a holdout group to measure lift.