> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instantcampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sync audiences to ad platforms

> Keep a Google Ads Customer Match list or Meta Custom Audience in step with a segment or journey, and check what the platform received.

An ad audience is a list in your ad account, filled with people from InstantCampaign. Use one to show ads to existing contacts, to exclude customers from prospecting ads, or as the seed for a [lookalike](/guides/ads/lookalike-audiences).

Open **Advertising → Audiences**. You can also get there from **Manage audiences** on the Google Ads or Meta Ads card on the Integrations page.

<Note>
  Only **Owners** and **Admins** can create, sync, check and delete audiences. You need a connected ad account first. See [Connect your ad accounts](/guides/ads/connect-ad-accounts).
</Note>

## What gets uploaded

* Only **email addresses** are sent, and they are hashed (SHA-256) before they leave InstantCampaign. The ad platform matches the hashes against its own users.
* Only contacts with the **Active** status are uploaded. Unsubscribed, bounced and complained contacts are never sent.
* When a contact leaves the segment or stops being active, the next sync removes them from the audience.

## Create an audience

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start">
    Click **Create audience**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the platform">
    Under **Ad platform**, choose Google Ads or Meta Ads. Platforms you haven't connected are marked **Not connected**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the audience type">
    * **Linked to segment** (kept in sync automatically): pick the **Segment** whose active contacts fill the audience.
    * **Standalone** (managed by journey actions): the audience starts empty. Journeys add and remove people one at a time. See [Advertising in journeys](/guides/ads/journeys).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it">
    Enter an **Audience name**. This is the name shown in your ad account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Google Ads only: membership duration">
    Set **Membership duration (days)**, from 1 to 540 (default 540). This is how long Google keeps someone on the list after they're added.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Segment-linked only: auto-sync">
    Leave **Auto-sync** on to re-sync the audience as the segment changes. Then click **Create audience**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

A segment-linked audience starts its first sync straight away ("Audience created — initial sync started."). A standalone audience waits for a journey to add contacts.

## Keep an audience up to date

The audience table shows each audience's **Platform**, **Segment**, **Status**, **Synced** (how many contacts were sent), **Platform verdict**, **Match / Size** and **Last synced**.

* **Auto-sync**: when this is on, the audience is compared with its segment about every six hours. Only the differences are uploaded.
* **Sync now** (the refresh icon): runs a sync immediately. It's unavailable for standalone audiences, which journeys fill, and for lookalikes, which the platform fills.
* **Check with the platform** (the magnifier icon): asks Google or Meta what it actually holds for this audience.
* **Delete mapping** (the bin icon): stops syncing. The audience itself stays in your ad account and isn't deleted.

Click an audience's name to open its details, including **What the platform reports** and the **Upload history**.

## "Synced" is not the same as "populated"

InstantCampaign knows what it sent. Only the platform knows what it did with it. Google in particular accepts an upload straight away but rules on it **30 minutes to 24 hours later**. The **Platform verdict** column shows that ruling:

| Verdict                    | Meaning                                                               |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Accepted by Google**     | Google processed the upload.                                          |
| **Processing at Google**   | Google hasn't finished yet. The details show when the verdict is due. |
| **Rejected by Google**     | Google refused the upload. Open the details to see Google's reason.   |
| **No verdict from Google** | Google didn't report an outcome within 24 hours.                      |
| **Not found at Google**    | The list isn't under the connected customer ID. See below.            |
| **Nothing uploaded yet**   | No upload has been sent for this audience yet.                        |

Verdicts are fetched automatically. To fetch one now, click **Check with the platform**.

In the details dialog, **What the platform reports** lists the **Membership** status, **Account access**, **Match rate**, **Size by network** and whether the list is **Eligible for targeting**. For Meta audiences it shows the **Delivery status** and approximate size.

<Warning>
  Google shows a size, and lets you target a Customer Match list, only once **at least 100 members** have matched a Google account. Addresses that don't belong to a Google account never match, so an audience of test contacts stays at 0.
</Warning>

## Verify an audience in Google Ads

When Google Ads is connected, the Audiences page has a **Verify in Google Ads** panel. It lists every audience Google holds under the connected account, which are the same rows as **Audience Manager → Your data segments** in Google Ads. Each row is marked **Managed here** or **Not managed here**.

If the panel says "Google does not return these audiences under this account", those audiences were created under a different customer ID or deleted in Google Ads. Check the account selected on the Integrations page.

## Troubleshooting

| What you see                                                      | Cause and fix                                                                                                             |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Rejected by Google** with a consent reason such as `NO_CONSENT` | Your Google Ads account's customer data consent settings don't allow the upload. Fix them in Google Ads, then sync again. |
| Size stays at `—` for a day or more                               | Fewer than 100 contacts matched a Google account. Use a larger segment.                                                   |
| The Meta audience status is an error about terms                  | Accept Meta's Custom Audience Terms. See [Connect your ad accounts](/guides/ads/connect-ad-accounts#connect-meta-ads).    |
| A banner says Google access has expired                           | Click **Reconnect** on the Audiences page. Syncs and verdicts resume afterwards.                                          |
| The audience is missing in Google Ads                             | The list was created under a different customer ID. Compare with **Verify in Google Ads**.                                |