Google real estate ads: the targeting you can't use

In the United States and Canada, Google limits how you can target ads for housing, to help ensure equal access to housing opportunities. If you advertise homes for sale or rent, or real estate services, on Google, these limits apply to your campaigns. Here's what counts as a housing ad, what you can't target, and what you still can.

What counts as a housing ad

Google's policy covers housing in the United States and Canada, including homes for sale or rent, and the products and services that enable those sales or rentals. Google defines a home as a place a person would reside. Its examples include:

• Housing listing sites
• Real estate services
• Individual houses for sale or rent, including apartments, mobile homes, house boats and retirement residential communities

What you can't target

In the United States and Canada, housing ads can't target people by:

Google applies the same limits to ads for jobs and consumer finance in the United States and Canada.

What you can still use

• Radius targeting of at least 1 km around a point
• City and country targeting
• In Canada, the first 3 characters of a postal code (the forward sortation area)
• Google's predefined audiences, apart from the demographics above

In practice, target the city or area you serve and leave the age, gender, parental status and marital status settings open. Let your keywords and ad text find the right people.

If Google flags your ad

Google reviews flagged ads under its personalized advertising policy. You can change the targeting, change the ad or the page it links to, or appeal. An edited ad is reviewed again automatically. If you can't fix it, Google advises removing the ad, because repeated policy violations can get an account suspended.

How this compares with Facebook

Facebook and Instagram have similar limits, but there you also have to choose a category for the campaign. See Facebook housing ads: the Special Ad Category explained.

EasyMarket's Google setup guide leaves these settings open on every housing campaign. You can check an ad's wording free before you publish it.