skills/ads-manager-entity-management/references/_shared/audiences.md

# Saved custom audiences

Custom audiences are account-level customer lists used for campaign inclusion/exclusion or ad-group bid adjustments. Using a saved list does not change its members. A creative persona is not a saved audience.

- Audience tools are read-only. Creation and all audience changes, including add/remove/replace membership and archiving, happen in Ads Manager web. Call `get_ads_manager_route_link(route_kind="settings_audiences", ad_account_id=...)` for the selected account and present its returned `ads_manager_url`. Do not request or process customer-list files or pasted identifiers. Preserve any pending campaign/ad flow and refresh audience reads after the user completes the web step; opening the link does not prove completion. Do not substitute campaign targeting or bid changes for an audience update.
- Resolve saved audience names with `list_custom_audiences`, following pagination; use `get_custom_audience` for details. Before a new selection, call `list_custom_audiences` with its `intended_use` (`inclusion`, `exclusion`, or `bid_multiplier`), selected `custom_audience_ids`, and the inventory's `policy_revision`. Check that every selected ID is returned across pages; refresh missing or stale revisions, and resolve unavailable selections before writing. Ready status or counts alone do not prove eligibility. These parameters belong only to the eligibility read, not campaign/ad-group write bodies. Report only returned aggregate ranges; keep identifiers private.
- Before any new inclusion, exclusion, or bid adjustment, or a geography change retaining saved audiences, verify that effective campaign geography does not include the EEA or Switzerland. Global targeting fails this check unless all those countries are excluded; unknown geography must be resolved. This audience check overrides the default against geo follow-ups even without a separate geographic request. Obtain approval for any geographic change; never silently alter inherited targeting. Unrelated edits preserve existing audience settings.
- Map inclusions to campaign `targeting.custom_audiences.ids`, exclusions to `targeting.excluded_custom_audiences.ids`, and bid adjustments to ad-group `bidding_config.custom_audience_bid_multipliers`. Bid adjustments require manual (`fixed_bid`) bidding; never switch strategy silently. Show included/excluded audience names and bid adjustments in the approval proposal, marked inherited or proposed. Preserve unrelated settings and inherited selections. Removing a campaign filter differs from removing list members. An unavailable audience does not authorize clearing filters, changing geography, or switching bidding strategy.
- For new ads using existing parents, read and show inherited audience settings; requested changes to those parents belong to Entity Management with their own approved scope. Never change inherited targeting or bids incidentally.
- To inspect web operations, call `get_custom_audience` with `inspection={view:"operation", operation_id:...}` or `inspection={view:"history", ...}`; merge history remains readable. Optional inspection requires edit permission, and `inspection_error` leaves operation state unverified. Processing or publication is not intended-use eligibility.