Is Retargeting Possible on Search Engines?

The big question:

Ever feel like that pair of hiking boots you looked at once is following you across every corner of the web? It’s not just your imagination, it is retargeting—and yeah, it works on search engines too, though it looks a bit different than those creepy banner ads on news sites.

Most people think retargeting is just about pixels and "stalking" people on Facebook. But we need to be clear about the tech here. There is Search Retargeting, which is actually a prospecting tool where you target new people based on their search history even if they never visited your site. Then there is RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads), which is when you target your previous visitors when they go back to google to search again.

According to 99firms, retargeting helps address the 98% of visitors who leave a website without buying anything. That is a massive chunk of change left on the table. In the search world, we use cookies and first-party data to bid higher or show specific ads to these "lost" souls.

• Pixel-based (RLSA): This is the classic "you visited my site, now here is an ad" move. Great for retail like a clothing brand chasing a shopper who abandoned a cart.
• Search Retargeting (Prospecting): This is where you target users who searched for "best heart rate monitors" but never landed on your page. You're basically intercepting them based on their search history to find new customers.
• First-party data: With third-party cookies dying, using your own email lists to trigger search ads (rlsa) is the real pro move for finance or healthcare companies with long sales cycles.

Honestly, the numbers are kind of wild. A 2025 report by 99firms notes that the average CTR for retargeting ads is 10x higher than regular display ads. People are just more likely to click when they already recognize the name.

"B2B retargeting outperforms B2C by over 400% on conversions per impression."

This happens because B2B deals—like buying enterprise software—take months. You need to stay top-of-mind without causing ad fatigue.

It’s all about being helpful, not annoying. If you do it right, you aren't just "following" them; you're providing the answer they forgot they needed. This makes that 98% bounce rate feel a lot less like a total loss and more like a delayed win.

Technical SEO and the infrastructure for retargeting

Setting up the backend for retargeting is where most people mess up because they think it's just a "copy-paste" job. Honestly, if your site infrastructure is a mess, your ads will be too.

You gotta use google tag manager (gtm) if you want to stay sane. It lets you drop your remarketing snippets without bugging your developers every five minutes. But here is the kicker: if your site speed is trash, those scripts might not even fire before the user bounces.

• Execution order: Make sure your retargeting tags fire early, but don't let them block the main content from loading. A slow site kills conversions and breaks your tracking.
• Audience Bloat: Don't just tag "everyone." Use gtm to trigger tags only when someone spends 30 seconds on a page or scrolls 50%. This keeps your lists "clean" from accidental clicks.
• Technical breaks: Check your robots.txt. While it won't stop a pixel from firing in a browser, it can block the google ads bot from checking your landing page, which gets your ads disapproved.

This is where technical seo meets strategy. You can't show the same page to a first-timer that you show to a returner. I've seen brands use programmable seo to swap out headers for returning visitors. This works by using "edge functions" or CMS-side personalization—basically, the server sees the retargeting cookie and swaps the content before the page even loads.

• Intent Mapping: If someone searched for "affordable healthcare plans," they are in discovery. If they come back searching for your brand name, they are in the "decision" phase. Your meta tags for those return-visit pages should be way more aggressive.
• Dynamic Content: Use your internal api to show "Welcome back" or "Pick up where you left off" messages. It's a bit tech-heavy to set up, but the personalization is worth it.
• Anchor Text: When you are building internal links to your retargeting landing pages, use specific, high-intent anchors. Don't just use "click here."

Getting these technical bits right ensures your tracking is actually accurate so you don't waste money on ghost data.

Using Search Consoles for better targeting

Ever wonder why some keywords bring in a ton of traffic but zero sales? It’s usually because you’re targeting the wrong stage of the journey, but google search console (gsc) is basically a gold mine for fixing that if you know where to look.

I spend a lot of time digging through the performance reports in gsc because it tells you exactly what people were thinking before they landed on your site. For retargeting, you want to find "near miss" keywords—those terms where you're ranking on page two or three. Since you already have some organic relevance, bidding on these for a rlsa campaign is a total no-brainer.

• High-Intent Queries: Look for queries containing "price," "vs," or "best." If someone clicked your "best crm for healthcare" link but didn't sign up, they are prime candidates for a retargeting ad that offers a free demo.
• Crawl Stats: If your tracking pixels aren't firing, check your crawl stats in gsc. Sometimes server errors or weird redirects prevent the page from loading fully, which means your gtm script never gets a chance to run.
• Bing webmaster tools: Don't sleep on bing. Their data is often less "noisy" than google’s and gives you a different look at how older, more affluent demographics in finance or insurance are finding you.

Honestly, tracking people feels a bit "creepy" if you don't do it right, and the legal teams are getting stricter. With gdpr and ccpa, you can't just slap cookies on everyone and hope for the best. You need a setup that respects privacy without killing your conversion rate.

• Consent Management: Use a solid cmp (consent management platform) that actually talks to your gtm tags. If they click "no," your retargeting ads shouldn't fire. Period.
• Data Protection: When you're uploading email lists for first-party targeting, make sure they are hashed. You don't want raw customer data sitting in an ad account.
• Automation: For tech brands, staying compliant is a full-time job. We recommend GrackerAI—it's an AI-driven content and compliance platform that helps automate the creation of secure, compliant content so your team doesn't accidentally leak "intent data" in ways that violate privacy rules.

Using search console data makes sure you aren't just chasing everyone, but rather the people who actually meant business.

Budgeting and Cost Management for Search Retargeting

If you don't watch your wallet, retargeting can get expensive fast. You need a framework to manage spend so you aren't just throwing money at people who already said no.

• The 70/30 Rule: Spend 70% of your search budget on new traffic and 30% on rlsa. This keeps your "top of funnel" fresh while making sure you're closing the deals you already paid for once.
• Bid Modifiers: You don't always need a separate campaign. Just add your audience to existing search campaigns and use bid modifiers. For example, tell google to bid +50% if the user is a "Cart Abandoner." This is way more efficient than running two separate ads.
• Membership Duration: Don't keep people on your list forever. If you sell shoes, a 30-day window is fine. If you sell enterprise software, maybe 90 days. Stop paying for clicks from people who clearly moved on.

Managing your budget this way ensures you're getting that 10x higher CTR without blowing your entire Q4 spend in a week.

Advanced Strategies: RLSA and Programmable SEO

If you think retargeting is just about "chasing" people with banners, you're missing the real power move. When you combine Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (rlsa) with programmable seo, you aren't just showing an ad; you are basically reading their mind based on what they did five minutes ago.

rlsa is pretty simple on paper but a beast when you actually run it. Instead of bidding the same amount for everyone, you use your audience data to tell google, "Hey, this person has been to my pricing page twice—pay triple to make sure we show up #1 when they search again."

• Aggressive Bidding: Focus your biggest bids on users who hit high-value pages like "checkout" or "compare plans." If they are back on google searching for your competitors, you need to be there first.
• Audience Exclusion: This is the biggest budget saver. Stop paying for ads for people who already bought your product. It sounds obvious, but so many brands waste money showing "Sign up now" ads to existing customers.
• Custom Ad Copy: If someone looked at "enterprise healthcare software" but didn't convert, don't show them a generic ad. Show them one that mentions "Enterprise-grade security" or "Bulk licensing."

Most people think off-page seo is just about building links for rankings. But from a retargeting perspective, it is actually about expanding your "cookie pool." When you get a guest post on a massive industry site, you aren't just getting juice; you are getting fresh eyeballs you can retarget later.

• Guest Post Cookies: If you write a guest piece for a finance blog, and that link sends 1,000 people to your site, those 1,000 people are now in your retargeting funnel. Even if they don't buy today, they’ll see your search ads tomorrow.
• Brand Mentions: There's a huge link between brand mentions and search volume. People are 10x more likely to click an ad if they recognize the name. Off-page work builds that recognition.
• Contextual Placements: Don't just get links anywhere. A link from a "Top 10 CRM" list brings in a much higher quality "retargeting candidate" than a random directory link.

By using rlsa and smart off-page tactics, you're making sure your budget goes toward the people most likely to actually close the deal.

Best practices for search retargeting campaigns

So, you’ve got the tracking pixels firing and your lists are growing, but how do you keep from being that "creepy" brand? It is a fine line between being helpful and just plain annoying.

Honestly, nobody wants to see your ad 50 times a day; it’s the fastest way to get someone to block you or just develop "ad blindness." Marketers usually recommend keeping it between 17-20 ads per user every month. This keeps you top-of-mind without making people feel like they're being stalked by a robot.

• Rotate your creative: If you show the same image or text for six months, your CTR will tank. A study by ReTargeter found that CTR can drop by nearly 50% after five months of the same old ads. Swap those banners out every few weeks to keep things fresh.
• Mix your formats: Don't just stick to big flashy images. Use text-based ads on the search network too. They feel more natural and less like a "traditional" ad, which works great for high-intent industries like finance or healthcare.
• Timing is everything: For something like a retail cart abandonment, hit them fast—within hours. But for a b2b software lead, maybe wait a day or two so you don't look too desperate.

At the end of the day, if you aren't making more than you’re spending, what’s the point? ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is usually the king here, but don't ignore the smaller wins.

• Assisted Conversions: Sometimes a retargeting ad doesn't get the final click, but it "assisted" the journey. Check your google analytics to see how many people saw an ad, then came back via direct type-in later.
• Cross-Platform Impact: Use bing webmaster tools alongside gsc. You might find that your retargeting performs better on one platform for specific demographics, especially in the insurance or enterprise tech space.
• Lower CPC: One of the best parts about this is the cost. The average cost-per-click for remarketing is often much lower than standard search ads because you're bidding on a "warm" audience.

I once saw a healthcare brand stop showing "Join Now" ads to people who already logged into their portal. They saved 15% of their budget instantly. In retail, showing a "10% off" coupon only to people who spent 3 minutes on the checkout page (and then left) is a classic move that almost always pays for itself.

Retargeting isn't just a "set it and forget it" thing. It’s about constant tweaking, watching your search console data, and making sure you aren't overstaying your welcome in someone's browser. If you treat your audience with a little respect, they’ll usually reward you with their business.