What Are High-Value Signals in Google Ads?
Google Ads doesn’t just need traffic — it needs truth.
If you’ve ever struggled with mismatched costs and intent, see my breakdown in Stop Blaming Google: Cost‑Intent Strategy. The algorithm is powerful, but it can’t see your margins or customer value unless you feed it the right signals.
That’s where high‑value signals come in.
These are precise, curated data points that cut through the noise and show Google who matters most to your business. By focusing on identity, intent, action, and feedback signals, you stop wasting budget on “any house” traffic and start scaling campaigns toward the customers who actually drive profit.
What Are High-Value Signals in Google Ads?
High‑value signals in Google Ads are curated, profit‑focused data points that tell Google’s AI exactly who your best customers are and how much they’re worth. Unlike broad signals, they use clean first‑party lists, granular search themes, and conversion values to guide the algorithm toward high‑intent, high‑profit outcomes from day one.
TL;DR
A high-value signal is accurate, unique, and value-driven. Don’t just tell Google "who" to find; tell it "how much they are worth." Use recent customer lists, granular search themes, and enhanced conversion tracking to ensure the AI optimizes for profit rather than just clicks.
High-value signals in Google Ads include:
Identity signals: Clean first‑party lists of recent, high‑LTV customers
Intent signals: Granular search themes tied to real buying context
Action signals: Value‑based bidding + enhanced conversions for profit accuracy
Feedback signals: Negative keywords, brand exclusions, and smart bidding guardrails
Don’t just tell Google who to find — tell it how much they’re worth. T
hat’s how you shift campaigns from traffic to profit.
Analogy: Signals vs. High-Value Signals
To understand the difference between a basic signal in Google Ads and a high-value signal, imagine you’re hiring someone to hand out flyers for your business.
No Signal: You tell them, "Just go find customers." They wander aimlessly, handing flyers to anyone with a hand. You waste a lot of paper.
Basic Signal: You tell them, "Go to this specific neighborhood because it’s a good area." You’re more likely to find customers, but you’re still hitting every door.
High-Value Signal: You tell them, "Go to the neighborhood with the blue houses and the swing sets in the back, because those specific houses belong to people who need our service."
When you give Google that "blue house" level of detail, it says, "Got it. I’ll find more people who look exactly like those specific houses."
Your ad campaigns should stop guessing and start scaling.
Establishing the Baseline
Before we dive into high-value signals, it is important to understand what a Google Ads signal is at its core. If you haven't read my introductory guide, What are Signals in Google Ads?, start there. It explains how signals act as "hints" rather than strict rules for Google’s AI.
Once you understand the concept, your goal is to move from "giving hints" to "providing high-value data."
The 4 Pillars of High-Value Signals
1. Identity Signals (First-Party Data)
Identity signals tell Google who is actually buying.
The Gold Standard: A "Customer Match" list of your top 20% highest-spending customers. I show how bad targeting wastes spend in Why Ohio Therapists Overpay Google Ads.
Recency: ‘Customer Match’ data from the last 30–90 days is a high-value signal. Data from three years ago is just noise.
Cleanliness: High-value lists are stripped of unsubscribed users or one-time bargain hunters.
2. Intent Signals (Search Themes)
Intent signals tell Google what the customer is thinking right now.
Granularity: "CBT therapy for postpartum anxiety" is a high-value signal. "Therapy" is a low-value, broad signal. Read the post I wrote on Master Google Ads Match Types for ROI. And if you’re running lean budgets, I break down the math in Is $20 a Day Enough for Google Ads?.
Context: Including competitor URLs or niche-specific blogs in your custom segments helps the AI find the right "online neighborhood."
3. Action Signals (Conversion Quality)
Action signals tell Google which events actually matter to your bank account.
Value-Based Bidding (VBB): This is the ultimate high-value signal. Instead of telling Google a lead is just a "lead," you tell it that one sale was worth $1,000 while another was worth $10.
I wrote a deep dive on Value-Based Bidding for Search Engine Land, which was actually one of their top 10 posts of the year (in 2024). It was such a strong post that Search Engine Land had me update it in May of 2025. I promise it is still valuable today going into 2026.
It’s a massive topic because it shifts the focus from conversions to profit driven conversions. (I’ll be writing a version specifically for small business owners about Value-Based Bidding soon!)
Enhanced Conversions: Using technical tags to send hashed data back to Google to ensure 100% attribution accuracy.
4. Feedback Signals (Exclusions)
Most advertisers think signals only live in the "Asset Group" or "Audience" tabs. But some of the most powerful signals are actually located in your campaign settings. These are "Negative Signals" and they are the guardrails that keep the AI from driving off a cliff.
Negative Keywords: Telling the AI "never show for 'free' or 'jobs' is a high-value signal because it defines the boundaries of your profitable "neighborhood."
Brand Exclusions: By forcing the AI to find new prospects instead of bidding on people who already know your name, you are signaling that you value incrementality over easy wins.
Smart Bidding as a Signal: Your bid strategy (tROAS or tCPA) is a constant feedback loop. It tells Google: "I don't just want a click; I only want the auctions where the probability of this specific value is high." It is the ultimate signal of your financial "ground truth."
Why "Invisible" Signals Matter
We don't generally think of bidding, negative keywords, and exclusions as signals because they aren't labeled that way in the platform UI. However, if an Asset Group signal is the gas pedal telling Google where to go, these settings are the steering wheel.
Without these "Invisible Signals," the AI might find your "blue house" (the right customer) but pay $500 to reach a customer only worth $50.
By combining granular Asset Group signals with strict exclusions and value-based bidding (which I will write about in detail tomorrow), you create a complete map for the AI to follow.
The Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Why Less is More
A common mistake when running Google Ads is "over-signaling" which means feeding the AI every piece of data you have.
High-value signaling isn't about volume; it’s about the Signal-to-Noise Ratio.
If you upload a customer list of 10,000 people, but 8,000 of them were one-time bargain hunters from a 2021 Black Friday sale, you are feeding the AI "noise."
The algorithm will spend your budget trying to find more bargain hunters.
High-value audience signaling requires curation. It is better to give Google a "clean" list of 500 high-LTV (Lifetime Value) customers than a "noisy" list of 5,000 random emails.
How to Audit Your Audiance Signal Strength
| Signal Category | Low‑Value (Noise) | High‑Value (Truth) |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | All‑time email list; old, mixed‑quality contacts | Recent, clean first‑party list of top 20% high‑LTV customers (last 30–90 days) |
| Intent | Broad industry terms (e.g., “software”, “therapy”) | Granular solution themes (e.g., “SaaS for dental clinics”, “CBT for postpartum anxiety”) + curated competitor/content URLs |
| Action | Leads counted equally; static CPA; weak attribution | Value‑based bidding (tROAS), conversion values, enhanced conversions for accurate profit signals |
| Feedback | No negatives; brand traffic inflated; generic bidding | Negative keywords (“free”, “jobs”), brand exclusions for incrementality, bid strategies aligned to value |
Final Thoughts: Quality In, Quality Out
High‑value signals aren’t about more data — they’re about the right data. Google’s AI is powerful, but it only knows what you feed it.
Clean identity lists show who truly drives revenue.
Granular intent themes reveal what buyers are searching for now.
Value‑based actions teach the algorithm to optimize for profit, not just conversions.
Feedback guardrails keep campaigns focused and efficient.
If your campaigns feel noisy or unpredictable, don’t blame the algorithm. Audit your signals. Replace “any house” traffic with curated, high-value signals that point Google directly to the customers worth your budget.
Stop bidding on traffic. Start signaling for profit.
FAQs About High-Value Signals in Google Ads
What is a high-value signal in Google Ads? A high-value signal is a precise, intent-driven data point that tells Google’s AI which customers are most profitable.
Why are high-value signals better than basic signals? Basic signals provide broad hints, while high-value signals use curated data to optimize for profit, not just clicks.
What are examples of high-value signals? Clean customer match lists, granular search themes, value-based bidding, and negative keyword exclusions.
How do I audit my signals? Compare your identity, intent, action, and feedback signals against low-value “noise” to ensure you’re feeding Google clean, recent, and profitable data.
Can small businesses use high-value signals? Yes. Even a curated list of 500 recent high-LTV customers can outperform a noisy list of thousands.
