Build a Segment
Note
This article covers segment building in Connect with Asset Management 2.0. For information on the differences between segment building in this version and Connect with Asset Management 1.0, see "What's Different With Asset Management 2.0".
You can use the following methods to build segments in Connect:
Using the Segment Builder: You build the segment by constructing a series of filter rules, using individual filter rules and/or filter groups (groups of filter rules joined by the same "AND" or "OR" conjunction).
Using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder: If you have access, you describe the desired segment in natural language and then the AI-Assisted Segment Builder inspects permitted metadata from your LiveRamp datasets before proposing segment logic in rules. After you review and approve the rules, the segment builder builds the segment and you can use the AI-Assisted Segment Builder to distribute the segment to your desired destinations.
Note
LiveRamp’s AI-Assisted Segment Builder is currently in limited release and is available to interested customers (depending on suitability).
For more information on how LiveRamp’s AI-Assisted Segment Builder works (including what customer information it uses during segment building), see “LiveRamp’s AI-Assisted Segment Builder”.
Once you've built a segment, that segment appears on the Segments page in the “Built Segments” area. You can then distribute that segment to your desired destinations (for more information, see "Distribute Data to a Destination"), depending on the activation permissions for that segment.
Note
The segment can also be found in the relevant dataset on the Datasets page, depending on the data it is built from:
If the segment is built with first-party data from just one dataset, the segment will appear in the Built Segments folder for that dataset
If the segment is built with first-party data from more than one dataset, the segment will appear in a dataset named "My Data (LiveRamp Hosted)".
If the segment is built with Data Marketplace data (Purchased Data), the segment will appear in a dataset named “Purchased Data - Built Segments“.
If you've been enabled for lookalike segment building, you can use the segment as the source segment for building a lookalike segment (for more information, see "Build a Lookalike Segment").
See the sections below for segment-building guidelines and for information on segment-building methods.
Guidelines for Building Segments
When building segments in Connect, keep the following guidelines in mind:
You can build segments from the the following types of data assets in your account:
First-party data segments (including all members of the segment)
Table attribute fields
Entire tables (including all members of the table)
Data from LiveRamp Clean Room (results of list questions that have been enabled for segmentation)
Data Marketplace segments that you've requested from a single seller (only currently available when using the Segment Builder and not available when using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder)
Note
You cannot mix Data Marketplace segments from different sellers in a single combination segment.
When using Clean Room data or data from an online dataset, all data must be from the same dataset.
When using offline first-party data, you can use data from up to three different datasets.
To build a segment with Data Marketplace data:
You must first request the desired Data Marketplace segments from among segments that data sellers have enabled for combinations (by filtering on "Overlap Stats = Enabled"). For more information, see "Buying Segment Data from the Data Marketplace".
Data Marketplace data can only be used with the Segment Builder. You cannot use Data Marketplace data when using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder.
You can only use Data Marketplace data from one data seller in a segment (you can use multiple segments from a single data seller but you cannot combine segments from multiple data sellers).
You can only combine Data Marketplace data with your offline first-party data (up to three datasets). You cannot combine Data Marketplace data with data from an online dataset or a clean room dataset.
The segment will be classified as a Data Marketplace (Purchased Data) segment, even if it also includes first-party data.
Permitted use cases and allowed platforms on the segment are the intersection of those on all included Data Marketplace segments (only platforms/use cases allowed by every segment are allowed).
The price for the segment is calculated based on the highest-priced Data Marketplace segment included in the combination (per Marketplace pricing rules).
During segment building, you can choose to split the segment into test and control segments (maximum of 10 parts when using the Segment Builder and maximum of 2 parts when using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder).
When building a new segment from your first-party data assets with the Segment Builder, you also view the overlaps between the new segment and your other data assets (when you build a segment with the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, you can only perform overlaps after the segment has been built).
When creating a rule group:
If the first rule uses a table attribute, all other rules in the group must use attributes from the same table.
If the first rule uses a built segment, all other rules in the group must use built segments.
When creating a rule using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, you cannot create a rule that involves an aggregation (counting or totalling, such as “top 10% of spenders”).
When creating a rule using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, attributes that are string field type cannot use the “between” operator. The segment builder will attempt to create the rule using a “contains” operator, so you should check the proposed rule or adjust your request.
If you plan on creating a complex segment statement, we recommend you plan out your segment in advance to make segment building easier.
For information on the various elements of the Segment Builder and how to use them, see "Segment Builder Concepts".
Build a Segment with the Segment Builder
To build a segment with the Segment Builder:
Tip
To view a tour that contains interactive walkthrough demos of the elements of the segment building process, click here.
From the Quick Actions dropdown list in the navigation pane, click to open the Segment Builder.
Note
You can also open the Segment Builder from the Segments page by clicking or from the home page by clicking the "Build Segment" tile.
From the "Include all of the following rules:" area, click one of the following options:
To create an individual filter rule, click . The Segment Builder displays a data asset dropdown with categories for datasets, built segments, and events.
To create a filter rule group out of multiple filter rules at the same level, where all rules will be joined by the same conjunction, click . The Segment Builder displays data asset selection fields for two filter rules joined with the conjunction "AND". If desired, you can change the conjunction to "OR".
Note
If your organization has been enabled to use the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, you can access that from the regular Segment Builder by typing your prompt into the chat field that appears at the top of the Segment Builder and then clicking "enter" or the up arrow.
Once you’ve submitted your initial prompt, the AI-Assisted Segment Builder opens. For more information, see the “Build a Segment with the AI-Assisted Segment Builder” section below.
From the data asset dropdown, expand the appropriate folder and select the desired data asset to use to build the segment from:
Note
When you expand a table, you'll see options to select the individual table attribute columns, in addition to being able to select the entire table.
When you hover over an individual data asset, a side panel appears with information about that asset (such as date created, date modified, owner, and more). For Data Marketplace segments, additional information (such as Data Marketplace pricing and permitted use cases) is also displayed.
When you select a table attribute, fields for the operator and value are displayed.
When you select a table, all members of the table are included in the filter rule (no fields for operator or value are displayed).
When you select a built segment, all segment members are included in the filter rule and the segment size in maintained RampIDs appears to the right of the segment name (no fields for operator or value are displayed).
When you select a Data Marketplace segment that you've requested, all segment members are included in the filter rule and the segment size in maintained RampIDs appears to the right of the segment name (no fields for operator or value are displayed). A "Purchased Data" icon also appears in the rule row.
If you've selected a table attribute, complete the filter rule:
Note
If you selected a segment, an event, or all members of a table in the previous step, skip this step.
From the operator list, select the desired operator.
Note
The options available vary depending on the field type of the attribute you've selected. For more information, see "Available Filter Operators for the Segment Builder".
In the value field, enter or select the values to filter on (entered values can contain spaces).
Note
For certain operators, such as "has a value", no value field will appear.
For string field types, when you select either the "is" or "is not" operator, the available attribute values appear as check boxes in the value field after a few seconds (a loader appears under the field while value loading is processing), and you can select multiple values.
For the field types "numeric" and "integer", the range and average values for the field are displayed below the value field in the Segment Builder to give you insights into the values that the field contains (during the calculation process, you'll see a spinner and the text "Range being calculated").
To see the number of RampIDs in the current version of the segment, click the "Calculate" text.
Note
Any incomplete filter rules will be removed to perform the calculation.
Segment size cannot be calculated during building for segments that contain Data Marketplace data.
If all of the data is from one dataset, the size will be displayed in terms of the number of deduplicated segment members (rows).
Each time the filter rules are changed, you will have to click the "Calculate" text again to see the updated segment size.
To view the overlap between the current segment and other data assets in your account, click and select the desired asset to overlap (for more information, see "Overlap Data Assets").
Note
You can only view overlaps when building a segment from your first-party data assets.
You can only select your first-party segments and tables that are not in an error or pending status. You cannot select a user-defined function or a segment or table that is an error or pending status to perform an overlap.
If you modify the current segment, you will need to click the "Calculate" text again to see the updated overlaps.
To include additional filter rules or rule groups, perform one of the steps below (in either the area to include or the area to exclude) and then populate the appropriate fields:
Note
If your first rule contained a Clean Room data asset or a data asset from an online dataset, you can only select additional assets that are contained in the same dataset as your initial selection.
If your first rule contained a Data Marketplace segment, you can only select additional Data Marketplace segments from the same data seller as your initial selection.
You can use data assets from up to three first-party offline datasets.
If you initially added an individual filter rule, you can create a filter rule group using that first filter rule by clicking the More Options menu (the three dots) that appears to the right of the rule when you hover over the rule and then clicking Turn Into a Rule Group.
If you initially added a filter rule group, populate the additional filter rules.
Note
If the first rule uses a table attribute, all rules in the group must use attributes from the same table.
If the first rule uses a built segment, all rules in the group must use built segments (no mixing with table attributes inside that group).
To create an additional filter rule or rule group at the same level as the first filter rule, click either or outside of the first filter rule box.
To create a filter rule group nested within the first filter rule, click inside the first filter rule box.
Note
If your first rule contained a Clean Room data asset or a data asset from an online dataset, you can only select additional assets that are contained in the same dataset as your initial selection.
You can use data assets from up to three first-party offline datasets.
For more information on managing filters and filter rule groups, see "Managing Filters and Filter Rule Groups".
If necessary, click the caret next to a conjunction (an "And" or an "Or") to adjust that conjunction to create the desired segment statement.
Note
The conjunction you set at a particular level will be the same for all of the conjunctions at that level.
In the Segment Name field, enter a unique name for the segment.
Note
Segment names must start with a letter and can contain letters, numbers, spaces, and underscores. Segment names cannot contain special characters, except for commas or >, <, -, _, %, and *.
When using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, you can also request changes to the segment names and percentages with a prompt.
By default, segment names for segments that contain Data Marketplace data start with "LiveRamp Combinations >".
When using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, you can also request changes to the segment names and percentages with a prompt.
If desired, enter a description in the Segment Description field.
If desired, you can randomly split the segment into test and control segments, based on the percentages you specify, by sliding the Split Segment Into toggle to the right (for more information, see "Split a Segment Into Test and Control Segments").
When you're finished building the segment, click .
Note
If there are any incomplete filter rules (filter rules that were added but haven't been completed), a dialog will appear to confirm that you want to remove the incomplete filter rules before saving.
A success message appears. You can view the segment on the Segments page in the “Built Segments” area. Once the segment's status is "Ready", you can activate it at your desired destinations, depending on the activation permissions for that segment (for more information, see "Distributing Data").
Note
Some segments might not immediately succeed at the segment creation step. Segment creation will be retried several times and show a status of "Processing" during that time. If the segment fails to create after the attempts to retry creating it, it will show a status of "failed" once the retries have completed. If the segment fails to create, contact your LiveRamp account representative.
If the segment consists entirely of your organization's first-party data, you can edit the segment rules once the segment has a status of "Ready" or "Creation Failed". For more information, see "Edit a Segment".
Build a Segment with the AI-Assisted Segment Builder
If you have access to the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, you can use it to turn natural language prompts into segment rules that include or exclude the appropriate members, based on the metadata of the data you have access to (such as the names of your tables, segments and datasets, as well as other metadata such as table column names, field types, and date ranges).
Note
For more information on segment-building guidelines when using the AI-Assisted Segment Builder, see the "Guidelines for Building Segments" section above.
For more information on how LiveRamp’s AI-Assisted Segment Builder works (including what customer information it uses during segment building), see “LiveRamp’s AI-Assisted Segment Builder”.
From the navigation menu, select LiveRamp AI to open the LiveRamp AI - New Chat page.
Note
You can also access the AI-Assisted Segment Builder from the regular Segment Builder by typing your prompt into the chat field at the top of the Segment Builder and then hitting "enter" or the up arrow. Once you’ve submitted your initial prompt, the AI-Assisted Segment Builder opens.
Start building the segment in one of the following ways:
Enter a description of the segment you want to build in the chat window. For example, you might enter "Build a segment of my most loyal customers who've made a purchase of over $500 in the last six months".
Click and then click one of the suggested prompts, such as . If you click the suggested prompt , the AI-Assisted Segment Builder will ask you additional questions about the specific clean room you want to use and give you recommended segments, based on your goals (for more information, see the "Use Segment-Building Recommendations for a Clean Room Dataset" section below).
If the AI-Assisted Segment Builder sees multiple ways to build your segment, it might provide you with two options to review and choose from. Read the segment summary at the top of each option and then review the segment rules. If one of the options meets your needs, click the appropriate button (if neither option meets your needs, rephrase or adjust your request).
Once the AI-Assisted Segment Builder populates the visual segment builder, review the segment and the description.
Note
The draft segment rules contains information to help you understand the data that's being used:
The name of the dataset used appears at the top of the rule card for rule groups or below the individual filter rule.
The field type for any table attributes is displayed as an icon next to the attribute field name. For more information on field type icons, see "Available Filter Operators for the Segment Builder".
If necessary, enter adjustments in the chat window or edit the segment directly in the visual builder for the following issues:
The segment is not exactly what you’re looking for
No data in your account matches one or more elements of your request
Your request results in a segment that does not meet the segment building guidelines
To see the current size of the segment in maintained RampIDs click the Calculate Segment Size text.
Note
If all of the data is from one dataset, the size will be displayed in terms of the number of deduplicated segment members (rows).
If desired, you can randomly split the segment into test and control segments, based on the percentages you specify, either by instructing the AI-Assisted Segment Builder to split the segment or by sliding the Split Segment Into toggle to the right (for more information, see "Split a Segment Into Test and Control Segments").
Once you’re satisfied with the draft segment, click Looks good: build segment.
Note
If any element of the proposed segment does not meet the segment building guidelines, follow the instructions in the Warning dialog to revise the segment so that it meets the guidelines and then click Looks good: build segment again.
If you want to immediately add the segment to distribution through one or more destination accounts, click , select the destination accounts you want to use to distribute the segment, and then click .
A success message appears.
You can now perform the following actions:
View the segment on the Segments page in the “Built Segments” area.
If you have not already activated the segment as part of the segment-building process, activate the segment at your desired destinations (for more information, see "Distribute Data to a Destination").
Overlap the segment with other assets (for more information, see "Overlap Data Assets").
Use Segment-Building Recommendations for a Clean Room Dataset
The AI-Assisted Segment Builder can look at information on the data in an individual clean room dataset and then give you a list of recommended segments you might build from that dataset, grouped by goal (such as customer acquisition) and segment focus (such as at the category or brand level).
Note
The AI-Assisted Segment Builder only looks at metadata about your configured fields (such as names, descriptions, types, tags, and dates) and not the underlying row‑level customer data. It never reads or exports raw identifiers or event values, and the underlying model runs in inference‑only mode on this metadata, without training on your data or learning across customers.
To get segment-building recommendations for a clean room dataset:
From the suggested prompts that appear above the chat window, click .
From the suggested prompts that appear below the chat window, click .
From the list of your clean room datasets that appears, click the desired dataset.
Note
To help you decide which dataset to select, the list of datasets includes information on when that dataset was last updated or modified, along with information on the dataset owner and partners.
The AI-Assisted Segment Builder displays a list of recommended segments, grouped by overall goal (customer acquisition, customer retention, and brand awareness) and by segment focus (at the category, sub-category, and brand level). You can use the accordions to expand and contract the sections to see the recommendations for each section.
Select the recommended segment that matches most closely to the segment you want to build and then click ..
Note
If none of the recommendations matches the segment you want to build, you can enter an adjusted description in the chat window.