Documentation Analytics Components Guide

Segment Builder

Last update: May 26, 2025

Topics:
Segmentation

CREATED FOR:

User
Admin

The Segment Builder lets you build simple or complex segments that identify visitor attributes and actions across visits and page hits. It provides a canvas to drag and drop metric dimensions, events, or other segments in order to segment visitors based on hierarchy logic, rules, and operators.

There are several ways to access the Segment Builder:

Analytics top navigation: Click Analytics > Components > Segments.
Analysis Workspace: Click Analytics > Workspace, open a project and click + New > Create Segment.
Report Builder: Add or edit segments in Report Builder.

Builder criteria

You can add rule definitions and containers to define your segments.

Title: Name the segment.
Description: Provide a description for the segment.
Tags: Tag the segment you are creating by picking from a list of existing tags or creating a new tag.
Definitions: This is where you build and configure segments, add rules, and nest and sequence containers.
Show: (Top Container selector.) Lets you select the top-level container ( Visitor, Visit, Hit). The default top-level container is the Hit container.
Options: (gear) icon
- + Add container: Lets you add a new container (below the top-level container) to the segment definition.
- Exclude: Lets you define the segment by excluding one or more dimensions, segments, or metrics.
Dimensions: Components are dragged and dropped from the Dimensions list (orange sidebar).
Operator: You can compare and constrain values using selected operators.
Value: The value you entered or selected for the dimension or segment or metric.
Attribution Models: Available for dimensions only, these models determine what values in a dimension to segment for. Dimension models are particularly useful in sequential segmentation.
- Repeating (default): Includes instances and persisted values for the dimension.
- Instance: Includes instances for the dimension.
- Non-repeating instance: Includes unique instances (non-repeating) for the dimension. This is the model applied in Flow when repeat instances are excluded.
Example: Hit segment where eVar1 = A

Example
A
A
A (persisted)
B
A
C
Repeating
X
X
X
-
X
-
Instance
X
X
-
-
X
-
Non-repeating instance
X
-
-
-
X
-
And/Or/Then: Assigns the AND/OR/THEN operators between containers or rules. The THEN operator lets you define sequential segments.
Metric: (Green sidebar) Metric that was dragged and dropped from the Metrics list.
Comparison operator: You can compare and constrain values using selected operators.
Value: The value you entered or selected for the dimension or segment or metric.
X: (Delete) Lets you delete this part of the segment definition.
Experience Cloud publishing: Publishing an Adobe Analytics segment to the Experience Cloud lets you use the segment for marketing activity in Audience Manager and in other activation channels. Learn more…
Audience library: Adobe’s audience services manage the translation of visitor data into audience segmentation. As such, creating and managing audiences is similar to creating and using segments, with the added ability to share the audience segment to the Experience Cloud. Learn more…
Search: Searches the list of dimensions, segments, or metrics.
Dimensions: (List) Click the header to expand.
Metrics: Click the header to expand.
Segments: Click the header to expand.
Report suite selector: Lets you select the report suite that this segment will be saved under. You can still utilize the segment in all report suites.
Segment Preview: Lets you preview the key metrics to see whether you have a valid segment and how broad the segment is. Represents the breakdown of the data set you can expect to see if you apply this segment. Shows 3 concentric circles and a list to show the number and percentage of matches for Hits, Visits, and Visitors for a segment run against a data set. This chart is updated immediately after you create or make changes to your segment definition.
Product Compatibility: Provides a list of which Adobe Analytics products (Analysis Workspace, Data Warehouse) with which the segment you created is compatible. Most segments are compatible with all products. However, not all operators and dimensions are compatible with all Analytics products, especially Data Warehouse. This chart is updated immediately after you make changes to your segment definition.
Save or Cancel: Saves or cancels the segment. After clicking Save, you are taken to the Segment Manager where you can manage the segment.

Build segments

Simply drag a Dimension, Segment, or Metric Event from the left pane to the Definitions field.

The default top-level Hit container is shown after dragging an element to Definitions. You can change the container type to Visit or Visitor from the Show drop-down menu.
Set the operator from the drop-down menu.
Enter or select a value for the item selected.
Add additional containers if needed, using And, Or, or Then rules.
After placing the containers and setting the rules, see the results of the segment in the validation chart at the top right. The validator indicates the percentage and absolute number of page views, visits, and unique visitors that match the segment you created.
Under Tags, tag the container by selecting an existing tag or creating a new one.
Click Save to save the segment.

You are now taken to the Segment Manager, where you can tag, share, and manage your segment in multiple ways.

Add containers

You can build a framework of containers and then place logic rules and operators between.

Click Options > Add Container.

A new Hit container opens without a Hit (Page View) identified.
Change the container type as needed.
Drag a Dimension, Segment, or Event from the left pane to the container.
Continue to add new containers from the top-level Options > Add container button at the top of the definition, or add containers from within a container to nest logic.

OR

Select one or more rules and then click Options > Add container from selection. This turns your selection into a separate container.

Use date ranges

You can build segments that contain rolling date ranges in order to answer questions about ongoing campaigns or events.

For example, you can easily build a segment that includes “everyone who has made a purchase over the past 60 days”.

You create a Visit container and within it, add the Last 60 days time range and the metric Orders is greater than or equal to 1, with an AND operator:

recommendation-more-help

See Rolling date ranges in segments for a demo video.

Stack segments

Stacking segments works by combining the criteria in each segment using an ‘and’ operator, and then applying the combined criteria. This can be done in a Workspace project directly or in segment builder.

For example, stacking a “mobile phone users” segment and a “US geography” segment would return data only for mobile phone users in the US.

Think of these segments as building blocks or modules that you can include in a segment library, for users to use as they see fit. That way, you can dramatically reduce the number of segments needed. For example, assume you have 40 segments:

20 for mobile phone users in different countries (US_mobile, Germany_mobile, France_mobile, Brazil_mobile, etc.)
20 for tablet users in different countries (US_tablet, Germany_tablet, France_tablet, Brazil_tablet, etc.)

By using segment stacking, you can reduce your segment count to 22 and stack them as needed. You would need to create these segments:

one segment for mobile users
one segment for tablet users
20 segments for the different geographies

NOTE

When stacking two segments, they are by default joined by an AND statement. This cannot be changed to an OR statement.

Go to the Segment Builder.
Provide a title and description for the segment.

Step Result 1. Click Show Segments to bring up the list of segments in the left navigation.

Step Result 1. Drag and drop the segments you want to stack to the segment definition canvas. Here is an example of a segment that stacks the existing segments “Visits from Tablets” and “US Geo”:
Save the segment.

Step Result

Segment templates

Segment templates are provided for common segmentation use cases, such as “First-time Visits” or “Vists from Mobile Devices”. They are available in Workspace projects and in the segment builder as building blocks for new segments.

Templates are denoted by the Adobe “A” logo. A sample of the templates are listed below:

Template Name

Definition

Abandon Cart

View data for visitors that added items to their carts but did not order anything. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule for this sequential segment is

Cart Additions is not null

Then

Orders equals 0.

First Time Visits

View data for visitors that have visited a maximum of one [1] times. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Visit Number equals 1.

Non-Purchasers

View data for visitors that have not participated in an order event. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visitor. This segment uses the Exclude logic. The rule is

Orders is not null.

Non-Single Page Visit (Non-Bounces)

View data for visitors that visited more than once. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visitor. This segment uses the Exclude logic. The rule is

Single Access is not null.

Paid Search

View data from visitors originating from a paid search. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Paid Search equals 1.

Purchasers

View data for visitors that have participated in an order event. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visitor. The rule is

Orders is not null.

Return Visits

View data from visitors that have visited at least once. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Visit Number is greater than 1.

Single Page Visits

View data from visits in which you see a single page value, even though you may submit multiple page views during that visit. Single-page visits with exit link events are included in the segment. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Single Page Visits equals 1.

Viewed Product Didn't Add to Cart

View data for visitors that viewed products but had no cart additions. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule for this sequential segment is

Product Views is not null

Then

Cart Additions equals 0.

Visits from Campaign

View data from visitors referred by campaigns. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Tracking Code is not null.

Visits from Mobile Devices

View data from visitors using mobile devices. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Mobile Device is not null.

Visits from Natural Search

View data from visitors not originating from a paid search. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Paid Search equals 0.

Visits from Non-Mobile Device

View data from visitors not using mobile devices. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. This segment uses the Exclude logic. The rule is

Mobile Device Type equals Mobile Phone

Or

Mobile Device Type equals Tablet.

Visits from Phones

View data from visitors using phones. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Device Type equals Mobile Phone.

Visits from Search Engines

View data from visitors referred by search engines. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Referrer Type equals Search Engines.

Visits from Social Sites

View data from visitors referred by social sites. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Referrer Type equals Social Networks.

Visits from Tablets

View data from visitors using tablets. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Device Type equals Tablet.

Visits with Visitor ID Cookie

View data from visitors to your site, where a persistent cookie is required. In the Segment Definition, the container is Visit. The rule is

Persistent Cookie equals 1.