Supported data types in Segmentation Service

Last update: April 2, 2025

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All Experience Data Model (XDM) data types are supported within Adobe Experience Platform Segmentation Service. The rules that constitute a segment definition are contextualized by the following data types.

String data

Segment definitions use string data to define non-numerical constraints for audiences, such as “country name” or “loyalty program level”.

String data is included in segment definitions using logical, inclusive/exclusive, and comparison statements. Once a string attribute is added to your segment definition, you can use string-relevant statements to evaluate it against other string fields.

Statement typeExamples
Logicaland, or, not
Inclusive/exclusiveinclude, must exist, exclude, must not exist
Comparisonequals, does not equal, contains, starts with

Date data

Date data allows you to assign time-based context to your segment definitions, either by using specific start/end dates or by using date-relevant statements as shown in the table below. One implementation might be creating an audience of customers that have interacted with your brand anytime this year and has also been active within the last few days.

Example fieldDate-relevant statementsTimeline
person.firstPurchasetoday, yesterday, this month, this yearRelevant to the day the segment definition was built.
person.lastPurchasein last, during, before, after, withinRelevant within any given week/month.

Experience Events

As an Adobe Experience Platform schema, XDM ExperienceEvents record explicit and implicit customer interactions with Experience-Platform-integrated applications, including a snapshot of the system at the time the interaction took place. ExperienceEvents are fact records. As such, they are a data source available to you during segment definition.

As seen in the table below, event data is rendered using keywords which help refine event behavior and specify event attributes.

KeywordUse
Include/excludeDescribes the behavior of the event through the inclusion or omission of data.
Any/allHelps determine the number of qualifying segment definitions.
“Apply time rule” toggle buttonIncorporates date data.
Equals, does not equal, starts with, does not start with, ends with, does not end with, contains, does not contain, exists, does not existIncorporates string data.

Audience sharing

External audiences can also be used as components of a new segment definition, adding their attribute rules to the new segment definitions.

Currently, only Adobe Audience Manager is supported as an external audience, with additional sources being enabled in the future. More information about using Adobe Audience Manager audiences with Experience Platform can be found in the audience sharing guide within the Adobe Audience Manager documentation.

Segment definition sharing

Segment definitions created in Experience Platform can be used within other Adobe Experience Cloud Core Services. To enable this feature, you will need to contact your solution architect or your consultant.