> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types.md).

# Segment types

The nine functional segment types, what populates each one, and how to tell them apart in the segments list.

## What this page is for

A segment's **type** is decided at creation and records *how the segment gets its users*. The type is shown in the **Type** filter of the **Audience > Segments** page, and it constrains what you can do with the segment afterwards.

{% hint style="warning" %}
You cannot change a segment's type once it is created. Editing a segment means going back through the method that created it: a segment built in a builder is edited in that builder, a segment written in OTQL is edited as OTQL.
{% endhint %}

## The nine types

<table data-search="false"><thead><tr><th width="210">Type</th><th>What populates it</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/query-segment.md"><strong>Query</strong></a></td><td>A query on your datamart, written in a builder or in the query tool.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/list-import-segment.md"><strong>File import</strong></a></td><td>A list of users imported from a file.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/list-automation-segment.md"><strong>Automation</strong></a></td><td>An automation, which adds or removes users as they travel through a scenario.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/pixel-segment.md"><strong>Pixel</strong></a></td><td>Users who hit an invisible pixel served by mediarithmics.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/campaign-segment.md"><strong>Campaign</strong></a></td><td>Users activated by a campaign - exposed to an ad, or clicking one.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/experiment-groups-segment.md"><strong>Experiment group</strong></a></td><td>The split of an experiment into test and control groups.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/partition-segment.md"><strong>Partition</strong></a></td><td>A random partitioning of your datamart into parts of roughly equal size.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/edge-segment.md"><strong>EDGE</strong></a></td><td>The user's own browser, evaluating segment definitions client-side.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-types/cohort-lookalike-segment.md"><strong>Cohort lookalike</strong></a></td><td>A lookalike algorithm, expanding a seed segment through cohorts.</td></tr></tbody></table>

## What the type decides

The type is not just a label. It determines:

* **Which advanced fields apply.** Default lifetime is meaningful only for List, Pixel and Edge segments; persistence and the evaluation period only for Query segments. See [Segment properties](/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference.md#segment-properties).
* **Whether consent can be enforced on it.** Three types do not support user choices. See [Enforce compliance on your audience](/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/enforce-compliance-on-your-audience.md).
* **How you edit it.** See the warning above.

## Related pages

<table data-view="cards" data-search="false"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Segment reference</strong></td><td>What a segment is, and the properties every type shares.</td><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference.md">Segment reference</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Segment builders</strong></td><td>The three tools that produce a Query segment.</td><td><a href="/audience-and-activation/build-your-audiences/segment-reference/segment-builders.md">Segment builders</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


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