• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 11, 2023

Google has built an ad-measurement tool that connects with marketers’ first-party data and is designed to work without browser cookies and other data tools that measure performance based on old methods.

Google Ads Data Manager -- the measurement tool announced Wednesday -- will become available in Google Ads early next year. The product roadmap includes rolling it into other Google platforms as the company continues to streamline the management and use of first-party data.

Advertisers will learn about connecting data sources and ensuring consumer data privacy as the advertising industry heads into the new year, and Google deprecates third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users globally in the first quarter of 2024.

In time, advertisers will have the ability to connect a variety of data sources, including customer relationship management (CRM) and customer data platforms (CDPs). This will include data sources like ActiveCampaign and Pipedrive, in addition to marketing technologies like Shopify Audiences.

Common cloud-based enterprise data storage systems, including CDPs such as Lytics, will also become available as well as data sources through Zapier.

Google wants the platform to provide access to all types of data through one collaborative interface where analysts can create new data connections and marketers can apply discrete data to measure conversions or reach people with relevant ads, explains Kamal Janardhan, senior director of product management and measurement at Google.

“Until now, creating these connections could mean engineers or analysts duplicating tasks, including custom queries,” Janardhan wrote in a post.

Brands and agencies struggle to build technologies that house customer information, but many make it difficult to use that data in marketing campaigns.

Google Ads Data Manager, if it is successful, will make it easier to measure customer interactions with the Google tag or sales that happen off the advertiser’s website.

The platform does not change the way Google’s products work today, but rather simplifies the way advertisers use them. It requires minimal or no code knowledge, reducing the workload to use your data in marketing.

Gabe Joynt, Salesforce senior director of product management, told Google it has made it easier for customers to connect with their customers using Google Ads. More customers can use data and insights in Salesforce Data Cloud by activating audiences across Google's Ads ecosystem.

Some refer to this transition of measuring ads without cookies and serving ads from the browser a complicated mess, but Google execs believe that’s about to change.

When Google Ads Data Manager launches, it will simplify from numerous partners the conversion for leads, which is meant to improve the accuracy of conversion measurement and bidding, and Customer Match, which consolidates the view of audiences.