Google Ads AI Essentials: Data foundations best practices

A guide on growing your performance with foundational measurement and audience tools.

Advances in AI powered technologies are unlocking new capabilities and opportunities for marketers. Key to taking advantage of the AI opportunity is employing foundational measurement and audience solutions. Used together, these components will help you make decisions with confidence and power AI to deliver long-term performance for your business.

Now is more important than ever to lean into AI. Platform shifts require businesses to adopt new ways to meet their marketing objectives. And increasing regulations are demanding the industry to reimagine a digital ads ecosystem that is more transparent and meets consumers’ expectations for privacy. But AI is only as good as the data that powers it.

That’s why we’ve been innovating our ad platforms, focusing on first-party data and testing a combination of privacy-preserving signals including the Privacy Sandbox APIs. Get started by implementing data foundations like the Google tag to continue reaching the right customers and measuring results with confidence.

You've seen some of the steps below in the AI Essentials 'Get ready with the right foundation' pillar. This chart offers you a privacy deep-dive into those familiar tips that, together with additional optimisations, can power your performance.

	Google Ads	Display & Video 360 Campaign Manager 360 Search Ads 360
Build a foundational ads infrastructure	Establish robust sitewide tagging with the Google tag or Google Tag Manager, so you capture the data that matters most to you. And create a strong framework to collect and maintain users’ consent with Consent mode. Link your Google Ads account to your Google Analytics property (including subproperties and roll-up properties) to see the full customer cycle. Set up enhanced conversions to improve the accuracy of your conversion measurement. If you’re using Google Analytics, you can set up user-provided data and enable enhanced conversions there.	Establish robust sitewide tagging with the Google tag or Google Tag Manager as the format for your Floodlight activities in Search Ads 360, in Display & Video 360 and in Campaign Manager 360, so you capture the data that matters most to you. And create a strong framework to collect and maintain users’ consent with Consent mode. Link your Search Ads 360 account, Campaign Manager Floodlight configuration and Display & Video 360 advertiser to your Google Analytics property (including subproperties and roll-up properties) to see the full customer cycle. Set up enhanced conversions in Search Ads 360 to improve the accuracy of your conversion measurement. If you’re using Google Analytics, you can set up user-provided data and enable enhanced conversions there.
Measure and attribute your conversions accurately	Enable cross-domain linking to confidently measure the customer journey across multiple domains. Create conversions in Google Ads based on Google Analytics key events to optimise your bidding strategy.	Confirm that your conversion domains are set up properly for each placement in Campaign Manager 360 to ensure that the right conversion events are measured. Consider disabling attribution for Floodlight tags where they aren't needed for bidding or optimisation, or change the counting method from Standard to Unique for activities driving many repeat conversions per user. Leverage MatchID in Search Ads 360 for more durable offline conversion uploads.
Engage with relevant customers	Adopt Customer Match to reach and re-engage your customers on Google’s surfaces. Adopt optimised targeting to reach more customers who are likely to convert. Explore Performance Max, and leverage the new customer acquisition and retention goals to engage with new or existing customers. Export your Google Analytics audiences to Google Ads to re-engage users based on their behaviour in your app or on your site. Activate Google-engaged audiences to reach users who have previously interacted with your site from Google properties.	Adopt Customer Match to reach and re-engage your customers on Google’s surfaces. Adopt optimised targeting to reach more customers who are likely to convert. Test Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation (PAIR) to re-engage with your highest-intent audiences across premium publisher content. Make sure that you opt in to enhanced automation to preserve your audience re-engagement capabilities. Export your Google Analytics audiences to Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360 to re-engage users based on their behaviour in your app or on your site. Activate Google-engaged audiences to reach users who have previously interacted with your site from Google properties.

Google Ads

Display & Video 360
Campaign Manager 360
Search Ads 360

Build a foundational ads infrastructure

Tick box with rainbow gradient Establish robust sitewide tagging with the Google tag or Google Tag Manager, so you capture the data that matters most to you. And create a strong framework to collect and maintain users’ consent with Consent mode.

Tick box Link your Google Ads account to your Google Analytics property (including subproperties and roll-up properties) to see the full customer cycle.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Set up enhanced conversions to improve the accuracy of your conversion measurement. If you’re using Google Analytics, you can set up user-provided data and enable enhanced conversions there.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Establish robust sitewide tagging with the Google tag or Google Tag Manager as the format for your Floodlight activities in Search Ads 360, in Display & Video 360 and in Campaign Manager 360, so you capture the data that matters most to you. And create a strong framework to collect and maintain users’ consent with Consent mode.

Tick box Link your Search Ads 360 account, Campaign Manager Floodlight configuration and Display & Video 360 advertiser to your Google Analytics property (including subproperties and roll-up properties) to see the full customer cycle.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Set up enhanced conversions in Search Ads 360 to improve the accuracy of your conversion measurement. If you’re using Google Analytics, you can set up user-provided data and enable enhanced conversions there.

Measure and attribute your conversions accurately

Tick box with rainbow gradient Enable cross-domain linking to confidently measure the customer journey across multiple domains.

Tick box Create conversions in Google Ads based on Google Analytics key events to optimise your bidding strategy.

Tick box Confirm that your conversion domains are set up properly for each placement in Campaign Manager 360 to ensure that the right conversion events are measured.

Tick box Consider disabling attribution for Floodlight tags where they aren't needed for bidding or optimisation, or change the counting method from Standard to Unique for activities driving many repeat conversions per user.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Leverage MatchID in Search Ads 360 for more durable offline conversion uploads.

Engage with relevant customers

Tick box with rainbow gradient Adopt Customer Match to reach and re-engage your customers on Google’s surfaces.

Tick box Adopt optimised targeting to reach more customers who are likely to convert.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Explore Performance Max, and leverage the new customer acquisition and retention goals to engage with new or existing customers.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Export your Google Analytics audiences to Google Ads to re-engage users based on their behaviour in your app or on your site.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Activate Google-engaged audiences to reach users who have previously interacted with your site from Google properties.

Tick box with rainbow gradient Adopt Customer Match to reach and re-engage your customers on Google’s surfaces.

Tick box Adopt optimised targeting to reach more customers who are likely to convert.

Tick box Test Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation (PAIR) to re-engage with your highest-intent audiences across premium publisher content.

Tick box Make sure that you opt in to enhanced automation to preserve your audience re-engagement capabilities.

Tick box Export your Google Analytics audiences to Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360 to re-engage users based on their behaviour in your app or on your site.

Tick box Activate Google-engaged audiences to reach users who have previously interacted with your site from Google properties.

We’ll continue to evolve these steps as we make updates to our products. Make sure you bookmark this page and return to it regularly to stay up to date with the latest recommendations.

In the meantime, if you work with third-party ad-tech providers such as data management platforms (DMP) or ad servers, reach out to them to better understand their roadmap.

In addition to the levers above, which are geared toward optimising your ad campaigns, we recommend that website owners review Chrome’s guidance regarding how to prepare your site more broadly for changes in third-party cookie availability.

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?

Google Ads AI Essentials: Data foundations best practices

Was this helpful?

Need more help?

Try these next steps: