Google Ads is making changes to its EU user consent policy, specifically in relation to Customer Match ads in the European Economic Area (EEA). This update is in line with the increasing privacy regulations in Europe and Google’s commitment to compliance.
So, what does this mean for advertisers? Well, they will now be required to explicitly pass granted consent signals to Google in order to continue using Customer Match for personalized advertising in the EEA. This change places more responsibility on advertisers to collect and transmit user consent, which could potentially impact the reach and effectiveness of their campaigns.
To facilitate this process, Google Ads is offering advertisers four options to pass consent signals. These include using the Google Ads API, Partner and Audience Partner API, manual input in Audience Manager (Google Ads UI), or utilizing conversion-based Customer lists, which requires Consent Mode to be enabled.
This update was first reported by Thomas Eccel’s X post, indicating that Google is actively working to ensure compliance with privacy regulations and improve user consent management.
Moving forward, advertisers targeting users in the EEA will need to implement one of these consent signal methods to maintain their Customer Match capabilities. Failure to adapt to these new requirements could result in limited options for ad personalization for EEA audiences.
In conclusion, Google Ads’ implementation of stricter consent rules for Customer Match ads in the EU is a response to increasing privacy regulations in Europe. Advertisers must now take on more responsibility in collecting and transmitting user consent signals. It is crucial for advertisers targeting EEA users to implement one of the available consent signal methods in order to maintain their Customer Match capabilities and avoid limitations on ad personalization options.
