Data Manager in Google Ads: connecting first-party data

This guide is built from Google Ads Data Manager Help: About Google Ads Data Manager, Supported data sources, Connect a data source and Manage your connections. What the data does once it arrives is covered in our guides to Customer Match, offline conversion imports and enhanced conversions.

What Data Manager is

Google describes Data Manager as "a data import and management tool with a point-and-click UI experience that lets you bring your customer data from outside of Google and activate it in Google Ads." You connect a source once and reuse it: Google's example is uploading data from BigQuery for enhanced conversions for leads, then using the same connection for Customer Match. It uses three terms:

• Data source: a connected product, imported file or third-party integration, such as BigQuery or HubSpot.
• Connection: one data object from a source, such as a table or a file.
• Destination: where the data is used, such as Customer Match.

Where to find it

Click the Tools icon in the left-hand menu, then Data manager. According to Google's page on the Data manager page and product linking, it replaced the old Linked accounts page under Admin, so it is also where you link products like Google Analytics, Merchant Center and YouTube (see our guide to linking a YouTube channel). The same page holds your Google tag settings and consent settings, and audience data sources moved here from the Your data sources tab in Audience manager.

Supported data sources

Google lists these direct connections, all usable for both offline conversion import and Customer Match:

• CRMs and marketing tools: ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Klaviyo, Salesforce and Zoho CRM.
• Commerce: Shopify.
• Files and spreadsheets: Google Sheets, Google Drive, SFTP and HTTPS.
• Cloud storage and warehouses: BigQuery, Google Cloud Storage, Amazon S3, Amazon Redshift and Snowflake.
• Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle.

If your source isn't listed, Google says you can still use Data Manager through Google partners. For database and server connections (Redshift, HTTPS, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SFTP and Snowflake), you must allowlist 27 Google IP ranges in your firewall, which Google lists on the overview page.

What the data is used for

Data Manager moves the data; the destination decides what happens to it. The main destinations:

• Customer Match: audience lists from contact details, user IDs or device IDs. Eligibility, list sizes and targeting are in our Customer Match guide.
• Offline conversion import: sales and lead stages that happen after the click. Click IDs, timing and conversion actions are in our offline conversion imports guide.
• Enhanced conversions for leads: Google's page on using Data Manager with enhanced conversions for leads covers that set-up; the feature itself is in our enhanced conversions guide.

Before you connect

• You need Google Ads administrator access; our access levels guide explains the roles.
• File sources (SFTP, HTTP, Google Sheets, Cloud Storage, Amazon S3) must be .csv or .tsv, with column headers in the first row.
• Each audience or conversion event needs its own connection. You can use one file for several, with a filter per connection.
• The source's name must stay the same at every update, or the integration breaks.
• An import shouldn't exceed 100 million rows; split or filter larger sources.

Google's data preparation page lists the fields for each use. For enhanced conversions for leads you must first accept the terms under Goals, Conversions, Settings, and Google notes it doesn't support IP address matching for users in the EEA, UK or Switzerland.

Creating a connection

1. Go to Tools, Data manager, and pick a product under Featured products.
2. Choose Direct connection if asked, then the use case: Conversions or Audiences.
3. Read and accept the customer data policy, then link the product.
4. For audiences, choose the data type: contact details, user IDs or device IDs.
5. Upload or select the data, optionally adding filters (or encryption keys for audiences).
6. Map your source fields to the destination fields and add any transformations.
7. Review the connection name, schedule, data and mapping, then click Finish.

The customer data policy step matters: you are confirming you may share this data with Google. Consent requirements for Customer Match are covered in our Customer Match guide.

Field mapping, hashing and transformations

Personal data you import should be hashed, and Data Manager can do it for you. Google says it will hash with SHA256, and "You don't need to pre-format your data": smart hashing normalises fields like email and phone number and hashes them automatically. If you hash data yourself, follow Google's formatting rules, and don't hash non-private fields.

Other transformation actions fix data as it comes in, applied top to bottom: multiply (for example to convert a value), change case, merge two columns, split a column and convert dates and times. For timestamps without a timezone, set a fallback timezone, or those rows won't be imported.

Schedules and managing connections

Each connection runs manually, daily or weekly, from a start time you choose. Google says "The maximum import frequency is daily", and you must refresh the source before each scheduled run for new data to arrive. From the connection list you can edit names and schedules, run a connection once, view past runs with any errors, and stop a connection (it stays linked but no longer runs). A map view shows which sources feed which destinations.

Confidential matching

Confidential matching processes your uploaded audience data in a trusted execution environment and removes unused identifiers after matching. It is "enabled by default, and at no cost to advertisers", and currently applies to Customer Match connections made with the direct connection option. A confidential matching badge on the connection shows it is in use. You can also encrypt the data for extra control over how it is processed.

Data Manager or the Data Manager API

The Data Manager API sends the same kinds of audience and conversion data from code, across Google Ads, Google Analytics, Display & Video 360, Search Ads 360 and Campaign Manager 360. Google suggests it if you need automated, code-based ingestion, have developers to maintain it, or work with a data partner who integrates with it. Our offline conversion guide notes Google's move of offline uploads from the Google Ads API to the Data Manager API. For most small businesses, the point-and-click connections are enough.

How we use Data Manager

This is our own practice, not Google's guidance:

• We connect the client's CRM or a Google Sheet the CRM writes to, rather than uploading files by hand.
• We let Data Manager do the hashing, and check the first run's match and error details.
• We set daily schedules for conversions and make sure the source refreshes before the run time.
• We name connections by destination and stage, so the list stays readable as it grows.

If you want help connecting your CRM to Google Ads, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Data Manager in Google Ads?

Click the Tools icon in the left-hand menu, then Data manager. It replaced the Linked accounts page under Admin.

What can I connect to Google Ads Data Manager?

Direct connections include HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Shopify, Google Sheets, Google Drive, BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Amazon S3, Redshift, Snowflake, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SFTP and HTTPS. Other sources can connect through Google partners.

Do I need to hash my data before using Data Manager?

No. Data Manager normalises and hashes personal data with SHA256 for you. If you hash it yourself, follow Google's formatting rules.

How often does Data Manager import data?

Manually, daily or weekly. Daily is the maximum, and the source must be refreshed before each scheduled run.

Who can create Data Manager connections?

Users with administrator access to the Google Ads account.

For more on Google Ads data, see our guides to conversion tracking and value-based bidding.