What is Google Ad Manager?

Google Ad Manager is Google’s enterprise ad serving platform used by publishers to manage, deliver, and optimize digital advertising across web and mobile properties. It enables publishers to control ad inventory, apply targeting rules, and manage demand sources through a unified interface. Google Ad Manager supports first-party identifiers such as Publisher Provided Identifiers (PPID) to improve addressability while maintaining publisher control over user identity.

The Google Ad Manager (GAM) sync enables publishers to register a Publisher Provided Identifier (PPID) with GAM using MetaRouter’s client-side Sync Injector. When a user arrives on a publisher property, MetaRouter determines the appropriate PPID (a SHA-256 hashed email for authenticated users, or the MetaRouter anonymousId for anonymous users) and registers it with GAM. The resolved PPID is stored in first-party storage for up to 30 days and is appended to all downstream server-side event payloads, enabling audience data to be passed to a downstream CDP for activation. Bulk audience export into GAM 360 is not handled by this sync injector and must be provisioned separately through a compatible CDP (e.g., ActionIQ/Uniphore via Google Cloud Storage). This integration supports hybrid identity strategies: anonymous users are tracked immediately on arrival, and their identifier is upgraded to a persistent hashed email upon login without disrupting audience continuity in GAM.

Product Type: Advertising

Integration Type: ID Sync

Capabilities

• Generates and sets a Publisher Provided Identifier (PPID) using Google Publisher Tags (GPT) based on available first-party identity signals.
• Uses a hashed email for logged-in users and falls back to an anonymousId for unknown users.
• Stores the resolved PPID in first-party storage for reuse and consistency across page loads.
• Adds the PPID to server-side events for ad targeting and reporting in Google Ad Manager.
• Determines and assigns the appropriate PPID on each page load using available first-party identity signals.
• Supports hybrid identity by using an anonymous identifier on arrival and upgrading to a hashed email upon user authentication.
• Persists the PPID in first-party storage for up to 30 days to maintain consistency across sessions.
• Enables downstream audience activation by appending the PPID to all server-side event payloads.

Considerations

• About PPID (Publisher Provided Identifier)
  • The Publisher Provided Identifier (PPID) must be a stable, non-guessable, first-party identifier.
  • For logged-in users, the recommended PPID format is a SHA-256 hashed email.
  • For anonymous users, the anonymousId may be used, but it must remain stable for the user and be derived from first-party storage (for example, first-party cookies).
• This sync injector does not require API keys but does require correct placement of Google Ad Manager (GAM) code on the page. GAM’s PPID API must be accessible from the global googletag object for this sync to function properly.
• Google Ad Manager may also set its own first- or third-party advertising cookies (such as _gads, _gac, or IDE) independently of this sync for ad delivery and frequency management.
• Identity resolution depends on availability of first-party data; PPID will upgrade when identify() provides new user traits.
• The Cookie Lifetime setting controls how long the PPID persists before re-syncing; expiration triggers regeneration of the identifier.
• Ensuring consistent first-party identity (e.g., stable anonymousId and hashed email) is critical to maintaining audience continuity within Google Ad Manager.

Limitations

• This sync does not support bulk audience export into Google Ad Manager 360; this must be handled via a downstream CDP integration (e.g., via Google Cloud Storage).

Sync Details

• IDs:
  • ppid – A publisher-provided, first-party identifier passed to Google Ad Manager to enable user-level ad targeting and frequency management.
• Description:
  • The sync generates a PPID using Google Ad Manager’s setPublisherProvidedId method exposed on the global googletag object.
  • The PPID value is derived from a hashed email when available, otherwise from the anonymousId.
  • The resolved PPID is stored in first-party storage for a configurable duration.
  • The identifier is added to server-side event payloads for advertising use cases.
• Server-side Event Payload: Server-side Event Payload: Upon completion of all vendor's sync, the server-side events will incorporate all resolved identifiers as described above. The following object will be appended to the context.providers property within the event's JSON payload.

{
  "googleAdManager": {
    "ppid": "<hashed-email-or-anonymousId>"
  }
}

• Cookie Name:
  • Cookie: _meta_googleadmanager_ppid
  • IndexedDB: mr_googleadmanager_ppid
  • For a general guide on ID Sync validation, see here.

Sync Setup Guide

1. Add a Google Ad Manager Sync in MetaRouter

To gather the ppid, you must add a Google Ad Manager sync.

1. From the Pipelines page, find the pipeline associated with the web property you’d like to add a sync to. Hover over the three dot dropdown and select “Build AJS File.”
2. In the Identity Syncs section, select the Google Ad Manager sync.
3. Fill out the following fields:
   1. Cookie Lifetime (days): Number of days the PPID remains stored before expiring and re-syncing.
   2. Fire On ReSync: Boolean flag that re-triggers the sync when an identify() call makes new identity traits available.
   3. Load GPT library if not loaded: Boolean flag that loads the Google Publisher Tag library when it is not already present on the page.
4. Scroll down and click the Save and Build File button.
5. Deploy your AJS file to propagate changes to your web property.