Google is expanding its advertising measurement tools as AI takes a larger role in campaign optimization. The company’s September 2026 update focuses on three connected priorities: stronger first-party data, multiple signals and causal measurement.

Why measurement is changing

Automated advertising systems can optimize across huge numbers of signals, but the quality of those signals affects the quality of the decisions. Google is therefore positioning measurement infrastructure as an active part of campaign performance rather than simply a reporting layer.

First-party data gets more attention

Google says Data Manager is being integrated directly into Google Analytics and Display & Video 360, helping advertisers manage and activate first-party data across tools. The company also announced enhanced conversions in GA and DV360, designed to securely match customer data and improve measurement.

Google reported that advertisers connecting offline and app data to Data Manager saw an average 26% increase in incremental ROAS, while advertisers using enhanced conversions saw an average 11% increase in Search conversions compared with standard conversion imports. These are Google’s own reported figures and should be interpreted in the context of its stated datasets and methodology.

Data Manager API expands

Google also made the Data Manager API universal and said it is based on the IAB Tech Lab Event and Conversions API standard. The goal is to provide a more consistent way to connect, manage and activate audience and measurement data.

New diagnostics are intended to identify data problems before they affect campaign performance. For advertisers, this moves data quality from an occasional technical check toward an ongoing part of campaign management.

A new Data Strength Uplift Metric

Google introduced a Data Strength Uplift Metric in Google Ads to estimate additional conversions recovered by stronger first-party data setups. Google says advertisers using Google tag gateway observed an average 14% conversion uplift and more than 20% for Demand Gen campaigns in its cited datasets.

These figures are vendor-reported results rather than independent studies, so advertisers should validate impact against their own accounts and incrementality tests.

Causal measurement

Google also announced that Meridian GeoX is generally available globally within Meridian. GeoX is an open-source library for running causal geo-experiments across advertising platforms. Causal testing can help marketers distinguish correlation from incremental impact.

This is increasingly important as AI makes attribution models more complex. A platform may report conversions associated with advertising, but marketers still need methods for determining how many outcomes would have occurred without the advertising.

The practical implication

Google’s measurement push suggests that future advertising teams will need stronger data engineering, better conversion definitions and more rigorous experimentation. AI can optimize campaigns quickly, but it still depends on reliable signals and meaningful business outcomes.

Source: Google Ads — New updates to measurement suite