Google Ads has updated its Customer Match feature to allow advertisers to upload IP addresses and interaction timestamps as first-party signals. The update requires unhashed data transmission and excludes users in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, necessitating stricter data governance and regional filtering for streaming platforms and advertisers.
The requirement for unhashed IP data shifts the burden of privacy compliance from legal review to the technical data pipeline. For streaming services, this necessitates stricter controls over how raw user data moves through CDPs and agency workflows to avoid security risks. As third-party cookies disappear, the industry is moving toward deeper first-party signal sharing, but this specific implementation increases the operational risk for brands managing global audiences. Watch for whether this unhashed requirement becomes a standard for other major ad platforms or if contextual advertising adoption offers hashed alternatives to capture risk-averse advertisers.
As brands navigate these new data requirements, TV addressability strategy is becoming increasingly critical to ensure that audience matching remains effective without relying on legacy digital performance infrastructure. For those looking to optimize their global programmatic platform expansion, understanding these new data signals is essential, especially as inaccurate CTV identity data continues to impact campaign efficiency. To further refine these efforts, brands are increasingly consolidating first-party data strategies to maintain targeting precision, often leveraging real-time first-party data to improve match rates.
Google Ads now allows advertisers to upload unhashed IPv4 or IPv6 addresses and interaction timestamps to its Customer Match tool. This update aims to improve audience matching accuracy. However, it shifts privacy compliance burdens to technical pipelines, requiring streaming services to implement stricter controls over raw user data handling.
Advertisers can now upload IPv4 or IPv6 addresses alongside interaction timestamps to provide temporal context for audience signals.
No, Google requires IP addresses and timestamps to be sent as plain, unhashed strings, which differs from email or phone data that can be hashed via SHA256.
Yes, IP matching is strictly prohibited for end users located in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, requiring advertisers to perform regional filtering before upload.
Match-rate improvements resulting from these new identity signals are expected to begin in October 2026.
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