Google Customer Match
Overview
Section titled “Overview”Google Customer Match is the automated sync that builds and refreshes Google Ads audiences from your CRM, warehouse or SingleView, uploading hashed identifiers so lists stay current across Search, YouTube, Gmail and Display.
It lets advertisers use first-party data to re-engage existing customers and find new ones across Google Search, Shopping, YouTube, Gmail and the Display Network. With Datahash you integrate your source systems, whether that is a CRM, a file store, a database or a warehouse, so audience activation stays compliant and does not depend on anyone exporting a CSV.
Supported sources
Section titled “Supported sources”Sources supported by Google Customer Match
| Category | Supported |
|---|---|
| API | |
| CRM | |
| Database | |
| File & storage | |
| Warehouse |
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”Before connecting Google Customer Match, make sure you have:
- A Google Ads account with Customer Match access. Google typically requires an account in good standing with at least 90 days of history, so this is worth checking before you plan around it.
- The Google Ads account ID and the manager account ID above it.
- A Datahash Studio account with the target project selected.
- A source connected in the same project, configured with Audience as its Integration Type. The audience is defined on the source, not here.
Authentication
Section titled “Authentication”In Studio, open Destinations, find Google, and click the Customer Match tile. This connector uses single sign-on.
- Indicate whether your market is in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom. If it is, you must confirm the consent statement described below before continuing.
- Click Sign in with Google.
- Complete Google’s consent flow, choosing the account that has access to your Google Ads account.
Configuration
Section titled “Configuration”- Select the Customer ID of the Google Ads account the audience should live in from the dropdown.
- Select the Login Customer ID, which is the manager account above it.
- Name the Instance.
- Click Finish.
Google identifies the account you are writing to with two IDs. The Customer ID is your Google Ads account, and the Login Customer ID is the manager account, sometimes called the MCC, that sits above it.
How the audience is built
Section titled “How the audience is built”This destination decides which Google Ads account receives the audience. What the audience contains, and what it is called, are decided on the source connector.
On the source you set the Integration Type to Audience. Every record must also carry an audience name, which becomes the name of the list in Google and is what lets one instance maintain several audiences at once: records sharing a name land together, and a different name creates a different list.
Generated lists appear in Google Ads under the search icon, then Custom Segments. The audience refreshes on your source connector’s sync schedule.
Manage instance
Section titled “Manage instance”One instance covers one Google Ads account. Sending an audience to a second ad account needs a second instance.
To add another, open Manage Instances and click Add Instance. To change one, open it from Manage Instances, use the menu in the top right and choose Edit, update the fields and click Finish. Cancel keeps the previous configuration running, so updates apply only after you finish.
Data & identifiers
Section titled “Data & identifiers”Signals uploads the identifiers your source maps to Google Ads for Customer Match matching. Send them already hashed where you can. Plain text also works: they are normalized and SHA-256 hashed before they reach Google.
Required
Section titled “Required”| Field | When it is required |
|---|---|
| Audience name | Always. This becomes the name of the list in Google Ads. |
| Last modified date | Always. |
| Email address | Always. Up to three addresses, one per field. |
| Phone number | At least one, up to three. Include the country code, or the number will not match. |
Recommended
Section titled “Recommended”| Field | Format |
|---|---|
| First name | A first name or an initial. Accents are fine. |
| Last name | The full surname. Accents are fine. |
Optional
Section titled “Optional”| Field | Format |
|---|---|
| Second and third email address | One address per field. |
Google accepts a narrower set of identifiers here than the other audience destinations. Gender, date of birth and the location fields are not used, and neither are mobile advertising identifiers, so the match rests on email, phone and name.
Consent parameters
Section titled “Consent parameters”Google requires consent to use audience data for advertising and personalization, and for the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom you confirm it explicitly during setup. Two parameters carry it:
- ad_user_data: consent for sending user data to Google for advertising purposes.
- ad_personalization: consent for ad personalization.
Best practices
Section titled “Best practices”- Check your account qualifies before planning around this. Customer Match access is not granted to every Google Ads account.
- Send email and phone together where you have both. With no location or device identifiers accepted, there is little else to fall back on.
- Include the country code on every phone number. A national-format number will not match.
- Handle EEA and UK consent at source. The setup confirmation is a declaration, not a filter.
- Keep the audience name stable. Changing it creates a second list rather than renaming the first.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
Section titled “Troubleshooting & FAQ”The Google sign-in does not complete. Confirm the account has access to the Google Ads account, and that the account itself is eligible for Customer Match.
The audience is not appearing. Look under the search icon, then Custom Segments, in Google Ads. Then confirm a source is connected with its Integration Type set to Audience and returning rows.
The audience is smaller than the source list. Expected. Google only counts records it could match to an account. Adding phone numbers where you only have email is the main way to close the gap.
Two audiences appeared instead of one. The audience name changed between syncs. Records carrying a new name form a new list.
The account I need is not in the dropdown. The Google account you signed in with does not have access to it. Sign in again with one that does.