Google unveils server-side tagging and enhanced app measurement tools

Google has announced four significant measurement updates that will begin rolling out next week, aiming to help marketers strengthen their first-party data strategies and improve app campaign performance reporting amidst evolving digital privacy landscapes.

The announcement, made on May 2, 2025, introduces several new features that address growing challenges marketers face with tracking user behavior across digital touchpoints while respecting privacy boundaries.

The most significant update is the introduction of Google tag gateway for advertisers. This new feature enables marketers to run their Google tags through their own website infrastructure, such as content delivery networks (CDNs), load balancers, or web servers.

According to Google, "Understanding the impact of your advertising relies on accurate measurement. But the evolving digital landscape makes it challenging to capture the insights you need to effectively measure conversions, optimize your campaign performance, and fuel AI to keep pace with changing consumer behavior."

By serving tags from their own domain, marketers can significantly improve the accuracy and resilience of their measurement signals. This capability is described by Google as "a vital action every marketer should take to improve performance." Internal data shared by Google indicates that advertisers who configured Google tag gateway saw an 11% uplift in signals.

The new feature addresses several key challenges:

First, it improves conversion measurement accuracy by routing data through the website's own server, which enhances bidding, campaign optimization, and return on ad spend. Second, it provides deeper campaign insights into performance and attribution, giving marketers better understanding of customer journeys and helping identify strategies that drive the strongest ROI.

Third, it incorporates additional privacy protections. Tags set up with Google tag gateway for advertisers will soon receive confidential computing capabilities by default, providing added security and transparency regarding how data is collected and processed. Google notes that this privacy-enhancing technology "keeps your customer data with you—and only you."

Implementation has been simplified, as upgrading requires no changes to existing tag code on pages. To facilitate easier setup, Google has partnered with Cloudflare for a one-click integration, with additional CDN partners including Fastly and Google Cloud CDN planned for the future.

New measurement and data source diagnostics

The second update builds on last year's launch of the Measurement Diagnostics hub in Google Ads and Campaign Manager 360. Additional diagnostics are rolling out to make it easier for marketers to verify that their measurement and first-party data sources are set up correctly across various Google ad solutions.

These diagnostics will help marketers ensure their first-party data is properly configured, allowing them to optimize AI capabilities and adapt to changing customer behaviors more effectively.

On-device conversion measurement expands capabilities

Google is expanding its on-device conversion measurement solution to support the use of de-identified event data. This enhancement improves campaign optimization and iOS reporting without user data ever leaving their device.

The announcement explains that implementing durable measurement strategies is crucial for understanding marketing impact and optimizing investments. Google's on-device conversion measurement improves the amount of observable conversions to enhance campaign optimization and reporting for iOS App campaigns in a privacy-preserving manner.

The solution helps measure app installs and in-app actions from iOS App campaigns while maintaining user privacy. It offers two variants: one using first-party data (like email and phone numbers collected through app sign-in experiences) and another using de-identified, temporary app event data derived from device signals and timestamps.

For iOS App campaigns, Google recommends implementing both variants to maximize performance and reporting benefits. Key advantages include improved campaign reporting and performance—with internal data showing advertisers who implemented the first-party data variant experienced a median 19% reduction in CPA on Google's owned inventory—while maintaining privacy through technologies that ensure no identifiable information leaves a user's device.

Integrated conversion measurement enhances third-party reporting

The fourth update introduces integrated conversion measurement, providing more comprehensive and accurate reporting in third-party iOS and Android App Attribution Partners' interfaces.

According to Google, "Platform and regulatory changes have made it more challenging to understand the full impact and performance of App campaigns." The new Integrated Conversion Measurement solution directly addresses these challenges by offering more accurate and comprehensive cross-channel attribution across iOS and Android in third-party App Attribution Partner interfaces.

The company notes that with improved reporting visibility, marketers "will be able to make more informed business decisions and improve return on ad spend." This feature will gradually roll out starting in May 2025, with continuous updates to enhance model accuracy.

Google describes its Integrated Conversion Measurement as "an innovative protocol which provides more real-time, comprehensive, and accurate attribution in your third-party App Attribution Partner interfaces." With this solution, marketers gain a clearer picture of how App campaigns for installs drive conversions across both iOS and Android devices, providing actionable insights to optimize campaign performance and allocate budgets effectively.

Key benefits include:

Enhanced reporting across iOS and Android: Enables real-time and event-level reporting of campaign performance. On iOS, advertisers will get improved reporting for app conversions from iOS 14+ users. On Android, advertisers will get better reporting for app conversions from the European Economic Area or when users opt out of device-level permissions.

Privacy-preserving techniques: Incorporates technologies such as on-device conversion measurement to improve accuracy without compromising user privacy.

Flexible integrations: Integrates reporting improvements for advertisers using third-party App Attribution Partners and those using the App Conversion Tracking API for attribution.

Why this matters for marketers

These updates represent significant enhancements to Google's measurement capabilities at a time when accurate tracking faces increasing challenges from privacy regulations and platform changes. The focus on server-side implementation, enhanced diagnostics, privacy-preserving measurement, and improved third-party integration demonstrates Google's strategy to maintain effective advertising measurement while adapting to changing privacy landscapes.

For marketing professionals, these tools provide several key advantages:

1. Greater control over first-party data collection and processing
2. Improved signal accuracy for better campaign optimization
3. Enhanced privacy protections that comply with evolving regulations
4. Better cross-platform measurement capabilities, especially for app campaigns
5. More reliable reporting through third-party attribution partners

The timing of these announcements comes as the digital marketing industry continues to adapt to significant privacy changes introduced by Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework and growing privacy regulations worldwide.

According to Kamal Janardhan, Senior Director of Product Management for Ads Measurement at Google, who is quoted in the announcement, these features will be showcased in detail at Google Marketing Live. The event will be broadcast from Mountain View, California, on Wednesday, May 21 at 9 a.m. PT.

Timeline

• May 2, 2025: Announcement of four new measurement tools
• May 2025: Beginning of gradual rollout for Google tag gateway for advertisers
• May 2025: Gradual availability of Integrated Conversion Measurement beginning
• May 21, 2025: Google Marketing Live event with detailed presentations
• June 2025: Additional CDN partners for Google tag gateway expected
• Coming months: Addition of confidential computing capabilities to Google tag gateway