Enable first-party user identifiers

When third-party identifiers are blocked or restricted, some ads functionality is impacted. As a result:

• Users may experience the same ad repeatedly.
• Advertisers may not be able to deliver personalized ads.
• Some advertisers may decide to exclude certain media altogether.
• Publishers may earn less revenue.

When third-party cookies (on web) or device identifiers (on apps) are not available, Ad Manager uses identifiers that are confined to a publisher’s own sites or apps as a fallback. These "first-party identifiers," when present, are used for ad delivery functionality, such as frequency-capping in reservation campaigns. The identifiers may also be used on behalf of the publisher to support buyer frequency capping and ads personalization on programmatic traffic.

On web, cookies named _gads and _gpi are first-party cookies set on the publisher’s domain. These cookies are used by Ad Manager on behalf of the publisher to support:

• Programmatic buyers frequency capping and ads personalization
• Reservation frequency capping

On apps, “SDK instance ID” and “publisher first-party ID” are used to support:

• Programmatic buyers frequency capping and ads personalization
• Reservation frequency capping

To read more about first party identifiers, visit privacy strategies for iOS or Android.

Disable application of first-party identifiers

By default, using first-party identifiers is enabled for both frequency capping and ads personalization.

You can disable the application of first-party identifiers. Disabling the identifiers makes them unavailable to Google Ad Manager for reservation and programmatic features. Alternatively, you can restrict the use of first-party identifiers without fully disabling them. 

To disable or modify application of first-party cookies on web:

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Admin Global settings.
   The “Network Settings” tab is selected by default.
3. Under “Ad preference settings,” next to “First-party cookies for ads on web,” choose an option:
   • To restrict the use of first-party cookies without disabling for all uses, select Enable first-party cookies for non-personalized use cases such as frequency capping.
     Note: This option is viewable when “First-party cookies for ads on web” is enabled.
   • To disable first-party cookies for ads, turn off the switch . 
4. Click Save.

To disable or modify application of first-party identifiers on apps:

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Admin Global settings.
   The “Network settings” tab is selected by default.
3. Under “Ad preference settings,” next to “First-party identifiers for ads on apps,” choose an option:
   • To restrict the use of first-party identifiers on apps without disabling all uses, select Enable first-party identifiers for non-personalized use cases such as frequency capping.
     Note: This option is viewable when “First-party identifiers for ads on apps” is enabled.
   •  To disable first-party identifiers for ads on apps, turn off the switch .
4. Click Save.

Enable publisher provided identifiers on programmatic

Publisher provided identifiers (PPID) are identifiers sent directly on the ad request by some Ad Manager 360 publishers. The application of PPIDs for programmatic frequency capping and ads personalization can also be enabled. To learn more, visit About publisher provided identifiers.