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Tracking and reporting

Google signals

GA4 Google signals / Google signals data collection / allow_google_signals

In short

Google signals is a Google Analytics 4 setting that enriches reporting with data from visitors signed in to a Google account who have turned on Ads Personalization. Since June 15, 2026, Google says the setting controls only the association of Analytics data with signed-in user information for behavioral reporting.

Google signals is a switch in a Google Analytics 4 property, found in Admin under data collection. An Editor or higher can turn it on. With it on, Google enriches reporting, such as demographic and interest data, for visitors signed in to Google accounts with Ads Personalization turned on.

Google describes a fuller view of how those visitors use a site across browsers and devices, and Cross Platform reports show only aggregated data. Counting users is a separate setting called reporting identity. Its help page lists User-ID, device ID and modeling for de-duplicating users, and it does not list Google signals.

Google has also narrowed what the switch controls. Since June 15, 2026, Google says Consent Mode within Google Ads is the single control for collecting Google Ads cookies and IDs from the Analytics tag. From then on, Google signals controls only the association of Analytics data with signed-in user information for behavioral reporting.

A site's tag can also override the switch. Setting allow_google_signals to false keeps that tag's events out of ads personalization and demographics and interests reports. Google says this turns off advertising, reporting and remarketing features, whatever the Analytics interface shows.

For remarketing, the Google help page on Analytics audiences still lists Google signals, user-provided data collection, or both, plus a Google Ads link with Enable Personalized Advertising selected. Properties created before the Google signals toggle was added in August 2018 do not need signals for remarketing based on third-party advertising identifiers.

Signed-in data expires after 26 months by default, or sooner under a shorter data retention setting. Collection covers all regions once the switch is on, and each region can be switched off. Analytics does not export Google signals data to BigQuery, and Google warns that event counts per user may differ between the two.

In practice

A roofing company builds an Analytics audience of visitors who viewed its free estimate page without submitting the form. The audience never appears in Google Ads. The account link has Enable Personalized Advertising selected, but Google signals and user-provided data collection are both off. An Editor turns signals on. The team also reviews its Consent Mode Ads settings and checks whether the tag sets allow_google_signals to false. It allows up to two days for the list to appear.

Not the same as

User-provided data collection
User-provided data collection matches consented, hashed customer data with Google data to fill audiences when cookies or other identifiers are missing. Google signals draws on visitors signed in to a Google account with Ads Personalization turned on. The Google remarketing help page lists either one as a requirement for Analytics audiences.
Consent Mode
Consent Mode sets default consent states for Google tags and updates them when a visitor responds to a cookie banner. Since June 15, 2026, Google says Consent Mode Ads settings alone govern collection of Google Ads cookies and IDs, leaving Google signals to behavioral reporting.

Why it matters to you

Controls are moving out of Analytics. Google has said that later in 2026, the Consent Mode ad_personalization setting will exclusively control whether linked Analytics data is used for personalization in Google Ads. A setup checked before these changes may be out of date. Remarketing with Analytics must follow the Google Ads rules for sensitive interest categories. Advertisers promoting in one of those categories, such as health, cannot use audiences they build themselves. A site using remarketing or demographics and interests reporting must name those Advertising Features in its privacy policy. The policy must also cover how first-party and third-party cookies are used together, and how visitors can opt out. Analytics may also withhold data from reports and explorations that include demographic data, under data thresholds.

What to ask or check

  1. 01Is Google signals turned on in your Analytics property, and for which regions?
  2. 02Does your Google tag set allow_google_signals to false?
  3. 03Have your Consent Mode Ads settings been reviewed since June 15, 2026?
  4. 04Does your privacy policy name the Advertising Features, explain how cookies are used together, and explain how to opt out?
  5. 05Does the business promote anything in a Google sensitive interest category, such as health?

What people get wrong

That the Google signals switch in Analytics still decides whether the Google tag collects Google Ads cookies and IDs. Since June 15, 2026, Google says Consent Mode within Google Ads is the single control for that data.

Red flags

  • A Google tag that sets allow_google_signals to false while the Analytics interface shows Google signals turned on.
  • A tracking review after June 15, 2026 that checks the Google signals switch but never looks at Consent Mode Ads settings.
  • A business that promotes services in a Google sensitive interest category, such as health, running remarketing on audiences it built itself.

Keep reading

Data thresholds

Data thresholds are rules Google Analytics 4 applies to withhold rows or numbers from a report when showing them could reveal something about individual visitors. A thresholded report shows less than the property collected, so it is easy to mistake for broken tracking or a slow week.

Consent mode

Consent mode is how an advertising tag is told whether a visitor agreed to be tracked. Both major platforms now require a consent signal, and the penalties differ in kind: Google's policy allows it to suspend or terminate your account, while Microsoft simply stops recording your conversions.

Enhanced conversions

Enhanced conversions send a hashed version of your customer's email address or phone number to the ad platform, which matches it against its own signed-in account holders. Both platforms describe it as a replacement for third-party cookies, and both match against their own user base.

Notice at collection

A notice at collection is the disclosure California's privacy law requires before or as a covered business collects personal information. It says what is collected and why, whether it is sold or shared, and how long it is kept. So it belongs wherever the information is gathered, such as a website form.

Conversion

A conversion is an action you told the ad platform to count as a result, like a form or a call. The number is not a headcount. Google's One conversion setting counts one per ad click, not per person, and Microsoft calls the same two settings All and Unique.

Offline conversion import

An offline conversion import tells the ad platform that a click became a sale somewhere it could not see. You store the click ID with the lead and hand it back when the deal closes. Microsoft states that anything uploaded more than 90 days after the click is not imported.

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