PLAID Adds Support for Google Data Manager API, Google’s Unified Ingestion API

PLAID, Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Kenta Kurahashi) today announced its support for the Google Data Manager API (hereinafter, Data Manager API), Google’s unified ingestion API. The capability is provided through KARTE Signals Connector, the ad platform integration feature of KARTE Signals, which enables advertising optimization powered by 1st Party Customer Data (customer data generated and collected through a company’s own customer touchpoints). PLAID is one of the first early adopters headquartered in Japan (*1).

The Data Manager API is Google’s unified ingestion interface for sending audience data and conversion data to multiple Google advertising services. Whereas advertisers previously had to work with separate APIs for each destination, the Data Manager API consolidates these into a single connection.

With this support, 1st Party Customer Data accumulated in KARTE Signals can now be delivered in a single integration to multiple Google services, including Google Ads.

*1: As of August 2026, based on PLAID’s own research; scope limited to companies headquartered in Japan.

Background: Structural Challenges Emerging in Digital Advertising Measurement

PLAID recognizes that conversion measurement in digital advertising faces structural challenges. With stronger privacy regulations, browser-level measurement restrictions, and the widespread use of multiple devices, the areas where tag-based measurement alone cannot fully capture customer behavior continue to expand.

As AI makes digital advertising optimization increasingly sophisticated, outcomes are determined by the quality and quantity of the data fed into it. As the performance of AI itself becomes commoditized across providers, what differentiates companies is shifting to how accurately they can capture each customer’s context from the 1st Party Customer Data they generate and collect themselves, and how broadly they can connect it.

In sales conversations and hands-on support with companies using KARTE Signals Connector, PLAID increasingly hears that accurate conversion measurement is difficult with tags alone, making it hard to optimize ad bidding and visualize return on ad spend. The development and operational burden of maintaining separate APIs for each destination has also been a persistent challenge.

What This Support Covers: Unifying the Data Path to Google Across Two Areas

Scope of Support
PLAID supports the Data Manager API in the following two areas.

1. Delivering 1st Party Customer Data for digital advertising conversion measurement
By delivering both online and offline purchase and behavioral data, advertisers can more accurately understand the path from ad views and clicks through to conversion.

2. Delivering 1st Party Customer Data to advertising targeting lists
Segments built on 1st Party Customer Data accumulated in KARTE can be delivered as targeting lists for ad campaigns.

Availability and Pricing
This capability is included in KARTE Signals Connector at no additional cost. Use of KARTE Signals Connector is required.

Expected Benefits
For advertising operations teams: Reduces the setup and operational workload previously required for each individual destination.

For marketing teams: Conversions previously missed by tag-only measurement can be reflected in reporting, improving the visibility of advertising performance and the accuracy of bid optimization.

For privacy and legal teams: Because data is delivered via an API that supports privacy-preserving technologies, it becomes easier to balance regulatory compliance with advertising performance.

Why PLAID: One of Japan’s Largest Data Platforms and Compliance with Japanese Regulations

Putting 1st Party Customer Data to work for digital advertising optimization requires two stages: generating and collecting data at customer touchpoints and unifying it at the level of each individual customer; and then delivering that unified data to each connected advertising and measurement service. The former has been the role of the KARTE platform, and the latter the role of KARTE Signals Connector. This Data Manager API support renews the delivery path to Google’s services within the latter.

Since launching KARTE in 2015, PLAID has developed a proprietary analytics platform that visualizes each customer’s behavior in real time. It continuously generates and collects diverse 1st Party Customer Data — web and app behavioral data, CRM data, and offline purchase data — and analyzes it as the context of each individual customer. KARTE analyzes more than 1.2 billion monthly active users (MAU), making it one of the largest 1st Party Customer Data platforms in Japan (*2). Owning this platform is what enabled PLAID to implement this support in a short period and deliver it to client companies as-is.

In addition, using 1st Party Customer Data for digital advertising is inseparable from compliance with Japanese regulations. KARTE Signals Connector includes a feature that automatically stores, within KARTE, records of personal information and personally referable information sent to each advertising platform, in accordance with the record-keeping obligations under Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information. This kind of regulatory readiness is a strength of PLAID, which has continued to build its products around the realities of doing business in Japan.

Going forward, PLAID will continue to connect the 1st Party Customer Data it generates and collects — and the customer context it derives from that data — to the digital advertising domain, supporting advertising use cases that go beyond short-term performance measurement.

For details on KARTE Signals Connector and inquiries, please visit the service website.
https://karte.io/feature/signals-connector/

*2: MAU stands for Monthly Active Users. Calculated based on page-view events across all websites and apps where KARTE is installed. The claim of "one of the largest in Japan" is based on data from Similarweb, compiled by PLAID (comparison figures are total monthly visits as of June 2026).

Google, Google Ads, and Google Data Manager API are trademarks of Google LLC.

About KARTE, the CX Platform

KARTE is a CX (customer experience) platform that analyzes customer behavior across all touchpoints in real time, visualizes each individual customer, and enables companies to communicate freely with each customer in a one-stop environment. Built on a proprietary data analytics platform with high extensibility, KARTE serves not only digital marketing at large but also functions as a foundation for customer-centric management across the wide range of corporate activities that require customer and market understanding. The deep customer understanding enabled by KARTE’s data draws out the creativity of the people who use it, improving experiential value for end users and helping companies create their own distinctive value.
https://karte.io/

About PLAID, Inc.

With the mission of "maximizing the value of people with the power of data," PLAID supports the maximization of corporate value through data. Building on a data platform that analyzes vast volumes of customer behavior in real time and technology that structures that behavior down to its context, PLAID provides a portfolio of data × AI products together with hands-on support from specialized talent. By supporting companies in realizing customer-centric management, PLAID contributes to sustainable business growth and, beyond it, to creating value for each individual consumer.
https://plaid.co.jp/