You Don’t Need to Be a Data Expert to Supercharge Google Ads with First-Party Data

The advertising industry is undergoing a paradigm reconstruction, and the extensive model of standardized large-scale communication has been completely overturned. Today, the most successful brands leverage first-party data to fuel hyper-targeted, high-converting Google Ads strategies. In APAC, where e-commerce is booming, retail media networks like Rakuten Ichiba have demonstrated the untapped potential of offsite retail advertising, achieving 5X return on ad spend by integrating first-party insights with Google’s AI-driven tools.

First-party data—information collected directly from customers—offers a unique value proposition: It’s accurate, privacy-compliant, and highly actionable. Unlike third-party data, which relies on inferred behaviors, first-party insights reveal real purchase intent. Google’s evolving ad ecosystem, from Performance Max to Demand Gen, now seamlessly incorporates this data to optimize targeting, creative personalization, and budget allocation. The result? Brands like Pandora and The One Digi Corp have seen 135% conversion lifts and 220% YoY revenue growth by bridging the gap between data and dollars.

This article focuses on the practical path for companies to optimize Google Ads with the help of first-party data, covering core issues such as retail media strategy design and AI-driven business expansion.

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1. Asia-Pacific Retail Media Strategy Innovation and Data-Driven Growth Program

The Asia-Pacific e-commerce explosion has driven the evolution of retail media, and brands have expanded their audiences through a combination of on-site and off-site advertising. Rakuten Market Research found that the overlap rate between on-site and off-site advertising audiences is only 4%, confirming the value of off-site strategies in tapping incremental customer groups. Its promotion platform expansion program in cooperation with Google allows advertisers to use first-party purchase data to optimize shopping and search ads, subverting traditional cognition: expanding the list of advertising products can increase related purchases, and sales efficiency is best when the daily budget reaches 2 times the unit price of the product, breaking the misunderstanding that "conservative budgets are more efficient."

Practices in 2023-2024 have shown that restricting the promotion of high-gross-profit products will restrict customer acquisition and cross-selling. Following the "2x unit price daily budget" rule can maintain growth, and reducing the budget midway will lead to a sharp drop in sales. Automated optimization with tools such as Search Ads 360 and Performance Max, combined with A/B testing to dynamically adjust the budget, has become the key to breaking through the traffic bottleneck.

For companies that want to replicate this success, Topkee's Google Ads service provides tools for integrated strategies. Its TTO initialization tool simplifies cross-account budget management and conversion tracking, and AI-driven creative production ensures the scaled output of high-quality advertising materials. In addition, the attribution remarketing strategy analyzes user behavior to deliver personalized ads, proving that integrated marketing campaigns can take into account both coverage and effectiveness.

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2. Reshaping global expansion strategy

The fusion of AI-driven Google Ads and first-party data is redefining companies’ global expansion strategies, enabling them to enter new markets with precision and scale. Top brands are using Google Advertising tools such as Performance Max and Demand Gen to automate targeting, creative optimization, and bidding, while relying on first-party data to ensure content relevance and privacy compliance.

2.1 Practical case studies:

One Digi Corp, a Vietnamese visa service provider, used broad match keywords and target CPA bidding to quickly target 10 high-potential markets and combined first-party customer data with Google Ads’ AI campaigns to significantly improve advertising results.
Thai travel agency 12Go significantly increased the conversion value and volume of its international marketing campaigns in a short period of time by combining a “maximize conversion value” bidding strategy with user-authorized first-party data.

2.2 Three-step verification framework for AI-driven growth:

Identify high-potential markets

Use broad match keywords combined with target CPA bidding strategy to tap into potential market demand. Google Ads Keyword Planner can accurately locate high-intent search trends, and AI adjusts bids in real time to prioritize high ROI markets.

Automate and expand coverage

Use the Performance Max tool to integrate cross-channel marketing activities such as search, YouTube, and display ads and automatically generate creative materials. At the same time, use Demand Gen to reach high-intent audiences with immersive ads in scenarios such as YouTube Shorts, discovery pages, and Gmail.

Reach high-value customers

Integrate first-party data through tools such as Customer Match and Google Ads Data Manager, strengthen target return on advertising expenditure bidding strategies, and synchronize online and offline behavioral data to optimize audience targeting and effect measurement.

Core inspiration: When AI-enabled Google Ads is deeply integrated with first-party data, global business expansion will break out of the traditional risk game model and evolve into a profit paradigm that can be replicated on a large scale. Focusing on this core, the Topkee team conducted in-depth keyword research, competitor evaluation, and adopted intelligent bidding strategies to expand coverage; at the same time, AI-driven creative production was used to generate customized advertising graphics and text content. Remarketing strategies use TTO data to segment audiences and provide personalized content, regularly analyze advertising performance, ROI, and budget efficiency to optimize strategies, and achieve synergistic improvements in coverage and conversion.

3. Decoding the 4S consumer journey: Personalized advertising strategy with privacy first and future layout

Today’s consumers follow the nonlinear decision path of “streaming, scrolling, searching, shopping” (4S). BCG research shows that 43% of shoppers will change their preferences because brand information fits their needs. Pandora achieved a 77% increase in Google Ads revenue and a 220% surge in offline sales through its “all-time online” holiday strategy, combining first-party data with AI tools.

For example, the fictional airline Opal Air successfully occupied 41% of the preference share by highlighting on-board privileges rather than general discounts through first-party data. This relies on Google Ads tools like Performance Max and Demand Gen to achieve privacy-safe personalization.

Conclusion

First-party data is the cornerstone of modern Google Advertising, enabling hyper-targeting, AI optimization, and privacy-compliant growth. Brands like Rakuten, Pandora, and The One Digi Corp prove that data-driven experimentation unlocks exponential returns.

Ready to transform your strategy? Partner with Topkee’s Google Ads experts to leverage these insights—because in today’s competitive environment, data isn’t just power, it’s profit.