Google to give ad tags full IP addresses in 2027

Google told advertisers that its advertising product tags in Google Tag Manager on the server side will be able to receive full IP addresses from 11 January 2027, according to a notice reported by Search Engine Journal.

The change covers tags that send data to Google Ads, Display & Video 360, Search Ads 360 and Campaign Manager 360 from the server container. By contrast, Google Analytics tags will continue to apply IP masking.

The notice said server containers will move from masking IP addresses at the level of the entire container to processing at the level of each tag. It added that third-party tags will retain independent control over the signals they accept, and that the Transformations tool can block these signals before any tag reaches the data.

Google ads specialist Adriaan Dekker posted the notice on LinkedIn on 2 November, but it carries no issue date, and Tag Manager release notes did not mention the change as of 3 November. The notice is limited to server containers and does not address the Google tag or web containers that run in the browser, leaving advertisers until 11 January to decide whether their tags will receive full or partially masked IP addresses.

What do these terms mean?

Server container: A setting in Tag Manager that processes measurement data on the user's server rather than the visitor's browser, giving greater control over what is sent.

IP address: An identifying number that defines a device or network on the internet, sometimes used to estimate geographic location or link visits.

Ad tag: A small piece of code placed on a website or app to send data to an advertising or analytics service such as Google Ads.