Google just launched the first full season of Ads Decoded, a podcast that brings advertiser questions directly to the product teams building Google's advertising tools. Hosted by Ads Product Liaison Ginny Marvin, the debut episode tackles how marketers can turn Google Analytics from a reporting tool into an AI-powered activation engine. With AI reshaping digital advertising and data quality becoming the make-or-break factor for campaign performance, Google's betting that direct access to product managers can help advertisers navigate the shifting landscape.
Google is opening a direct line between advertisers and the people actually building its products. The company just rolled out the first full season of Ads Decoded, a podcast that promises to demystify how marketers can squeeze more value from Google's advertising ecosystem in an AI-dominated landscape.
Hosted by Ginny Marvin, Google's Ads Product Liaison, the show kicks off with a deep dive into Google Analytics featuring Eleanor Stribling, Group Product Manager for the platform. The timing isn't accidental. As AI tools reshape digital advertising and third-party cookies continue their slow death march, advertisers are scrambling to figure out which data actually matters and how to use it effectively.
The conversation centers on a fundamental shift in how marketers should think about Google Analytics. According to the podcast, the platform isn't just for generating reports anymore. Stribling walks through how to use Analytics as what Google calls an "activation engine" - a system that feeds AI models with the right data to drive actual business outcomes rather than just tracking what already happened.
Data strength emerges as the episode's key concept. It's Google's term for the quality and completeness of the information flowing into its AI systems, and Stribling makes the case that it's becoming a competitive advantage. Brands with robust data infrastructure can train AI models more effectively, which translates to better ad targeting, more accurate attribution, and ultimately higher returns on ad spend.
