If you use Google Analytics 4 to track activity on your site or app, then Analytics can share some of the data it collects with the new Search Ads 360. Once Search Ads 360 receives this data, you can do any of the following:
- Use Search Ads 360 reports to see which keywords, dynamic targets, and other biddable items lead to Google Analytics transactions and conversions.
- Use Analytics data in a Search Ads 360 bid strategy. You can create a bid strategy that maximizes conversions reported by Analytics.
- Use the Google Analytics 4 data, formula columns, and automated rules to automate your workflow.
- Currently, the Google Analytics last-click attribution model is applied by default and is the only attribution model you can use with Google Analytics conversions.
Important details about Google Analytics 4 data in the new Search Ads 360
Google Analytics 4 data is available in Search Ads 360 reports for the following items:
- Keywords
- Dynamic targets
- Text ads
- Shopping ads
- Product groups
- Items in social and client accounts
Google Analytics 4 default columns not available for the following items:
- App extensions or other app-promotion interactions
- Search terms report or paid and organic report
- The bid strategies summary page
Google Analytics 4 data will populate in the “Conversions” columns if included, and in Custom Columns.
Only data associated with Search Ads 360 visits
Google Analytics 4 only sends data for activity that occurs during a visit attributed to a Search Ads 360 click/campaign, according to the selected attribution model. For example:
- A customer clicks a paid search ad that was trafficked by Search Ads 360.
- Values for the ad's tracking URL parameters reach Search Ads 360, and Search Ads 360 records a visit.
- When the customer lands on your site, Analytics either starts a new session or adds metrics to an existing session. Then Analytics sends data that occurs during that session to Search Ads 360 when the session/conversion is attributed to the click/campaign in Step 1.
Google Analytics 4 doesn't send data about other activity on your site, such as sessions that start from direct traffic or sessions that start with a paid search ad that is not managed by Search Ads 360.
Learn more about how Google Analytics 4 associates user sessions with the new Search Ads 360 visits.
Paid search metrics in Google Analytics
When you link Search Ads 360 and Google Analytics, campaign and cost data, as well as paid search metrics from Search Ads 360 clients (e.g., Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising) will appear in Analytics.
With the integration enabled, the data you see in Search Ads 360 and in Google Analytics should mostly match, though there might be minor discrepancies due to differences in processing in each system.
If you link Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads, you'll see data that Google Ads sends to Analytics. This may be slightly different from the data Search Ads 360 has for the same campaigns for a few reasons:
- Search Ads 360 displays data associated with Search Ads 360 visits, while Google Ads reports in Analytics display data associated with Google Ads clicks.
- Search Ads 360 and Analytics process data separately, so there may be some variation in precisely when data is processed.
- Search Ads 360 only shows Analytics data starting from the day you link Search Ads 360 to Analytics. If your Analytics report starts before the day you linked Search Ads 360 to Analytics, the data won't match.
Make sure the advertiser’s web server or redirection service doesn't strip the gclid and gclsrc parameters, utm parameters, or other parameters from landing-page URLs.
gclid and gclsrc parameters are added automatically for Google Ads accounts when you enable auto-tagging and for other accounts when you link your Search Ads 360 sub-manager account with Analytics.
Freshness of Analytics data in Search Ads 360
Analytics metrics in Search Ads 360 reports may vary in freshness from approximately realtime (less than 1 minute) to daily (24+ hours), depending on the Analytics-property data limits and service-level agreements (SLA).
Due to scaling, there may be discrepancies in your reports depending on the date range of the report and when the report is created. For example, if you create a report on January 5th for the period January 4th-5th may show 100 goal completions, while this same report might show 103 goal completions if you create it on January 7th.
Unsampled data in Search Ads 360
While reports that you see in Analytics sometimes show sampled data, the Analytics data in Search Ads 360 reports is unsampled.
Removing Search Ads 360 link
If you remove the link between Search Ads 360 and Analytics, here's what to expect:
- In Search Ads 360: You will no longer see new Analytics data in Search Ads 360. Historical data from the time the link was in place until the time you remove the link is still available. Analytics reporting columns will still be available, but will include only historical data from the time the link was in place. Any bid strategies that use Analytics data will be using inaccurate data.
- In Analytics: You will no longer see new Search Ads 360 data in Analytics. Historical data from the time the link was in place is still available. If you linked Google Ads to Analytics, you'll still see the data Google Ads is sending to Analytics.
If you re-link Search Ads 360 to Analytics:
- If you re-link to the same Analytics property, you'll see all of the historical data that was collected when you were linked previously. And you'll see new data starting from the day you re-enabled the link. You won't see data about activity that occurred while the link was removed.
- If you link to a different Analytics property, you won't see the historical data associated with the old property. A Search Ads 360 manager account can only show data for one Analytics property at a time.