Connect Search Ads 360 to Google Analytics

For accurate reporting in Google Analytics 4, your Search Ads 360 advertiser/sub-manager and Google Analytics 4 property must be linked with auto-tagging enabled.

When you link your Google Analytics 4 property to your Search Ads 360 advertiser (existing Search Ads 360) or sub-manager (new Search Ads 360), you get the following benefits:

• Analytics exports audiences to Search Ads 360
  (Available only if you have upgraded to the new Search Ads 360 experience. If you have enabled continuous audience sharing in your Search Ads 360 manager account, these audiences will be shared with all existing and future Google Ads sub-accounts.)
• Analytics exports conversions to Search Ads 360
• Search Ads 360 campaign and cost data is imported to Analytics
• Analytics app- and site-engagement metrics are available in Search Ads 360 reports (available only if you have upgraded to the new Search Ads 360 experience)
• View your campaign cost data in the Search Ads 360 performance report in the Advertising section.
• Learn how visitors acquired through campaigns engage with your website or app using theSearch Ads 360 report in the Reports section.
• Access Search Ads 360-specific dimensions in the Explore, Audience Builder, Segment Builder, and Custom Reports.

Link your Google Ads account to your Analytics property (including subproperties and roll-up properties) to see the full customer cycle, from how users interact with your marketing (e.g., clicking ads) to how they finally complete the conversions you’ve set for them on your site or app (e.g., making purchases, consuming content).

Audience export

To export audiences from Analytics:

• Activate one or both of the following for the property:
  • Google Signals
  • User-provided data collection
• Enable Personalized Advertising in the link settings

With either Google signals or user-provided data collection activated and Personalized Advertising enabled in the link settings, audiences are automatically exported to Search Ads 360.

Audiences that contain demographics or interests data will not be exported.

When you export audiences via the continuous audience sharing feature, they appear in the linked Search Ads 360 manager account and in the related Google Ads serving accounts. You can use the audiences as-is for targeting, or combine them with other audiences. You can also perform analysis on them.

Conversion export

Analytics exports conversions that use the cross-channel last click attribution model. You can use the conversions for reporting and bidding.

To import Analytics conversions, you need to:

• (In Search Ads 360): select the conversion actions you want to import (See Steps 6-8 in the procedure for creating the link from the Search Ads 360 interface).
• (When linking from Analytics): turn on the Enable Campaign Attribution setting when you configure the link (see Step 8 in the procedure for creating the link from the Analytics interface).

Search Ads 360 data in Analytics reports

With Search Ads 360 data available in Analytics, you can see user, session, and conversion metrics in the context of dimensions like source, medium, campaign, and default channel group.

You can see cross-channel attribution data in the Model comparison and Conversion paths reports.

You can see acquisition data in the Acquisition reports. (Learn more about the traffic-source dimensions specific to Search Ads 360.)

Create the link

You can initiate the link from either Search Ads 360 or Analytics.

Link from Search Ads 360

In the new Search Ads 360:

1. Navigate to Tools and settings > Setup > Linked accounts.
2. Under Google Analytics (GA4) & Firebase, click Details.
3. You can review existing links and requests, or click New link to create a new one.
4. Click Choose property, select the properties you want to link to, then click Apply.
5. Click Next to configure you settings and then Review and submit your link request.
6. Once the link is completed, navigate to Tools and settings > Measurement > Conversions and click + to create a new conversion action.
7. Click Import, then choose Google Analytics 4 properties, and then select App or Web.
8. Select the conversion actions you want to import, then click Import and continue.

In the existing Search Ads 360:

1. Navigate to an advertiser.
2. In the left menu navigate to Advertiser Settings > Integrations > GA 4 Integration.
3. Click the switch On, and choose a Google Analytics 4 property.
4. Click Save.

Link from Analytics

If you have not upgraded to the new Search Ads 360, in addition to the following procedure to link from Analytics to Search Ads 360, you also need to open the Search Ads 360 interface and create a link from your advertiser to your Analytics property in order to also export conversions.

If you have the Editor role for the Analytics property and the Agency manager/Advertiser manager role for the advertiser (existing Search Ads 360) or the Admin role for the sub-manager account (new Search Ads 360), you can complete the linking process.

1. SA360 gclids are considered Google Ads gclids. If Google Analytics 4 and SA360 are not linked, they will be categorized as google/cpc. If the gclid is >90 days old, then Google Ads can no longer recognize it, it will fall back to utm parameters.
2. If you are a SA360 customer ( i.e. no gclid), traffic will fall back to utm parameters.

You can link a Google Analytics 4 property to up to 200 advertisers/sub-manager accounts.

1. In Admin, under Product Links, click Search Ads 360 links.
   Note: The previous link opens to the last Analytics property you accessed. You can change the property using the property selector. You must be an Editor or above at the property level to link from Analytics. You must be a Viewer or above at the property level to view.
2. In the link table, click Link.
3. If you have the Admin role for one or more Search Ads 360 sub-manager accounts, in the row for Link to Search Ads 360 accounts I manage, click Choose accounts.
4. Click Confirm.
5. Click Next.
6. Configure the following settings:
   • Enable Personalized Advertising: On by default. This setting allows Analytics data to be used to personalize ads.
   • Enable Campaign Attribution: On by default. Turn this setting on to import Search Ads 360 campaign data.
     Note: If you turn this setting off, then no conversions are attributed to Search Ads 360 and no conversions are exported from Analytics.
   • Enable Cost Data Reporting: On by default. Turn this setting on to import Search Ads 360 cost data.
   • Enable auto-tagging: On by default. You can't edit this setting. (There is no option to use manual utm parameters in this case.)
     
     Auto-tagging adds the gclid parameter to your landing-page URLs when users click your ads to open your site pages. Analytics uses the gclid parameter to populate the dimensions source, medium, campaign name, campaign ID, and default channel group. Analytics also uses the gclid parameter to populate the following Search Ads 360-specific dimensions: SA360 engine account name, SA360 engine account ID, SA360 engine account type, SA360 ad group name, SA360 keyword text, and SA360 query.
7. Click Next, then review and submit your configuration settings.