Activate the conversion API for an advertiser

 

Beginning June 29, 2020, customers who have previously turned on scheduled sync or who choose to turn on scheduled sync will no longer be able to turn off scheduled sync. Likewise, customers who have previously activated the conversion API will no longer be able to deactivate it.

Beginning February 1, 2021, Search Ads 360 will automatically turn on scheduled sync and activate the conversion API for all customers who haven't already turned on scheduled sync or who haven't already activated the conversion API.

Before you can use the conversion API or attribute offline conversions to a Google click ID, a Search Ads 360 user with agency manager or advertiser manager access needs to sign in to Search Ads 360 and activate the conversion API for the advertiser. If no one in your organization has agency manager or advertiser manager access, contact customer support, who can enable the conversion API for you.

Before you start: Two URL parameters will be added to all landing pages

Caution: Make sure your landing pages can handle the addition of two URL parameters: gclid and gclsrc.

Once you activate the conversion API, Search Ads 360 will automatically append the gclid and gclsrc parameters to all landing page URLs in the advertiser. The data in the URL parameters enable Search Ads 360 to attribute conversions to specific visits. Search Ads 360 appends the parameters just before forwarding to the advertiser's landing page. You won't see these parameters in the effective landing page URL.

URLs without other parameters

Search Ads 360 always precedes both parameters with the & character. If your landing page URLs don't include other URL parameters, your landing page URLs may not be recognized by your site. For example:

• Landing page before enabling the conversion API:
  http://www.example.com

• Landing page after enabling the conversion API:
  http://www.example.com&gclid=123456&gclsrc=ds
  Note that this URL is invalid because the query string should always be preceded by the ? character.

If your landing page URLs don't include URL parameters -- either directly or in a URL template -- add the ? character to the end of the URLs. You can do this for an entire account by specifying the following account-level URL template:
{unescapedlpurl}?
With this URL template, the landing page URL from the preceding example will be:
http://www.example.com?gclid=123456&gclsrc=ds

URLs with fragments

If your landing page URLs include a fragment, Search Ads 360 appends the gclid and gclsrc parameters right before the # character. For example:

• Landing page before enabling the conversion API:
  http://www.example.com#page

• Landing page after enabling the conversion API:
  http://www.example.com&gclid=123456&gclsrc=ds#page
  Note that this URL is invalid because the query string should always be preceded by the ? character.

If your landing page URLs don't include URL parameters -- either directly or in a URL template -- add the ? character just before the fragment (fragments should always be the last part of a URL). For example:
http://www.example.com?#page

You can use a URL template to do this, but be careful using URL templates with URLs that include fragments, especially in Google Ads accounts. Learn more about using URL templates and URL fragments.

Using the conversion API with accounts that use parallel tracking

Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising use parallel tracking, which sends clicks directly to the landing page without redirecting through Search Ads 360. Parallel tracking prevents Search Ads 360 from appending the gclid parameter to your landing page URLs.

Tracking parameters for measuring Floodlight conversions

When customers click your ads, two parameters are appended to your landing page URLs: gclid and gclsrc. To measure Floodlight conversions, Search Ads 360 requires these parameters to be passed to a page on your site that contains a Google tag or a conversion linker tag placed by Google Tag Manager. If your site removes these parameters or changes the values before your customer lands on a page that contains one of these tags, Search Ads 360 cannot attribute Floodlight conversions to your ads.

Conversion API and Google Ads auto-tagging

Google Ads auto-tagging is automatically turned on when you activate the conversion API. Be aware that this can potentially impact any Google Ads entities that aren't synced to Search Ads 360.

Activate the conversion API

To activate the conversion API, sign into a Google account with Search Ads 360 agency manager or advertiser manager permissions. Then do the following:

1. Navigate to an advertiser.

   Steps for navigating to an advertiser

   1. Click the navigation bar to display navigation options.

   2. In the "Agency" list, click on the agency that contains the advertiser. You can search for an agency by name or scroll through the list.

   3. In the "Advertiser" list, click on the advertiser.

   4. Click Apply or press the Enter key.

   Search Ads 360 displays the advertiser page, which contains data for all of the advertiser’s engine accounts.

2. In the left navigation panel, click Advertiser settings.
   
   Don't see Advertiser settings? Only Search Ads 360 agency managers or advertiser managers can see Advertiser settings in the left navigation panel. 

3. Click the Integrations▼ tab and select Conversion API.

4. Toggle Conversion API to On and click Save.