Why does Tag Assistant think my Remarketing tag is an AdWords Conversion Tracking tag?

We’re actively working on ways to improve our detection logic, but are limited by lack of distinction between older instances of AdWords Remarketing and AdWords Conversion Tracking.

There are two instances in which Tag Assistant will incorrectly call a Remarketing tag Conversion Tracking:

Remarketing tag generated between May 22, 2012 and July 27, 2012 and is implemented on the page
Remarketing tag generated before July 27, 2012 and only <img> tag is implemented in a container.

In either of those scenarios, there is no physical difference between the Conversion Tracking and Remarketing tags. There is a tiny difference in the request generated for the <img> tag prior to May 22, 2012 that we should be able to account for in a later release. The good news is that these issues are due to older code snippets and should go away as AdWords users migrate to the new remarketing tag.

/* <![CDATA[ */

var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;

var google_conversion_language = "en";

var google_conversion_format = "2";

var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";

var google_conversion_label = "d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM";

var google_conversion_value = 0;

/* ]]> */

</script>

</script>

</div>

</noscript>

Conversion Tracking HTTP Requests Generated

http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

<302 redirect>

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/viewthroughconversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

/* <![CDATA[ */

var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;

var google_conversion_language = "en";

var google_conversion_format = "2";

var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";

var google_conversion_label = "d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM";

var google_conversion_value = 0;

/* ]]> */

</script>

</script>

</div>

</noscript>

AdWords Remarketing HTTP Requests Generated

http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1234567890/?label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

<302 redirect>

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/viewthroughconversion/1234567890/?label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

Differences and Changes Between the Tags

RMKT Code does not contain ?value parameter in <img> element

/* <![CDATA[ */

var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;

var google_conversion_language = "en";

var google_conversion_format = "2";

var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";

var google_conversion_label = "d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM";

var google_conversion_value = 0;

/* ]]> */

</script>

</script>

</div>

</noscript>

AdWords Remarketing HTTP Requests Generated

http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

<302 redirect>

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/viewthroughconversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

Differences and Changes Between the Tags

Value parameter added to <img> element
Conversion Tracking and Remarketing appear identical in both source and headers requests

/* <![CDATA[ */

var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;

var google_conversion_label = "d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM";

var google_custom_params = window.google_tag_params;

var google_remarketing_only = true;

/* ]]> */

</script>

</script>

</div>

</noscript>

AdWords Remarketing HTTP Requests Generated

http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

<302 redirect>

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/viewthroughconversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com

Differences and Changes Between the Tags

var google_conversion_language removed
var google_conversion_color removed
var google_conversion_format removed
var google_conversion_value removed
var google_custom_params added
var google_remarketing_only added
script source changed to auto-detect http/https (not this removes the reference to googleadservices.com)
img source changed to auto-detect http/https
img source changed from googleadservices.com to googleads.g.doubleclick.net

var google_tag_params = {

parameter1: '', // Include your custom parameter here

parameter2: '', // Include your custom parameter here

parameter3: '' // Include your custom parameter here

};

</script>

/* <![CDATA[ */

var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;

var google_conversion_label = "d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM";

var google_custom_params = window.google_tag_params;

var google_remarketing_only = true;

/* ]]> */

</script>

</script>

</div>

</noscript>

AdWords Remarketing HTTP Requests Generated

http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com&data=parameter1;parameter2;parameter3

<302 redirect>

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/viewthroughconversion/1234567890/?value=0&label= d0U8CLiA0wIQ0Lfs9wM&url=http%3A//www.example.com&data=parameter1;parameter2;parameter3

Differences and Changes Between the Tags

‘data’ parameter is appended to the end of the request and carries custom parameter information

Tag Assistant Detection Logic

The new remarketing tag added a few lines of code that makes it much easier to distinguish between remarketing and conversion tracking:

ADDED var google_remarketing_only = true
ADDED 'value' parameter to <img> tag
CHANGED <img> source from googleadservices.com to doubleclick.net

Tag Assistant detection logic looks like this:

If script CONTAINS googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js AND google_remarketing_only = true, THEN label it as 'New Remarketing Tag (SmartPixel)'

If script CONTAINS googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js AND does NOT contain google_remarketing_only AND contains 'value' parameter in the <img> tag, THEN label it as 'AdWords Conversion Tracking'

If script CONTAINS googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js AND does NOT contain google_remarketing_only AND does NOT contain 'value' parameter in the <img> tag, THEN label it as 'Legacy Remarketing Tag' and recommend they upgrade with a link to the Help Center or implementation guide

If the 'value' parameter was added to the <img> tag of the AWCT script more recently, then we may need to look at old versions of the AWCT pixel to add in additional to discriminate between the multiple versions of the same pixel.