Improving Google Ads algorithms with GA4 conversions

An important element often overlooked in multichannel marketing is linking Google Ads and Google Analytics 4 using GA4 conversions. The conversions set up within Google Analytics 4 can be used by the Google Ads algorithm. The Google Ads algorithm uses this information to learn more about your target audience and which visitors are more or less likely to make a purchase. When the Google Ads algorithm can work more effectively, your campaigns will perform better, you will more quickly identify which search terms lead to conversions, and which campaigns are best to pause, your budget will be spent more wisely, and your Google Ads campaigns will yield a higher return.

GA4 conversions

Google Analytics 4 conversions, also known as GA4 goals, are the events that function as endpoints of the customer journey on your site. This could be, for example, a completed contact form, a purchase, or a scheduled appointment. In Google Analytics 4, you set these events as conversions so that GA4 reports and GA4 explorations can be tailored to them. In your GA4 account, go via Manage to Data visualisation to then click through to Conversions. Here you can see which events have already been set up as conversions.

Would you like to set another event as a conversion, or set up a completely new conversion? Then go to ‘Events’ under ‘Data display’ in your GA4 administration. In the last column, you can change an event into a conversion by marking it as a conversion.

If the desired conversion isn't listed yet, you'll need to create a new event. You can do this in Google Tag Manager by creating a new tag in your web container with a GA4 event as the tag configuration. In the tag configuration, you'll enter your GA4 measurement ID and give the event the desired name. Then, you'll set up the trigger so that this tag fires on the desired site interaction.

When you've created a new event for GA4, the event must first be sent to GA4 once from Google Tag Manager. So, perform the site interaction on your site that you've set the trigger for. Once you can see the event in the GA4 event overview, you can mark that new event as a conversion.

GA4 conversions linked to Google Ads

To link your conversions from Google Analytics 4 to Google Ads, you first need to link your Google Ads account to Google Analytics. You do this in your Google Ads account via Linked Accounts in your settings. Under your linked accounts and products, look for Google Analytics (GA4) and Firebase, then click on ‘Manage and link’. In the status column, the status may say “Not linked”, in which case follow the instructions within Google Ads to link the two platforms.

Your Google Ads account is now linked to your GA4 account and conversions can be linked. To link your conversions, go to ‘Goals’ in your Google Ads account and then to ‘Overview’ under ‘Conversions’. Then click on ‘New conversion action’ and then on ‘Import’.

In the import options, choose ‘Google Analytics 4 properties’ and then select ‘Web’. When you continue, select the name of the conversion you have set up in Google Analytics and import it to Google Ads. Please note! It can take several hours before your GA4 conversions are visible in Google Ads.

Making GA4 goals more accurate

When linking your GA4 conversions to Google Ads, the Google Ads algorithm has more data to work with, which will benefit your campaigns. However, you are dependent on the data coming into GA4. In this current era where browsers, platforms, and operating systems increasingly safeguard user privacy, where the European Union is introducing stricter guidelines and regulations regarding GDPR, and where visitors using ad blockers can often no longer be tracked via third-party scripts, it is therefore of enormous importance to have accurate measurements within GA4. To improve your data within Google Analytics (and thus also your Google Ads), it is necessary to Server-Side Tagging om een tracking setup in te stellen. De conversies en gebeurtenissen die je via je third-party tracking setup mist (vaak ligt dat tussen de 30%en 60% ) kunnen wel gemeten worden dankzij server-side tagging. Naast dat het aantal gebeurtenissen en conversies beter gemeten worden, kan je met behulp van een uitstekende DataLayer ook userinfo en productinfo verzamelen en doorgeven aan Google Analytics en Google Ads. Daarmee zal het algoritme van Google Ads nog beter kunnen functioneren. ‍

AdPage Google Ads Conversion Tag

Building on our server-side tagging solution, we at AdPage are also developing our own server tag for Google Ads conversions. We noticed that the standard Google Ads conversion tags in the server container were not functioning optimally because view-throughs were not being counted. Below you can see our initial test results. The “Purchase (server-side clicks)” conversion action registers 16% more conversions than the primary conversion action set up on the website. That looks very promising, at any rate.