Understanding Enhanced Conversions in Google Ads

Google Ads is rolling out enhanced conversions. This article explains what that is and what decisions you need to make.

The executive summary is for clients who want the short and sweet version. The technical details are for the nerds out there.

Executive summary

Enhanced Conversions in Google Ads offer a solution to track user actions as third-party cookies decline and privacy measures tighten.

Enhanced conversions will allow Google to better match conversions to real users when first-party or third-party conversion tracking might break.

This likely won't have much of an impact if you're only running search or shopping campaigns because those are largely click-driven and benefit from first-party cookies, which aren't going away anytime soon.

The bulk of the impact should be that Google will be able to better track "view-through conversions," meaning conversions where someone viewed an ad, didn't click it, but later converted on the site.

This is valuable data if you can segment it from click-through conversions and know whether Google is optimizing for view-throughs vs. click-throughs.

Enhanced conversions require sending hashed PII (personally-identifiable information) to Google servers. "Hashed" means it's supposed to be secure, and should comply with tightening privacy regulations, but if you're in an industry or market with stricter privacy requirements, this may be a consideration.

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Benefits of enhanced conversions:

• Allows Google to attribute more conversions to clicks or impressions in Google Ads. This can allow for better algorithmic targeting by the bidding system.
• May allow for better view-through conversion tracking and better optimization of multi-channel purchase behavior.

Drawbacks of enhanced conversions:

• Enhanced conversions may have limited benefit in tracking click-through conversions and so likely won't have much impact for users running search & shopping only (no display or video). Much of the benefit may come in allowing more view-through tracking and better optimization of multi-channel purchase behavior.
• Enhanced conversions require sending PII (personally-identifiable information) from forms to Google servers. This PII is hashed and supposed to comply with privacy laws, but that doesn't necessarily mean Google can't unhash it indirectly. This may be a consideration for users in industries or operating in markets with stricter data privacy regulations.
• Enhanced conversions will likely have a minimal impact on advertisers running search ads only or advertisers who only care about click-through conversions.
• Setup may be non-trivial

Technical explanation

First we need to understand 1st and 3rd party cookies...

Cookies Overview

Cookies are bits of text stored that form key-value pairs, stored in a user's browser by websites. For example:

document.cookie = "first_name=Billy Bob; expires=Thu, 18 Dec 2028 12:00:00 UTC";

This JavaScript snippet sets a cookie named "first_name" (the key) with a value of "Billy Bob" (the value) that expires on the specified date and time.

First-Party Cookies

First-party cookies are only accessible by the site that set them. For example, a cookie set by "uforocks.com" can't be accessed by "google.com."

Third-Party Cookies

Third-party cookies can be accessed by other sites. Adding SameSite=none; Secure allows cookies to be shared across domains, enabling broader tracking. For example:

document.cookie = "first_name=Billy Bob; SameSite=none; Secure; expires=Thu, 18 Dec 2028 12:00:00 UTC";

Conversion Tracking with Cookies

First-Party Cookies:

When a user clicks a Google ad, a unique click ID (GCLID) is appended to the URL. The tracking code on the website captures this ID and stores it in a first-party cookie. If the user converts before the cookie expires or is deleted, this information can be sent back to Google as a conversion.

Third-Party Cookies:

If a YouTube visitor sees an ad but does not click, a third-party cookie tracks that the user viewed the ad so that if they later visit the site through another channel and convert, they can be tracked. However, as third-party cookies are being phased out, this method is losing effectiveness.

How Enhanced Conversions Work

Enhanced conversions primarily help overcome the limitations posed by third-party cookie restrictions. The tracking script collects identifying information (like emails) from users who convert. This hashed data is sent to Google, which matches it against its user database. If a match is found, Google attributes the conversion to any ads viewed or clicked by the user.

This should allow Google to report on more view-through conversions and possibly help the algorithm optimize multi-step purchase behavior.

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