Getting started

You must enable conversion tracking in your Google Ads conversion account in order to record conversions. This guide provides details on how to confirm whether conversion tracking is enabled, enable it if it isn't enabled already, and retrieve information about existing conversion actions.

Most conversion actions also require additional steps on your part to track them. For a complete list of requirements, check our help center article and the respective conversion action help center article.

Enable conversion tracking in your Google Ads conversion account

Retrieve information about your conversion tracking setup

You can check your account's conversion tracking setup and confirm conversion tracking is enabled by querying the Customer resource for the ConversionTrackingSetting. Issue the following query with GoogleAdsService.SearchStream:

SELECT
  customer.conversion_tracking_setting.google_ads_conversion_customer,
  customer.conversion_tracking_setting.conversion_tracking_status,
  customer.conversion_tracking_setting.conversion_tracking_id,
  customer.conversion_tracking_setting.cross_account_conversion_tracking_id
FROM customer

The google_ads_conversion_customer field indicates the Google Ads account that creates and manages conversions for this customer. For customers using cross-account conversion tracking, this is the ID of a manager account. The Google Ads conversion customer ID should be given as the customer_id in Google Ads API requests to create and manage conversions. Note that this field is populated even if conversion tracking is not enabled.

The conversion_tracking_status field indicates whether conversion tracking is enabled and whether the account is using cross-account conversion tracking.

Create a conversion action under the Google Ads conversion customer

If the conversion_tracking_status value is NOT_CONVERSION_TRACKED, conversion tracking is not enabled for the account. Enable conversion tracking by creating at least one ConversionAction in the Google Ads conversion account, like in the following example. Alternatively, you can create a conversion action in the UI by following the instructions in the Help Center for the conversion type you want to enable.

Note that enhanced conversions are enabled automatically when sent through the Google Ads API, but they can be disabled through the Google Ads UI.

Code example

Java

private void runExample(GoogleAdsClient googleAdsClient, long customerId) {

  // Creates a ConversionAction.
  ConversionAction conversionAction =
      ConversionAction.newBuilder()
          // Note that conversion action names must be unique. If a conversion action already
          // exists with the specified conversion_action_name the create operation will fail with
          // a ConversionActionError.DUPLICATE_NAME error.
          .setName("Earth to Mars Cruises Conversion #" + getPrintableDateTime())
          .setCategory(ConversionActionCategory.DEFAULT)
          .setType(ConversionActionType.WEBPAGE)
          .setStatus(ConversionActionStatus.ENABLED)
          .setViewThroughLookbackWindowDays(15L)
          .setValueSettings(
              ValueSettings.newBuilder()
                  .setDefaultValue(23.41)
                  .setAlwaysUseDefaultValue(true)
                  .build())
          .build();

  // Creates the operation.
  ConversionActionOperation operation =
      ConversionActionOperation.newBuilder().setCreate(conversionAction).build();

  try (ConversionActionServiceClient conversionActionServiceClient =
      googleAdsClient.getLatestVersion().createConversionActionServiceClient()) {
    MutateConversionActionsResponse response =
        conversionActionServiceClient.mutateConversionActions(
            Long.toString(customerId), Collections.singletonList(operation));
    System.out.printf("Added %d conversion actions:%n", response.getResultsCount());
    for (MutateConversionActionResult result : response.getResultsList()) {
      System.out.printf(
          "New conversion action added with resource name: '%s'%n", result.getResourceName());
    }
  }
}
AddConversionAction.java

C#

public void Run(GoogleAdsClient client, long customerId)
{
    // Get the ConversionActionService.
    ConversionActionServiceClient conversionActionService =
        client.GetService(Services.V16.ConversionActionService);

    // Note that conversion action names must be unique.
    // If a conversion action already exists with the specified name the create operation
    // will fail with a ConversionAction.DUPLICATE_NAME error.
    string ConversionActionName = "Earth to Mars Cruises Conversion #"
        + ExampleUtilities.GetRandomString();

    // Add a conversion action.
    ConversionAction conversionAction = new ConversionAction()
    {
        Name = ConversionActionName,
        Category = ConversionActionCategory.Default,
        Type = ConversionActionType.Webpage,
        Status = ConversionActionStatus.Enabled,
        ViewThroughLookbackWindowDays = 15,
        ValueSettings = new ConversionAction.Types.ValueSettings()
        {
            DefaultValue = 23.41,
            AlwaysUseDefaultValue = true
        }
    };

    // Create the operation.
    ConversionActionOperation operation = new ConversionActionOperation()
    {
        Create = conversionAction
    };

    try
    {
        // Create the conversion action.
        MutateConversionActionsResponse response =
            conversionActionService.MutateConversionActions(customerId.ToString(),
                    new ConversionActionOperation[] { operation });

        // Display the results.
        foreach (MutateConversionActionResult newConversionAction in response.Results)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"New conversion action with resource name = " +
                $"'{newConversionAction.ResourceName}' was added.");
        }
    }
    catch (GoogleAdsException e)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Failure:");
        Console.WriteLine($"Message: {e.Message}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Failure: {e.Failure}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Request ID: {e.RequestId}");
        throw;
    }
}
AddConversionAction.cs

PHP

public static function runExample(GoogleAdsClient $googleAdsClient, int $customerId)
{
    // Creates a conversion action.
    $conversionAction = new ConversionAction([
        // Note that conversion action names must be unique.
        // If a conversion action already exists with the specified conversion_action_name
        // the create operation will fail with a ConversionActionError.DUPLICATE_NAME error.
        'name' => 'Earth to Mars Cruises Conversion #' . Helper::getPrintableDatetime(),
        'category' => ConversionActionCategory::PBDEFAULT,
        'type' => ConversionActionType::WEBPAGE,
        'status' => ConversionActionStatus::ENABLED,
        'view_through_lookback_window_days' => 15,
        'value_settings' => new ValueSettings([
            'default_value' => 23.41,
            'always_use_default_value' => true
        ])
    ]);

    // Creates a conversion action operation.
    $conversionActionOperation = new ConversionActionOperation();
    $conversionActionOperation->setCreate($conversionAction);

    // Issues a mutate request to add the conversion action.
    $conversionActionServiceClient = $googleAdsClient->getConversionActionServiceClient();
    $response = $conversionActionServiceClient->mutateConversionActions(
        MutateConversionActionsRequest::build($customerId, [$conversionActionOperation])
    );

    printf("Added %d conversion actions:%s", $response->getResults()->count(), PHP_EOL);

    foreach ($response->getResults() as $addedConversionAction) {
        /** @var ConversionAction $addedConversionAction */
        printf(
            "New conversion action added with resource name: '%s'%s",
            $addedConversionAction->getResourceName(),
            PHP_EOL
        );
    }
}
AddConversionAction.php

Python

def main(client, customer_id):
    conversion_action_service = client.get_service("ConversionActionService")

    # Create the operation.
    conversion_action_operation = client.get_type("ConversionActionOperation")

    # Create conversion action.
    conversion_action = conversion_action_operation.create

    # Note that conversion action names must be unique. If a conversion action
    # already exists with the specified conversion_action_name, the create
    # operation will fail with a ConversionActionError.DUPLICATE_NAME error.
    conversion_action.name = f"Earth to Mars Cruises Conversion {uuid.uuid4()}"
    conversion_action.type_ = (
        client.enums.ConversionActionTypeEnum.UPLOAD_CLICKS
    )
    conversion_action.category = (
        client.enums.ConversionActionCategoryEnum.DEFAULT
    )
    conversion_action.status = client.enums.ConversionActionStatusEnum.ENABLED
    conversion_action.view_through_lookback_window_days = 15

    # Create a value settings object.
    value_settings = conversion_action.value_settings
    value_settings.default_value = 15.0
    value_settings.always_use_default_value = True

    # Add the conversion action.
    conversion_action_response = (
        conversion_action_service.mutate_conversion_actions(
            customer_id=customer_id,
            operations=[conversion_action_operation],
        )
    )

    print(
        "Created conversion action "
        f'"{conversion_action_response.results[0].resource_name}".'
    )
add_conversion_action.py

Ruby

def add_conversion_action(customer_id)
  # GoogleAdsClient will read a config file from
  # ENV['HOME']/google_ads_config.rb when called without parameters
  client = Google::Ads::GoogleAds::GoogleAdsClient.new


  # Add a conversion action.
  conversion_action = client.resource.conversion_action do |ca|
    ca.name = "Earth to Mars Cruises Conversion #{(Time.new.to_f * 100).to_i}"
    ca.type = :UPLOAD_CLICKS
    ca.category = :DEFAULT
    ca.status = :ENABLED
    ca.view_through_lookback_window_days = 15

    # Create a value settings object.
    ca.value_settings = client.resource.value_settings do |vs|
      vs.default_value = 15
      vs.always_use_default_value = true
    end
  end

  # Create the operation.
  conversion_action_operation = client.operation.create_resource.conversion_action(conversion_action)

  # Add the ad group ad.
  response = client.service.conversion_action.mutate_conversion_actions(
    customer_id: customer_id,
    operations: [conversion_action_operation],
  )

  puts "New conversion action with resource name = #{response.results.first.resource_name}."
end
add_conversion_action.rb

Perl

sub add_conversion_action {
  my ($api_client, $customer_id) = @_;

  # Note that conversion action names must be unique.
  # If a conversion action already exists with the specified conversion_action_name,
  # the create operation fails with error ConversionActionError.DUPLICATE_NAME.
  my $conversion_action_name = "Earth to Mars Cruises Conversion #" . uniqid();

  # Create a conversion action.
  my $conversion_action =
    Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Resources::ConversionAction->new({
      name                          => $conversion_action_name,
      category                      => DEFAULT,
      type                          => WEBPAGE,
      status                        => ENABLED,
      viewThroughLookbackWindowDays => 15,
      valueSettings                 =>
        Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Resources::ValueSettings->new({
          defaultValue          => 23.41,
          alwaysUseDefaultValue => "true"
        })});

  # Create a conversion action operation.
  my $conversion_action_operation =
    Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V16::Services::ConversionActionService::ConversionActionOperation
    ->new({create => $conversion_action});

  # Add the conversion action.
  my $conversion_actions_response =
    $api_client->ConversionActionService()->mutate({
      customerId => $customer_id,
      operations => [$conversion_action_operation]});

  printf "New conversion action added with resource name: '%s'.\n",
    $conversion_actions_response->{results}[0]{resourceName};

  return 1;
}
add_conversion_action.pl

Make sure the conversion_action_type is set to the correct ConversionActionType value. For more guidance on creating conversion actions in the Google Ads API, see Create Conversion Actions.

Retrieve an existing conversion action

You can retrieve details for an existing conversion action by issuing the following query. Make sure the customer ID in the request is set to the Google Ads conversion customer you identified above, and the conversion action type is set to the correct ConversionActionType value.

SELECT
  conversion_action.resource_name,
  conversion_action.name,
  conversion_action.status
FROM conversion_action
WHERE conversion_action.type = 'INSERT_CONVERSION_ACTION_TYPE'

Cross-account conversion tracking

If you're using cross-account conversion tracking, the ConversionActionService returns the following conversion actions:

  • All conversion actions defined by the manager account used by the account for cross-account conversion tracking
  • All conversion actions on which the customer has accrued stats, including system-defined actions, and actions owned by the manager even if that manager unlinks subsequently
  • All actions the customer has defined in their own account
  • Analytics conversions created in linked Google Analytics properties. This includes actions for Analytics conversions not imported into Google Ads, which have a status of HIDDEN.

You can set up and query cross-account conversion actions using the API, but you must opt in your accounts to cross-account conversion tracking from the manager account.

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Overview
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Create conversion actions