Google Ads

This document covers the steps required to send conversion data from Gamesight Marketing Analytics to Google Ads. This is a two-way data sync that pushes your conversions to Google Ads enabling automated install-based optimization, in addition to pulling cost metrics in from Google which enables ROAS reporting in Gamesight.

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Create a Dedicated Google Login for Gamesight Integration

We encourage you to create/use a separate, dedicated Google login for your company that is an administrator of the Google Ads account you want to measure/link. This will keep the integration from flowing through any employee's "personal" Google account, while also preventing any disruptions that could occur due to role/personnel changes. It also allows you to restrict the Gamesight integration directly to specific accounts that you choose.

This integration also enables all active campaigns running in the Google Ads Account that you select to sync back into Gamesight's reporting (including network reported Impressions, Clicks and Cost data).

1. Create your Google Ads Tracker

Once you are logged into Gamesight, you can click Trackers (under Acquisition) on the left-hand side of the page to access your tracker management page.

Next, simply click the "Create" button at the top of the page as shown below.

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Next, you can search for "Google Ads" and click on the Google Ads logo as shown below.

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On the next menu, click "Use Google Ads".

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Next, click "Authorize with Google Ads" and select your Google Ads account.

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You must click "Allow" on the following access prompt shown below.

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Now that you have allowed Gamesight access you can select the appropriate "Customer ID" in Gamesight on the following menu.

With your Customer ID selected, click "Next".

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Google Ads Manager Accounts

An additional input for "Managed Customers" will appear if the Customer ID you have selected is a Google Ads manager account. If you would like to setup a multi-ad account structure for reporting, you can use this field to link accounts to a single tracker.

Click on the input to see a dropdown of a Customer IDs connected to the selected manager account. Multiple can be selected, and should appear below the input once you've closed the dropdown.

If you'd like to remove a selected customer, you can delete by clicking the "x" icon, or click the input and deselect the checkbox.

Be sure to click "Save Integration Settings" after making any updates.

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Take note of the Click URL! It should appear as follows:

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Just use the Network Tracker!

Simply copy your full Click URL as shown above and use it in the Tracking Template field of your Campaigns in Google Ads. Gamesight will automatically mirror the Campaign structure that you set up in your Google Ads account. You do not need to set up the Campaign / Ad Group / Ad levels of the tracker in Gamesight.

2. Create your Conversion Tracker

After you have linked your Google Ads account, you will need to setup a Conversion Tracker in Google Ads if you do not already have one.

From your Google Ads console, click "Tools and Settings" and then click on "Conversions".

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Next, click on the blue "+ New Conversion Action" button to create a new Conversion.

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Next, select "Import".

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With "Import" selected, click Manual import using API or uploads and select Track conversions from clicks as shown below.

Now you can click "Continue" and fill out the form on the next page, followed by clicking "Create and Continue" to finish creating your Conversion Tracker.

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Now that you have your Conversion Tracker, you can select it on the Postbacks tab of your Google Ads tracker in Gamesight.

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Multiple Conversion Trackers

You can repeat the steps above in order to create individual Conversion Trackers for each Goal that you intend to set up a Postback for! Simply repeat the steps above to create additional Conversion Trackers for your postbacks.

3. Setting up Postbacks to Google Ads

Now that you have your Google Ads account linked to Gamesight and your Conversion Trackers are created, you are enabled to set up postbacks from Gamesight to Google Ads directly through your dashboard!

Please check out our Postbacks documentation for a walk-through!

Google Ads Conversions

It can take up to 4 hours for uploaded conversions to appear in your Google Ads dashboard. If after this amount of time you still aren't seeing successful conversion uploads, please contact support.

Additionally, Google Ads reports conversions by "Date of Click" by default. You can view this Google doc for an explanation of this behavior: Google Conversion Tracking

If you would like to change your reporting to view conversions "By Conversion Date", this Google doc will walk you through the process: Conversions By Time

4. Set up your Google Ads Campaign

To track your Google Ads Campaigns, you will need to setup a "Tracking Template" through the AdWords Campaign settings. We recommend following the best practice of setting up the Tracking Template at the Campaign Level.

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Click "Additional Settings" and you will find the Tracking Template under the Campaign URL options.

The Tracking Template is where you will paste your Gamesight tracking link for Google Ads as shown in the image below.

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Tracking Template vs Final URL

Please note that the Tracking Template field should include your Gamesight, network-level, Click URL for your Google Ads tracker.

The Final URL should be the landing page that you are sending users to.

We also recommend ensuring that your Final URL includes a forward slash ("/") at the end of the URL to prevent any potential issues that could impact your landing page's UTMs. Example: https://gamesight.io/

Video Ad Tracking

The same process is followed when setting up Video Ad Tracking. You will simply need to place your Gamesight tracking link into the "Tracking Template" field for your ad as shown in the image below.

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Click the test button to ensure everything is redirecting to the correct page and then save the Tracking template.

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You should be ready to run your campaign now! You can use this same tracking link for all of your Google Ads Campaigns!

Multiple Landing Pages

For Google Ads the landing page controlled directly through the "Final URL" field in the Google Ads platform. So to set up additional landing pages in Google Ads, you would simply need to update the Final URL field in your campaign configuration on Google Ads.

For example, if you wanted to set up a second campaign with a new landing page, complete the following steps:

  • Create a New Campaign
  • Set your Gamesight Tracking Link in the Tracking Template field.
  • Set the new Landing Page URL in the Final URL field

There are no required steps in your Gamesight dashboard. Google automatically replaces the "destination_url={lpurl}" portion of your Gamesight Tracking Link with the landing page that you choose in the above steps. This campaign will automatically sync and populate in your Gamesight dashboard once it is being trafficked.

Troubleshooting

In the table below, we go over some common questions surrounding Google Ads campaigns, performance, etc.

IssueResolution
Google Ads are being rejected for mismatched landing pages.This can be resolved by placing your Gamesight tracking link into the Tracking Template field. The Final URL should be the landing page where users are sent.
Campaigns report showing discrepancies in install/click volume/performanceHovering over the "Clicks" number for each Google Ads campaign will show you the number of clicks recorded by Gamesight versus the number reported by Google. The Gamesight number should be larger than Google's (Google filters traffic that we do not).
Google reporting a larger click count than GamesightMake sure that the Gamesight tracking link is placed in your ad's Tracking Template. If this is the case, it may be likely that your ad was live prior to the Gamesight link being placed in the Tracking Template and some clicks were not tracked as a result.
Gamesight Destination URL is not working for my ads in GoogleGoogle will always dictate the landing page of your ads based on the URL that you place in the Final URL field of your ad.