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 more information on the various conversion action types and their requirements, see the Create conversion actions guide.

Set up your website to track conversions

If you're starting your offline conversion import integration, the first step is to follow the steps in the Configure the Google tag for enhanced conversions for leads guide to configure your website to track enhanced conversions for leads. You can also use Google Tag Manager to configure your website by following the steps in the Configure Google Tag Manager for enhanced conversions for leads guide.

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());
    }
  }
}
      

C#

public void Run(GoogleAdsClient client, long customerId)
{
    // Get the ConversionActionService.
    ConversionActionServiceClient conversionActionService =
        client.GetService(Services.V19.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;
    }
}
      

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
        );
    }
}
      

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}".'
    )
      

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
      

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::V19::Resources::ConversionAction->new({
      name                          => $conversion_action_name,
      category                      => DEFAULT,
      type                          => WEBPAGE,
      status                        => ENABLED,
      viewThroughLookbackWindowDays => 15,
      valueSettings                 =>
        Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V19::Resources::ValueSettings->new({
          defaultValue          => 23.41,
          alwaysUseDefaultValue => "true"
        })});

  # Create a conversion action operation.
  my $conversion_action_operation =
    Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V19::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;
}
      

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.

Starting in v19.1, you can use the Google Ads API to opt into cross-conversion tracking when creating client accounts.

When creating a new Customer, set the conversion_tracking_setting.google_ads_conversion_customer to the resource name of the manager account that should manage conversion actions on behalf of the client account. This manager account must also be the account that issues the create request for the new client account.

To opt into cross-conversion tracking for existing client accounts, you will need to use the Google Ads UI following these instructions.

Create conversion actions

To measure conversions, set up a ConversionAction for the type of conversion action you want to track. For example, an online purchase and a phone call require different conversion actions.

The best way to set up new conversion actions in the API is to use the Add Conversion Action code example below. The sample handles all the background authentication tasks for you, and walks you through creating a ConversionAction.

Most conversion actions also require additional steps on your part to track them. For example, to track conversions on your website, you must add a code snippet called a tag to the conversion page on your website. For detailed requirements of other conversion action types, see our Help Center article.

Code example

The following code example walks you through the process of creating a new conversion action. Specifically, it creates a conversion action with the type set to UPLOAD_CLICKS. This is the same Google Ads UI flow as creating a new conversion action using Import > Manual import using API or uploads > Track conversions from clicks. It also sets the category to DEFAULT.

The following default settings apply:

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());
    }
  }
}
      

C#

public void Run(GoogleAdsClient client, long customerId)
{
    // Get the ConversionActionService.
    ConversionActionServiceClient conversionActionService =
        client.GetService(Services.V19.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;
    }
}
      

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
        );
    }
}
      

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}".'
    )
      

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
      

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::V19::Resources::ConversionAction->new({
      name                          => $conversion_action_name,
      category                      => DEFAULT,
      type                          => WEBPAGE,
      status                        => ENABLED,
      viewThroughLookbackWindowDays => 15,
      valueSettings                 =>
        Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V19::Resources::ValueSettings->new({
          defaultValue          => 23.41,
          alwaysUseDefaultValue => "true"
        })});

  # Create a conversion action operation.
  my $conversion_action_operation =
    Google::Ads::GoogleAds::V19::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;
}
      

This example can also be found in the Remarketing folder of your client library and in the code examples collection: Add Conversion Action code example.

Validations

Google Ads and the Google Ads API support a wide variety of conversion actions, so some validation rules vary based on the type of action.

By far the most common error when creating a conversion action is DUPLICATE_NAME. Make sure you are using a unique name for each conversion action.

Here are some tips on setting the ConversionAction fields:

All enum fields
Attempting to set any enum field to UNKNOWN results in a RequestError.INVALID_ENUM_VALUE error.
app_id
The app_id attribute is immutable and can only be set when creating a new app conversion.
attribution_model_settings
Setting this to a deprecated option results in a CANNOT_SET_RULE_BASED_ATTRIBUTION_MODELS error. Google Ads only supports GOOGLE_ADS_LAST_CLICK and GOOGLE_SEARCH_ATTRIBUTION_DATA_DRIVEN.
click_through_lookback_window_days

Setting this attribute to a value outside of the allowed range results in a RangeError.TOO_LOW or RangeError.TOO_HIGH error.

This attribute must be in the range [1,60] for an AD_CALL or WEBSITE_CALL conversion action. For most other conversion actions, the allowed range is [1,30].

include_in_conversions_metric

Setting this value in a create or update operation fails with a FieldError.IMMUTABLE_FIELD error. Instead, set primary_for_goal as described in the Conversion goals guide.

phone_call_duration_seconds

Attempting to set this attribute on a conversion action that isn't for calls results in a FieldError.VALUE_MUST_BE_UNSET error.

type

The type attribute is immutable and can only be set when creating a new conversion.

Updating a conversion action with type equal to UNKNOWN results in a MutateError.MUTATE_NOT_ALLOWED error.

value_settings

The value_settings for a WEBSITE_CALL or AD_CALL conversion action must have always_use_default_value set to true. Specifying a value of false when creating or updating this value results in an INVALID_VALUE error.

view_through_lookback_window_days

Setting this attribute to a value outside of the allowed range results in a RangeError.TOO_LOW or RangeError.TOO_HIGH error. For most conversion actions, the allowed range is [1,30].

This attribute cannot be set on AD_CALL or WEBSITE_CALL conversion actions. Specifying a value results in a VALUE_MUST_BE_UNSET error.