Understanding Conversion Tracking
Conversion Tracking is a free tool that shows you what happens after a customer clicks on your ads — whether they purchased your product, signed up for your newsletter, or filled out a form to receive more information.
Example
You have a website for your clothing store, and when customers submit their orders online, they see a “Thank you for your purchase!” page.
You want to see which of your keywords — “blue jeans” or “buy designer jeans”– leads to more purchases, so you set up Conversion Tracking. First, you get a single snippet of code from AdWords that contains HTML and JavaScript. Then, you paste that code snippet in the HTML for the “Thank you for your purchase!” page.
Soon, you start to see that customers who click on your ad with “buy designer jeans” as a keyword buy a lot of jeans. Meanwhile, you see that a few people click on the ad with “blue jeans” as a keyword, but none of them make a purchase. So, you decide to stop investing in the “blue jeans” keyword and put more money toward the “buy designer jeans” keyword, resulting in more purchases and a better return on your investment.
Read on to learn more about conversions, why you’d want to use conversion tracking, how it works, and how to protect your customers’ privacy and security .
Conversion
A conversion is an action that a customer takes on your website that has value to your business, such as a purchase, a sign-up, or a view of a key page. These actions are called conversions because a customer’s click translated — or converted — to business. Think of it as the cha-ching! from your cash register.
Why track conversions
Tracking conversions is helpful for your business if you’re trying to do the following:
Connect your ads and keywords to your business goals: Maybe you want people to view a particular page more, or you’d like more purchases (who wouldn’t?). Conversion Tracking can show you which keywords are helping you meet those specific goals by connecting them to actions.
Boost your ROI: Not all keywords are equal. But if you know which keywords bring you the most business and which ones don’t, you can make smarter investments in those keywords and avoid the unhelpful ones altogether.
Types of conversions
There are two ways to count conversions with Conversion Tracking: 1-per-click and many-perclick. You can select the metric that’s most useful for you when you set up Conversion Tracking.
Conversions (1-per-click): Conversions (1-per-click) count a conversion for every AdWords ad click resulting in a conversion within 30 days. This means if more than one conversion happens following a single ad click, conversions after the first will not count. This metric is useful for measuring conversions approximating unique customer acquisitions such as leads and sign-ups.
Conversions (many-per-click): Conversions (many-per-click) count a conversion every time a conversion is made within 30 days following an AdWords ad click. Conversions (many-per-click) will count multiple conversions per click. This metric is useful for measuring conversions that are valuable every time they happen such as purchases.
How it works and setup
Conversion Tracking works by adding a single snippet of HTML and JavaScript code to your webpage (without slowing it down, of course). Specifically, this snippet is placed on the page your customers see after they complete a conversion — the “Thank you” page they see after a purchase, for example.
Every time a customer clicks your ad on Google.com or selected Google Network sites, a temporary cookie is placed on the customer’s computer so a conversion can be recorded when the customer reaches the conversion page.
To set up conversion tracking, you’ll generate the snippet of HTML and JavaScript code in AdWords. Then, you’ll place the code on your website. See the setup guide below for step-by-step directions.
Security and privacy
Google’s security standards are strict. Only pages containing the Google conversion code are tracked through this program – they use data encryption and secure servers.
Privacy is also very important to Google. That’s why they do the following to protect your customers’ privacy:
- Servers for conversion tracking and search results are separated.
- Conversion Tracking cookies persist for a limited time only.
- Conversions aren’t isolated: This means that you can’t match conversion data to specific customers, just see overall data for ads and keywords.
- Conversion Tracking includes option to notify customers about cookies: During the setup process, we’ll help you create a notification box for your website that lets your customers know they’re being tracked. This is known as the Google Site Stats box, which appears on your conversion page — the page customers see after they complete a conversion. This notification appears only for customers who’ve been referred by Google to your site. When customers click on it, Google tells them that they don’t have to accept the conversion cookie if they don’t want to, and reminds them that none of their personal information is being recorded or used in any way. Customers will also have an opportunity to provide feedback about your website.
Promote a clear privacy policy: If you don’t use the Google Sites Stats box, they ask that you review your website’s privacy policy to make sure it discloses your use of tracking technology.
Tip
Google recommends placing the Google Site Stats notification image in the lower-right hand corner of the conversion page, no further than a quarter of the screen away from the last line of content.
Learn more about Google’s privacy policy.
Setting Up Conversion Tracking
If you’d like to know which of your keywords best leads to clicks and conversions, such as sales, AdWords Conversion Tracking can help you.
This free tool in AdWords can show you what happens after customers click on your ad (for example, whether they purchased your product, called from a mobile phone, or downloaded your app).
By knowing this, you’ll also know which keywords are good for your business, allowing you to invest more wisely and boost your return on investment (ROI). And there’s no limit to the number of conversions you can track.
Track conversions on a website
To use Conversion Tracking, you’ll need to put a small snippet of HTML code on the page that customers see after they’ve completed a valuable action on your site. For example, you could add the code to your purchase confirmation page, which is the page people see after they’ve made a purchase. Before you can set this up, you’ll need:
- An AdWords account: Don’t have one yet? Sign up at http://adwords.google.com.
- A website: This is where you’ll put the snippet of code.
- Ability to edit website: You don’t have to be a master of HTML, just know enough to paste the code snippet into your website. But if you don’t know any HTML, don’t worry — you can still generate the code snippet in AdWords and send it to the person who makes changes to your website.
If you’ve got these three things, you’re ready to set up Conversion Tracking. Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Get the code snippet (adding a dynamic value)
You can dynamically track each sale value. A good example of where this is useful is a shopping cart total, where each sale value has a different conversion value depending on the product or products your customer buys.
Just insert your sale value into the conversion tracking code in three places (they’re highlighted in the example below).
Inserting a dynamic value is often done by using a server side variable. Your webmaster will know what the variable name is for your particular shopping cart’s system.
For example, let’s say your variable name was “total_cost” and the sale amount was 10.0. When the final thank you page is generated for the customer who just completed the transaction, the conversion tracking code would look like the example below.
Example
<html>
<body>
<!– Google Code for Purchase Conversion Page →
<script type=”text/javascript”>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;
var google_conversion_language = “en_US”;
var google_conversion_format = “1”;
var google_conversion_color = “666666”;
if (10.0) {
var google_conversion_value = 10.0;
}
var google_conversion_label = “Purchase”;
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead
/conversion.js”>
</script>
<noscript>
<img height=1 width=1 border=0
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead
/conversion/1234567890/
?value=10.0&label=Purchase&script=0″>
</noscript>
</body>
</html>
If you customize it this way, the Value column in your Conversion Tracking page will show the total among of your shopping cart across all your conversions.
Steps for Advanced options section
A View-through Conversion happens when a customer views (but doesn’t click) an image or rich media ad, then later completes a conversion on your site. This is different from a Click-through Conversion, which happens when a customer had previously clicked on an ad (such as on the Google Search or the Google Display Network) and then completed a conversion on your site.
If you’d like to track View-through conversions, too, just pick a time frame in the View-through conversion window field. If, for example, you pick a window of three days, your conversion count might include customers who see your rich media ad on Monday and complete a conversion on Wednesday. But it won’t include customers who see your ad on Monday and complete a conversion on Friday.
Next, the View-through conversion de-duplication field. Here, decide how you’d like to track customers who might have clicked on a rich media ad and a text ad before they completed a conversion on your website.
- Disabled: If a customer views your display ad, doesn’t click it, and then later clicks on a search campaign ad, we’ll count one View-through conversion and one click conversion.
- Enable: If a customer views your display ad, doesn’t click it, and then later clicks on a search ad, we’ll count only the last conversion type (the click conversion, for example).
- Sign in to your AdWords account.
- Click the Tools and Analysis tab, and select Conversions from the drop-down menu.
- Under the Conversions tab, click the + Conversion button.
- In the “Conversion name” field, enter the name of the conversion you’d like to track on your website. This will help you recognize this action later when it shows up in conversion reports. An example might be “newsletter sign-up” or “wedding bouquet purchase.”
- In the “Source” field, select where your customers will complete the conversion. For example, if customers will order your cupcakes on your website, you’ll select “Webpage.”
- Click the Save and continue button.
- On the next page, in the “Conversion category” field, select the category that best applies to your conversion. If you’re tracking newsletter sign ups, you’ll pick “Sign up.” For purchases, you’ll pick “Purchase/Sale.” If your conversion doesn’t fall into a listed category, select “Other.” Your choice here won’t impact the way your conversions are recorded.
- If you’d like to, in the “Conversion value” field, assign a value to the conversion you’re tracking.
- In the “Tracking indicator” field, choose whether you want to let your customers know that you’re using conversion tracking by putting a Google Sites Stats notification on your page.
- If you’d like to add a notification, select “Add a ‘Google Site Stats’ notification to the code generated for my page.” Then select whether you’d like your Google Site Stats to be one or two lines, the language of the notification, and the background color of the webpage it’ll be displayed on.
- If you prefer not to use a notification, select “Don’t add a notification to the code generated for my page.” But Google requires that you inform your customers that you’re using AdWords’ free conversion tracking feature (such as through your privacy policy). This creates trust and protects their privacy.
- If you’re not running a Display Network campaign, skip to the next step. If you are running one, you can click the +Advanced options link to set up View-through Conversion tracking.
- Click Save and continue.
- Select “Someone else makes changes to the code” or “I make changes to the code,” depending on which applies to you.
- If you chose “Someone else makes changes to the code,” just fill out the email form that pops up and click Send email. The code snippet will be sent you the person who edits HTML for your website!
- If you chose “I make changes to the code,” a window will open up below with your code snippet. Congrats! You’ve generated the code. Copy it, and you’ll be ready for the next step.
Step 2: Paste the code in your website’s HTML
Now that you or the person in charge of your website has the snippet of code, you’re ready to paste. Here’s some sample code close up:
Simple HTML before conversion tracking code (sample only — don’t use in your website’s code).
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample HTML File</title>
</head>
<body>
This is the body of your web page.
</body>
</html>
Simple HTML after conversion tracking code (sample only — don’t use in your website’s code).
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample HTML File</title>
</head>
<body> This is the body of your web page.
<!– Google Code for Purchase Conversion Page –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;
var google_conversion_language = “en_US”;
var google_conversion_format = “1”;
var google_conversion_color = “666666”;
var google_conversion_label = “Purchase”;
if (10.0) {
var google_conversion_value = 10.0
}
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/
conversion.js”>
</script>
<noscript>
<img height=1 width=1 border=0
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/
conversion/1234567890/
?value=10.0&label=Purchase&script=0″>
</noscript>
</body>
</html>
- Open up the HTML for the page your customers reach on your website after they’ve completed a conversion — the “thank you for your order!” page, for example. This is called the conversion page.
- Between the body tags (<body></body>) of the page, paste the code snippet you generated in AdWords.
- Save the changes to your webpage. And that’s it!
Track conversions on a dynamically-generated website
You might be using more than one technology to create and manage your webpages. Conversion Tracking works just as well on these kinds of pages, known as dynamically-generated pages. Just make sure the page you put the code snippet on is the one your customer sees after a conversion.
When inserting the code snippet, you’ll place it on the static portion of the page, found within the <body> section. Click the sections below for detailed instructions on specific page types:
Active Server Pages (ASP)
If you’d like to add conversion tracking code to ASP pages using your ASP editor, follow these step:
<body>
…
<!– Google Code for Purchase Conversion Page –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;
var google_conversion_language = “en_US”;
var google_conversion_format = “1”;
var google_conversion_color = “666666”;
var google_conversion_label = “Purchase”;
if (<%= totalValue %>) {
var google_conversion_value = <%= totalValue %>;
}
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/
conversion.js”>
</script>
<noscript>
<img height=1 width=1 border=0
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/
conversion/1234567890/
?value=<%=totalValue %>&label=Purchase&script=0″>
</noscript>
</body>
If your web server supports Server Side Includes (SSI) you can use an #include statement to insert the conversion tracking code onto your site. After you generate your conversion code snippet, save it to a file on your webserver — AdWords recommends using the filename googleconversion.html.
Search for the </body> tag and place the #include statement with the location of the file directly above it. If the </body> tag is not located within the static portion of the HTML page, add the code snippet so it appears within the body section of the page.
<head>
<title>Thank You for Shopping</title>
</head>
<body>
…
<!– #include file=”…/googleconversion.html” –>
</body>
Keep in mind
Be sure that you do not place the #include statement in the footer or header of the file. This will cause Google to record a conversion every time a customer visits any page on your site.
The #include statement will be evaluated before the rest of the of the ASP pages so you’re able to use an ASP expression as the dynamic value of the conversion.
- Open your conversion confirmation page ASP file. If multiple pages are generated from the same file, find the section in the ASP file that generates your conversion page.
- If your site has a variable conversion value, determine the ASP expression which calculates that value. For example: <%= totalValue %>.
- Choose the Purchase/Sale conversion type while going through the conversion tracking setup. Insert the full string (<%= totalValue %>) into the “Revenue for your action” field and click OK when you see a prompt about using an unrecognized value. Copy and save the resulting code snippet.
- Insert the conversion tracking code onto the conversion confirmation page. Make sure that the code appears within a static HTML section, not contained within an ASP code section (delineated by <%= and %> markers).
- Insert the conversion tracking code directly into the body of the conversion confirmation page. Search for the </body> tag and place the code immediately above it. If the </body> tag is not located within the static portion of the HTML page, make sure the code snippet is added so it appears within the body section of the page.
- Save your conversion confirmation file and upload it to your webserver, if necessary. If you’d like to test the placement of your conversion tracking code, visit your conversion page by completing a conversion on your site.
- View the source of the page (in Internet Explorer choose View > View Source). You should see the conversion tracking code between the <body> and </body> tags on your page. The ASP expression will be replaced by the actual conversion value when you view the source.
Sun® Java Server Pages (JSP)
To add conversion tracking code to JSP pages using your JSP editor, follow these steps:
<!– Google Code for Purchase Conversion Page –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;
var google_conversion_language = “en_US”;
var google_conversion_format = “1”;
var google_conversion_color = “666666”;
var google_conversion_label = “Purchase”;
if (<%= totalValue %>) {
var google_conversion_value = <%= totalValue %>;
}
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js”>
</script>
<noscript>
<img height=1 width=1 border=0
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/
conversion/1234567890/?value=<%=totalValue %>&label=
Purchase&script=0″>
</noscript>
</body>
You can also insert the conversion tracking code onto your site using a server-side jsp:include statement. After you generate your conversion code snippet, save it to a file on your webserver – AdWords recommends using the filename googleconversion.html. Search for the </body> tag and place the jsp:include statement with the location of the file directly above it. If the </body> tag is not located within the static portion of the HTML page, make sure that you add the code snippet so that it appears within the <body> section of the page.
<html>
<head>
<title>Thank You for Shopping</title>
</head>
<body>
…
<jsp:include src=”…/googleconversion.html”/>
</body>
</html>
Keep in mind
Be sure you don’t place the jsp:include statement in the footer or header of the file, as is sometimes common. This will cause Google to record a conversion every time a customer visits any page on your site.
The jsp:include statement will be evaluated before the rest of the of the JSP pages so you’re able to use a JSP expression as the dynamic value of the conversion.
If your web server supports Server Side Includes (SSI) you can use an #include statement to insert the conversion tracking code onto your site. After you generate your conversion code snippet, save it to a file on your webserver. AdWords recommends using the filename googleconversion.html. Search for the </body> tag and place the #include statement with the location of the file directly above it. If the </body> tag is not located within the static portion of the HTML page, make sure that you add the code snippet so that it appears within the <body> section of the page.
<head>
<title>Thank You for Shopping</title>
</head>
<body>
…
#include file=”…/googleconversion.html”
</body>
The #include statement will be evaluated before the rest of the of the JSP pages so you’re able to use a JSP expression as the dynamic value of the conversion.
Keep in mind
Be sure you do not place the #include statement in the footer or header of the file, as is sometimes common. This will cause Google to record a conversion every time a customer visits any page on your site.
- Open your conversion confirmation page JSP file. If multiple pages are generated from the same file, find the section in the JSP file which generates your conversion page.
- If your site has a variable conversion value, determine the JSP expression which calculates that value. For example: <%= totalValue %>, ${totalValue}
- Choose the Purchase/Sale conversion type while going through the conversion tracking setup. Insert the full string (<%= totalValue %>) into the “Conversion value” field and click Save Changes & Get Code to generate the final tracking code. Click “OK” when you’re prompted about using an unrecognized value. Copy and save the resulting code snippet .
- Insert the conversion tracking code snippet onto the conversion confirmation page. Make sure that the code appears within a static HTML section, not contained within an JSP code section (delineated by <%@ and %> markers).
- Insert the conversion tracking code directly into the body of the conversion confirmation page. Search for the </body> tag and place the code immediately above it. If the </body> tag is not located within the static portion of the HTML page, be sure you add the code snippet so within the body section of the page.
- Save your conversion confirmation file and upload to your webserver if necessary. If you’d like to test the placement of your conversion tracking code, go to your conversion page by completing a conversion on your site. View the source of the page (in Internet Explorer choose View > View Source). You should see the conversion tracking code between the <body> and </body> tags on your page. The JSP expression will be replaced by the actual conversion value when you view the source.
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
To add conversion tracking code to PHP pages using your web page editor, follow these steps:
<!– Google Code for Purchase Conversion Page –>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
/* <![CDATA[ */
var google_conversion_id = 1234567890;
var google_conversion_language = “en_US”;
var google_conversion_format = “1”;
var google_conversion_color = “666666”;
var google_conversion_label = “Purchase”;
if (<? echo $totalValue ?>) {
var google_conversion_value = <? echo $totalValue ?>
}
/* ]]> */
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js”>
</script>
<noscript>
<img height=1 width=1 border=0
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/
conversion/1234567890/?value=
<? echo $totalValue ?>&label=Purchase&script=0″>
</noscript>
</body>
- Open your conversion confirmation page PHP file. If multiple pages are generated from the same file, find the section in the PHP file which generates your conversion page.
- If your site has a variable conversion value, determine the PHP expression that displays that value. For example: <?php echo $totalValue ?>, <? echo totalValue ?>
- Choose the Purchase/Sale conversion type while going through the conversion tracking setup. Insert the full string (<? echo $totalValue ?>) into the “Revenue for your action” field and click Save Changes & Get Code to generate the final tracking code. Click OK when you’re prompted about using an unrecognized value. Copy and save the resulting code snippet.
- Insert the conversion tracking code onto the conversion confirmation page. Make sure that the code appears within a static HTML section, not contained within an PHP code section (delineated by <? and ?> markers). As you insert the code snippet, make sure you place it directly into the body of the conversion confirmation page. To make sure you do, search for the </body> tag and place the code immediately above it. Or, if the </body> tag is not located within the static portion of the HTML page, make sure that you add the code snippet so that it appears within the <body> section of the page as shown below.
- Save your conversion confirmation file and upload to your web server if necessary. If you’d like to test the placement of your conversion tracking code, go to your conversion page by completing a conversion on your site. View the source of the page (in Internet Explorer choose View > View Source). You should see the conversion tracking code between the <body> and </body> tags on your page. Note that the PHP expression will be replaced by the actual conversion value when you view the source.
Webpages containing frames
In cases where frames are used, it’s best to insert the code snippet only within the HTML of the frame containing the conversion page.
Secure and non-secure pages
The code snippet can be used safely on both secure (https://) and non-secure pages (http://).
Track conversions on a mobile site with a phone number
This feature is available to businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
If your mobile website displays a phone number, customers with mobile devices can click and call that number. You can track those calls in AdWords and assign a monetary value to them.
Tracking calls is a helpful feature if your company does a lot of business over the phone, or if you don’t take orders through your website.
Example
You sell car insurance on your website. But many customers who search for “car insurance” want to talk to an insurance agent before they purchase. So, they visit your website on their mobile phone, see a phone number, and call. With Conversion Tracking, this call could be tracked and measured in AdWords. Without it, this important customer segment isn’t counted.
Sound like it could be helpful to your business? Here’s how you can set it up:
Step 1: Get the code snippet
- Sign in to your AdWords account at http://adwords.google.com.
- Click the Tools and Analysis tab, then select Conversions from the drop-down menu.
- Under the Conversions tab, click the + Conversion button.
- In the “Conversion name” field, enter the name of the conversion you’d like to track on your mobile site. This will help you recognize this conversion later when it shows up in reports. For phone calls, you might want to list the number as a title, followed by “from mobile site.”
- In the “Source” field, select “Call-on-site.”
- Click the Save and continue button.
- On the next page, in the “Conversion category” field, select the category that best applies to your conversion.
- If you’d like to, in the “Conversion value” field, assign a value to the conversion your tracking.
- Select “Someone else makes changes to the code” or “I make changes to the code,” depending on which applies to you.
- If you chose “Someone else makes changes to the code,” just fill out the email form that pops up and click Send email. The code will be sent to the person who does this for your mobile app!
- If you chose “I make changes to the code,” a window will open up below with your code snippet. Congrats! You’ve generated the code. Copy it, and you’ll be ready for the next step.
Step 2: Apply snippet using correct HTML code (examples below)
Now that you or the person in charge of your website has the snippet of code, you’re ready to paste. Here’s some sample code close up:
Simple HTML before conversion tracking code (Sample only. Don’t use in your website’s code.)
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample HTML File</title>
</head>
<body>
This is the body of your web page.
</body>
</html>
Use the following command if the phone number is shown as:
a text link:
<body>
<!– Below is sample text link with a phone number. You need to replace the number with your own phone number and the CALL NOW text with the text you want to hyperlink. –>
<a onclick=”goog_report_conversion(‘tel:949-555-1234’)” href=”#” >CALL NOW</a>
</body> </html>
an image:
<!– Below is sample image dialing a phone number. Replace my_phone_button.gif with your button image and the phone numbers with your phone number–>
<body>
<img src=”my_phone_button.gif” alt=”Call: 949-555-1234″ width=”32″ height=”32″ onClick=”goog_report_conversion(‘tel:949-555-1234’)”/>
</body> </html>
a button:
<body>
<!– Below is sample button with a phone number. Replace all call buttons in your page with the code below and replace the phone number with yours. –>
<button onclick=”goog_report_conversion(‘tel:949-555-1234’)”>Call 949-555- 1234</button>
</body>
</html>
For the tracking to work, you’ll need to make sure you include both the code snippet and the appropriate ‘onclick’ tags from one of the examples above. This tells AdWords to record a conversion only when customer clicks on a specific phone number. Without it, no conversion will be recorded!
- Go to the page on your website that shows the clickable phone number. Then open up the HTML code so you can edit it.
- Find the body tags (<body></body>) of the page, then paste the code snippet you generated in AdWords between those two tags.
- Now adjust the HTML code using a command called “onclick.” The particular “onclick” command you use will depend on how the phone number on your mobile website is displayed: text link, image, or button.
Tip
If you want to track the same conversion page using two different AdWords accounts, just generate a code from each account and paste it into the HTML of your conversion page. Just keep in mind that the Google Site Stats box only shows for the first conversion code you’ve created, not both.
Track downloads of iOS mobile applications
In addition to tracking conversions that happen on your website, AdWords Conversion Tracking also lets you track downloads of your apps. This way you can tell how many people downloading your app found it through your AdWords ads.
Currently, we’re only able to track iOS app downloads driven by ads served in mobile apps; we’re not able to track iOS app downloads driven by ads served on Google search or the Google Display Network. Follow the steps below to track downloads of an iOS application.
- Sign in to your AdWords account at http://adwords.google.com
- Click the “Tools and Analysis” tab, and then click the “Conversions” tab.
- Click the “+ Conversion” button.
- Name your conversion, select “App download” and click “Save and continue.”
- Choose the “iOS” mobile platform and click “Save and continue.”
- Note
- Tracking downloads of an iOS app requires integrating a small SDK into your app and pasting a small snippet of code in your app’s didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method to call the SDK.
- Choose the appropriate button to indicate whether you or someone else will be making these code changes. Once you’ve made a choice, both the SDK and the code snippet will be provided.
- Click “Done.” Your app downloads conversion data will now start showing up with the rest of your conversion data within 24 hours.
You can see detailed descriptions of the changes you need to make to your app’s code, as well as how to verify that you’ve made the changes correctly in this guide.
Notes
- Application download tracking for iOS will not work if your ads don’t point directly to the App Store. Make sure your ad points to an itunes.apple.com URL, for example: “http://itunes.apple.com/app/id?mt=8”. Third-party tracking URLs are not supported at this time.
- Your conversion rate, cost-per-conversion, and value-to-click ratio data are adjusted to reflect only those clicks from which AdWords can track conversions. Some users and publisher apps choose not to use conversion tracking. So, not all conversions resulting from your AdWords ads can be reported.
The Google Conversion Tracking SDK for iOS utilizes the iOS 6 advertising identifier (IDFA) and the iOS 5 universal device identifier (UDID). The SDK uses IDFA/UDID under the guidelines laid out in the iOS developer program license agreement. Once most users and apps transition to iOS 6, Google is planning to phase out usage of UDID. Developers must ensure they are in compliance with the recently updated iOS developer program license agreement policies governing the use of these identifiers.
Track downloads of Android mobile applications
Tracking app downloads from Google Play doesn’t require adding a code snippet. It can be done with no changes to your app’s code. Simply follow the steps below.
- Sign in to your AdWords account.
- Click the “Tools and Analysis” tab, and then click the “Conversions” tab.
- Click the “+ Conversion” button.
- Name your conversion, select “App download” and click “Save and continue”. Enter the package name. (You can find your package name by looking up your app in Google Play. It’s the part of the base URL that identifies your application: “https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=<package_name>”
- Click “Save and continue”.
- On the next screen, click “Done”.
- Your app downloads conversion data will now start showing up with the rest of your conversion data within 24 hours.
Note
Application download tracking for Android will only work if your links in Click-to-download or Mobile App Extension ads point directly to the Google Play Store. Third-party tracking URLs are not supported at this time.