Google Ads Integration and Attribution

Integrating your Google Ads account with Usermaven unlocks precise attribution, helping you enhance ad performance and ROAS. By connecting Google Ads, you can:

• Track Key Metrics: Analyze ad spend, clicks, impressions, conversions, and more at the campaign, ad group, and ad level in Usermaven.
• Measure Ad Performance: Identify campaigns and ads driving the most engagement and conversions.
• Achieve Accurate Attribution: Attribute conversions to specific campaigns, ad groups, and ads with Google’s auto-tagging and UTM parameters.

The key to precise attribution lies in sending information such as AD ID and other UTM parameters in your ad’s URL parameters. Without it, Usermaven cannot tie conversions to the right campaigns, ad groups, or ads.

By following Usermaven’s simple integration and tracking guidelines, you’ll gain a clear, actionable view of your Google Ads’ impact on your business.

1. Connecting Google Ads with Usermaven

1. Navigate to Workspace Settings

   Log in to your Usermaven account and select the workspace where you want to connect Google ads account. Then, go to Workspace Settings > Integrations.

2. Find and Connect Google Ads

   Locate the Google Ads integration card and click Connect Google Ads. You’ll be redirected to Google Ads authentication page. Ensure you’re logged into a Google account with admin privileges for the target ad account or an MCC account.

   Check all required permission boxes, and then click Continue to approve the connection.

3. Select Relevant Accounts

   Choose only the Ad Account(s) that send traffic to the websites tracked in your current Usermaven workspace. If you have multiple workspaces, connect the appropriate Ad Account(s) in each respective workspace.

4. Confirm and Sync

   Once connected, Usermaven will fetch data from your Google Ads account. Verify the sync status. Once it shows Synced, your data import is active, and Usermaven will update metrics regularly.

2. Preparing Your Ads for Attribution

1. Why it’s critical to include the Ad ID

For Usermaven to accurately attribute conversions to the right campaigns, ad groups, and ads, including the Ad ID in your URL parameters is essential. The Ad ID serves as the key identifier that connects user actions (like conversions) back to the specific ad that drove them.

Without the Ad ID, Usermaven cannot tie conversions to the correct Google ads campaigns, making your attribution reporting incomplete and less actionable.

While the Ad ID is the most critical parameter for attribution, adding other UTM parameters can significantly enhance your reporting experience in Usermaven. These parameters allow you to filter and analyze data across various Usermaven modules, like Web Analytics, beyond the attribution insights.

2. Use UTM Tracking Template

Usermaven requires using custom UTM tracking parameters to enhance reporting. There are a few options to update your UTM parameters.

{lpurl}?utm_source=googleads&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_term={keyword}&utm_content={creative}&ad_id={creative}

Here’s a brief description of these parameters.

Note: Ad ID is mandatory for Usermaven’s attribution. While you may already be using UTMs for other analytics needs, simply adjust these parameters accordingly. Just ensure you use ‘&’ before adding the new parameters if your URL already contains some.

Option 1: Account-level (global) UTM tracking template

Add these parameters at the account level so all ads include them by default.

Option 2: Adding UTMs to Campaign and Ad Group Settings (in bulk)

Manually updating UTMs for multiple campaigns or ad groups can be time-consuming. Use Google Ads’ bulk editing feature to apply tracking parameters across all campaigns:

1. Navigate to Campaigns or Adgroups in your Google Ads account.

2. Select the campaigns or ad groups to update.

3. Click Edit and choose Change tracking template.

4. Paste the UTM template into the Tracking Template field and click Apply.

You can learn more about tracking template in this help document from Google (opens in a new tab).

3. Enable Auto-Tagging

Auto-tagging ensures accurate attribution by adding the Google Click Identifier (gclid) to your URLs. This parameter helps Usermaven understand the source and channel of the traffic.

Auto-tagging is typically enabled by default, but you can confirm or enable it by following Google’s instructions (opens in a new tab).

To verify auto-tagging, check if URLs from ad clicks include the gclid parameter.

4. Match Time Zones

Ensure the time zones in your Google Ads account and Usermaven workspace are the same to avoid reporting discrepancies.

3. Timeline for attribution data

Once your Google Ads account is connected and the correct UTM parameters, including the Ad ID, are in place, Usermaven starts collecting data immediately. While initial data is available right away, attribution accuracy improves over time as more events are tracked, providing increasingly stable and reliable reporting.

Usermaven offers a 180-day lookback window for attribution, ensuring you can analyze conversions over an extended period.

Note: Conversions that occurred before the correct UTM parameters and Ad ID were received cannot be attributed to specific ad campaigns retroactively.

4. How Usermaven’s Attribution Differs from Google’s Tracking

While Google Ads provides insights into ad performance, Usermaven goes further by combining first-party data with advanced attribution models, offering superior clarity, flexibility, and accuracy.

Here’s how Usermaven stands out:

Customizable Attribution Models

Google Ads primarily relies on default attribution settings such as last-click attribution, with options for data-driven, time decay, and position-based models. Usermaven, however, offers a wider range of attribution models, including First Touch, Last Touch, Linear, U-Shaped, and Time Decay. These models allow you to analyze the complete user journey and choose one that aligns with your business goals.

Cross-Channel Attribution

Google Ads tracking is limited to its ecosystem (Search, Display, YouTube, etc.). Usermaven provides cross-channel attribution, enabling you to see how Google Ads perform alongside other marketing channels, such as Meta Ads, email campaigns, or direct traffic. This comprehensive view helps you understand the combined impact of all your marketing efforts.

Accurate Attribution with Ad ID

Usermaven requires the ad_id parameter to ensure precise mapping of conversions to specific campaigns, ad groups, and individual ads. This level of granularity allows for more accurate attribution compared to Google’s standard tracking, which can be limited by data loss from ad blockers, browser privacy measures, and platform restrictions.

180-Day Lookback Window

Google Ads typically provides shorter attribution windows, such as 30 days. Usermaven extends this to a 180-day lookback window, enabling businesses with longer sales cycles to analyze the long-term impact of their campaigns. This extended window is crucial for understanding customer behavior over time and optimizing strategies for conversions.

Granular Reporting with UTM Parameters

In addition to leveraging auto-tagging (gclid), Usermaven uses UTM parameters for enhanced reporting. Parameters such as utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, and utm_content allow for in-depth filtering and analysis across Usermaven’s Web Analytics, Funnels, and Attribution tools, providing a richer dataset for decision-making.

First-Party Data for Improved Accuracy

Google Ads tracking often relies on third-party cookies, which are increasingly limited by browser privacy measures and regulations. Usermaven uses first-party tracking, server-side data collection, and ad-blocker bypassing to ensure more reliable and consistent attribution. This method mitigates data loss and provides actionable insights even in privacy-restricted environments.

Usermaven’s enhanced attribution capabilities ensure that you can go beyond surface-level metrics, enabling data-driven decisions that align with your unique business needs.