Google Ads Conversions

Datafly Signal delivers offline and enhanced conversions to Google Ads server-to-server via the Google Ads API (ConversionUploadService). This replaces client-side conversion tags with direct server uploads, improving measurement accuracy and enabling conversion-based bidding optimisation without relying on browser-side scripts.

Prerequisites

Setting up Google Ads for server-side conversion tracking requires a Google Ads account, a conversion action, OAuth2 credentials, and (optionally) Enhanced Conversions enabled. Follow each step below before configuring the integration in Signal.

Configuration

The oauth_credentials field expects a JSON object in this format:

{
  "client_id": "123456789-abcdefg.apps.googleusercontent.com",
  "client_secret": "GOCSPX-abcdefghijklmnop",
  "refresh_token": "1//0abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
}

Configure in Signal

Management UI Setup

1. Go to Integrations > Add Integration > Google Ads Conversions.
2. Enter your Customer ID (e.g. 123-456-7890).
3. Enter your Conversion Action ID (e.g. 987654321).
4. Paste your OAuth credentials JSON into the OAuth Credentials field.
5. Select consent categories (typically advertising).
6. Click Save.

Management API Setup

curl -X POST http://localhost:8084/v1/admin/integrations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "source_id": "src_abc123",
    "vendor": "google_ads",
    "name": "Google Ads Conversions",
    "enabled": true,
    "config": {
      "customer_id": "123-456-7890",
      "conversion_action_id": "987654321",
      "oauth_credentials": "{\"client_id\":\"123456789-abcdefg.apps.googleusercontent.com\",\"client_secret\":\"GOCSPX-abcdefghijklmnop\",\"refresh_token\":\"1//0abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz\"}"
    },
    "consent_categories": ["advertising"]
  }'

Variants

Signal provides four pre-configured variants to match common use cases. Each variant includes sensible defaults for conversion types and data handling. Select the variant that best matches your business when adding the integration.

All variants use the Google Ads API v18, enable enhanced conversions, and hash user identifiers server-side by default.

Identity Signals

Datafly Signal automatically captures and forwards the following identity signals for Google Ads conversion matching:

User-Provided Signals (Hashed)

When user data is available via _df.identify(), the following fields are SHA-256 hashed server-side before sending to Google Ads as Enhanced Conversion user identifiers:

Event Mapping

Only conversion events are sent to Google Ads. Page views and other non-conversion events are filtered out automatically.

Example: Purchase Conversion

Datafly.js call:

_df.track("Order Completed", {
  order_id: "ORD-001",
  total: 129.99,
  currency: "GBP"
});

Google Ads API payload (simplified):

{
  "conversions": [
    {
      "conversion_action": "customers/1234567890/conversionActions/987654321",
      "conversion_date_time": "2026-01-29 14:30:00+00:00",
      "order_id": "ORD-001",
      "conversion_value": 129.99,
      "currency_code": "GBP",
      "gclid": "Tester123456789",
      "user_identifiers": [
        {
          "hashed_email": "836f82db99121b3481011f16b49dfa5fbc714a0d1b1b9f784a1ebbbf5b39577f"
        },
        {
          "hashed_phone_number": "a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6abcd"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "partial_failure": true
}

Multiple Conversion Actions

If you need to report different event types to different conversion actions, create multiple Google Ads integrations, each with a different conversion_action_id, and use event filters to route the appropriate events:

{
  "vendor": "google_ads",
  "name": "Google Ads - Purchases",
  "config": {
    "customer_id": "123-456-7890",
    "conversion_action_id": "111111111",
    "oauth_credentials": "..."
  },
  "event_filter": {
    "event_names": ["Order Completed"]
  }
}

{
  "vendor": "google_ads",
  "name": "Google Ads - Leads",
  "config": {
    "customer_id": "123-456-7890",
    "conversion_action_id": "222222222",
    "oauth_credentials": "..."
  },
  "event_filter": {
    "event_names": ["Lead Generated"]
  }
}

Enhanced Conversions

Enhanced Conversions improve attribution accuracy by supplementing click-based identifiers with hashed first-party user data. When a user converts on your site, Signal hashes their personal information (email, phone, name, address) and sends it alongside the conversion to Google Ads. Google then matches this data against its own signed-in user graph to attribute the conversion, even when gclid is not available.

How it works in Signal:

1. A user identifies themselves on your site (e.g. during checkout).
2. You call _df.identify() with their details (email, phone, etc.).
3. When a conversion event fires, Signal automatically includes the hashed user identifiers in the Google Ads API upload.
4. Google matches the hashed data to a user and attributes the conversion to the original ad click.

// Step 1: Identify the user
_df.identify({
  email: "[email protected]",
  phone: "+44207946000",
  first_name: "Jane",
  last_name: "Smith"
});
 
// Step 2: Track the conversion
_df.track("Order Completed", {
  order_id: "ORD-001",
  total: 89.99,
  currency: "GBP"
});

Consent Mode

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), Google requires that consent state be included with conversion uploads. Signal forwards the consent state from the event’s context.consent object.

{
  "conversions": [
    {
      "consent": {
        "ad_user_data": "GRANTED",
        "ad_personalization": "GRANTED"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Testing

After configuring the integration, verify that conversions are arriving in Google Ads:

1. Trigger a test conversion on your site (e.g. complete a test purchase or submit a lead form).
2. In Google Ads, navigate to Tools & Settings > Measurement > Conversions.
3. Click on your conversion action.
4. Check the Diagnostics tab — recent uploads should appear within a few hours.
5. Conversion source should display as “Uploaded (from API)” or “Website (Enhanced conversions from API)”.
6. In the All conversions column, you should see the uploaded conversion count increase.

To validate in the Management UI:

1. Go to Integrations and select your Google Ads integration.
2. Check the Delivery Log for recent events.
3. A 200 response code with partial_failure_error as empty confirms successful delivery.

Troubleshooting

Rate Limits

Google Ads API has per-account rate limits that vary by account tier. The defaults above are conservative. If you have a high-volume account with elevated API quotas, you can increase these values in the integration’s advanced settings.