Improve the accuracy of your conversions with Google Enhanced Conversions

In the wake of the end of third-party cookies, it was strategic for Google to offer a solution that allows businesses to ensure continuity in their tracking, based on first-party data. Google Enhanced Conversions, available in the Commanders Act platform’s destination catalog, was introduced in 2022.

This solution allows for more precise visualization of conversions for optimized tracking. How does it work in practice?

In the context of Google Ads, a conversion occurs when a user performs a specific action desired by the advertiser on their website after clicking on an ad. These actions can vary depending on the advertising campaign’s objectives and the advertiser’s intentions. Here are some common examples of conversions in Google Ads:

1. Online purchases: When a user makes a purchase on the advertiser’s website after clicking on the ad, it is considered an online sales conversion.
2. Form submissions: If the advertiser offers a contact form, newsletter subscription form, or information request form, every time a user fills out this form after clicking on the ad, it counts as a form submission conversion.
3. Phone calls: If the advertiser displays clickable phone numbers in their ads, and a user clicks to call the business directly from the ad, it is considered a call conversion.
4. App downloads: For advertisers with mobile apps, the download of the app by a user after clicking on the ad is recorded as a conversion.
5. Store visits: For businesses with physical stores, if a user clicks on an ad and then visits a physical store to make a purchase, it can be counted as a store visit conversion. This is often tracked using specific tracking solutions, such as location data or loyalty cards.
6. Other specific actions: Conversions can also include other specific actions defined by the advertiser, such as watching a video, signing up for an event, etc.

Google Enhanced Conversions is a feature that complements your conversion tags by sending first-party data to Google after a conversion on your website while maintaining privacy through a hashing algorithm (SHA256).

Enhanced Conversions enable advertisers to capture conversions in detail despite browser limitations and effectively optimize bids based on this data. It is an extension of existing conversion tags, which means that users who implement Enhanced Conversions can still use existing tags that rely on explicit cookie consent.

The uniqueness of Enhanced Conversions lies in the ability to transmit collected data to Google in the form of hashed values. This ensures that actions such as purchases or sign-ups can be reliably measured even when tracking is restricted by the browser. Moreover, this method works retroactively, meaning it can capture conversions even if cookies have been subsequently deleted in the browser.

When a user views an advertisement and converts, the collection of first-party data occurs, and a hashing algorithm automatically encrypts the data before sending it to Google. This allows for a more detailed view of conversions while preserving the anonymity of individuals and ensuring full compliance.

• Recovery of conversions that could not have been measured otherwise
• Optimization of bids through high-quality data
• Guarantee of client first-party data privacy

Conversions are essential for measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and determining the return on advertising spend (ROI). Google Ads allows advertisers to track conversions by installing tracking code on destination pages or using features such as imported conversions, which track offline actions. By measuring conversions, advertisers can optimize their campaigns to achieve their marketing goals and increase their advertising success.

With Google Enhanced Conversions, marketing teams can have a more accurate view of conversions while taking consent into account.

• Google Tag Manager: The configuration can be done manually directly from Google Tag Manager.
• Google Tag: If Google Enhanced Conversions are applied using Google tags (and not a third-party tool or iFrame), it is possible to configure the solution using the tags with only slight adjustments to the current settings.
• Google Ads API: This solution allows for greater flexibility and better control over the data.

To comply with increasingly regulated data management frameworks, Google has developed Consent Mode, a tag management solution that adapts based on user consent.