Google Ads Enhanced Conversions Tracking Guide 2026

Enhanced Conversions helps you recover more attributable conversions by securely sending hashed first party customer data alongside your existing conversion tracking (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656).

Who this is for

• Ecommerce brands using Google Ads purchase tracking and wanting stronger attribution and bidding signals
• Lead gen businesses tracking form submits, calls, or booked demos where match rates are weak
• Anyone already using Google Ads conversion tracking via Google tag or GTM and wants to upgrade measurement quality
• Teams using offline conversion imports (CRM uploads) and want more durable matching (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502)

What counts as a conversion in Google Ads

• Ecommerce (primary conversions)
  • Purchase or order confirmation
  • Subscription activation
  • Qualified checkout completion
• Lead gen (primary conversions)
  • Lead form submit
  • Booked appointment (thank you page or server event)
  • Qualified phone lead (if you track calls as conversions)
• Micro conversions (secondary or diagnostic)
  • View key page (pricing, product page depth)
  • Add to cart
  • Begin checkout Tip: Keep bidding on a small set of primary conversions, and use micro conversions for funnel diagnostics.

Why conversion tracking matters

• Bidding uses conversion signals to optimize toward outcomes, not clicks
• Enhanced Conversions can improve measurement accuracy by matching hashed customer data to signed in Google accounts in a privacy safe way (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656)
• It supplements existing conversion tags, it does not replace them (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081)

What changes the conversion number (and causes confusion)

• Attribution setting changes (data driven vs last click)
• Different counting settings (Every vs One) per conversion action
• Conversion window changes (7, 30, 90 days etc.)
• Consent Mode impacts signal availability, especially in EEA, UK, and other regulated regions
• Duplicate firing (thank you page reloads, SPA routing, multiple tags)
• Mismatch between GA4 conversions and Google Ads conversions (different models and attribution)
• Enhanced Conversions setup incomplete (missing email or phone capture, not passing user provided data)

Step by step checklist: Set up conversion tracking

This checklist assumes you already have a working Google Ads conversion action and tag firing, then you add Enhanced Conversions and validate.

Step 1: Confirm prerequisites (before touching tags)

• Enable auto tagging in Google Ads (required for reliable click identifiers)
• Ensure your site collects first party customer data at conversion time
  • Email and or phone on checkout or lead form
• Review and accept Customer Data Terms in Google Ads if prompted (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502)

Step 2: Choose your Enhanced Conversions method

Pick the simplest method you can maintain:

• Google tag (gtag) directly on site (recommended if you already use Google tag) (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081)
• Google Tag Manager web container (recommended for most setups) (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13262500)
• Google Ads API / Data Manager for leads and offline workflows (best for CRM driven pipelines) (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13261987)

Step 3: Enable Enhanced Conversions in Google Ads

• Go to Goals > Conversions
• Open the relevant conversion action
• Enable Enhanced conversions and follow the guided setup Google documents the account and conversion action level controls for Enhanced Conversions (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081).

Step 4: Implement Enhanced Conversions for ecommerce (web)

Recommended approach: GTM or Google tag.

• If using Google tag (gtag)
  • Configure the Google tag to send hashed first party data with conversion events (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081)
• If using Google Tag Manager
  • Create user provided data variables (email, phone) and map them to the conversion tag per Google’s GTM setup flow (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13262500) Note: Data is hashed using SHA256 before being sent (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656).

Step 5: Implement Enhanced Conversions for leads (forms and bookings)

Two common patterns:

• On site lead forms (client side)
  • Use Google tag or GTM to capture form fields and send enhanced conversions for leads (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502)
• Offline or CRM based leads (recommended for sales cycles)
  • Use enhanced conversions for leads via Data Manager or API so you can upload qualified outcomes later with strong matching (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502)

Step 6: Connect GA4 and import conversions (optional but common)

• If you use GA4 as the source of truth for events, import GA4 conversions into Google Ads
• Use Google Ads conversion actions for bidding where possible, and keep GA4 for analysis Google’s Enhanced Conversions feature is designed to supplement Google Ads conversion measurement, even when you use imported sources (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656).

Step 7: Consider server side GTM for durability (optional)

• Server side GTM can reduce page code and improve control over data flow
• If you already run sGTM, you can move Ads conversion tags to the server container (https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/tag-manager/server-side/ads-setup)

Step 8: QA and validate match quality

Minimum QA checklist:

• Use Google Tag Assistant or GTM Preview to confirm the conversion tag fires once per conversion
• Confirm user provided data is present at conversion time (email and or phone)
• In Google Ads, check Diagnostics or Enhanced Conversions status for the conversion action after data starts flowing (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081)
• Re test common edge cases
  • Checkout success page refresh
  • Returning user purchases
  • Lead form validation errors
  • SPA route changes

Common mistakes (and how to fix them)

• Mistake: Enhanced Conversions enabled but no user data captured
  • Fix: Ensure email and or phone is available on page at conversion time and mapped correctly (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502)
• Mistake: Duplicate conversions from thank you page reloads
  • Fix: Fire once using a unique transaction_id or store a local flag and block repeats
• Mistake: Using GA4 purchase event but Google Ads conversion tag also fires
  • Fix: Choose one primary purchase conversion source for bidding to avoid double counting
• Mistake: Hashing done incorrectly
  • Fix: Let Google tag or GTM handle hashing, Google uses SHA256 for secure one way hashing (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656)
• Mistake: Offline pipeline uploads missing required identifiers
  • Fix: Upgrade to Enhanced Conversions for leads workflows via Data Manager or API where recommended (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502)

Quick QA table

Question	Best default	When to change
Track purchase with Google Ads conversion action?	Yes	If you must use GA4 import for governance, then import GA4 purchase and keep Ads tag off to avoid duplicates
Enable Enhanced Conversions?	Yes	If you cannot comply with customer data policies or do not collect first party identifiers
Count setting for leads	One	If you want to value multiple submissions per user (rare)
Use server side GTM	Optional	If you need more durability, control, or performance improvements (https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/tag-manager/server-side/ads-setup)
Separate micro conversions	Yes	If you want funnel diagnostics without affecting bidding

FAQs

Is Enhanced Conversions the same as conversion tracking? No. It supplements your existing conversion tracking by sending hashed first party customer data to improve matching (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081).

What data is used and how is it protected? Google uses SHA256 one way hashing on first party customer data like email addresses before sending it (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656).

Should I use Enhanced Conversions for ecommerce and leads? Yes, if you have the required data. Use Enhanced Conversions for web for checkout events and Enhanced Conversions for leads for forms and CRM flows (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11021502).

How long until I see status updates in Google Ads? Typically after sufficient conversion volume flows through the conversion action, then diagnostics and status indicators populate (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13258081).

Next steps

• Audit your current conversion actions: source, counting, window, attribution, duplicates
• Implement Enhanced Conversions on your top 1 to 2 primary conversions first (purchase, primary lead)
• Run QA for 3 to 5 real conversions end to end and verify reporting consistency CTA: Book a call / Contact us