[Stape Webinar] Enhanced conversions tracking - step-by-step setup for GA4 and Google Ads
Stape hosted a webinar on Enhanced conversions tracking!
We described in details: how to set up GA4 and Google Ads enhanced conversions, including best practices, tips, and the latest updates from Google.
For whom: digital marketers, analytics experts, business owners, freelancers, and agencies - everyone who wants to boost marketing campaigns and maximize ROI by delivering deeper insights and more precise data on user behavior and conversions.
Speakers:
- Dan Murov, Data Tracking/Measurement Lead at Stape.
- Denis Golubovskyi, Founder at Stape.
Webinar agenda:
- Enhanced conversions overview: understand the basics and value.
- Use cases: learn how enhanced conversions can be applied in various scenarios.
- Step-by-step setup: showcase for Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads.
- July 2024 updates for enhanced conversions: latest from Google explained.
What you get:
- Understanding how to set up GA4 and Google Ads enhanced conversions.
- Written guide on Enhanced conversions setup.
- Q&A session to address your specific questions.
- Webinar recording.
Common questions and answers
1. Which data do we need to enable enhanced conversions tracking? Is email and phone enough? Or do we need name, city, street, etc.?
The more, the better. Send everything you have access to. A minimal set would be an email address, as it is the most valuable data point.
2. Can I use server-side tracking exclusively for primary conversions, like purchase events? Is this approach recommended? My goal is to minimize server requests. Specifically, I’m considering using server-side tracking for purchases, while handling events like 'add to cart' through browser-side tracking to conserve server resources.
Technically, you can do this; just make sure to have the Conversion Linker in both the web and server containers. However, it's important to note that this approach does not work well for GA4. In your scenario, GA4 could only be used as a transport mechanism and would not properly report to analytics. GA4 should be either fully client-side or fully server-side for accurate reporting.
3. What are the benefits of providing product-level sales data and new customer data?
Regarding product data in conversions, you can find more information here:
With new/returning customer data, you can view this information in Google Ads reports and campaign results. This data allows you to optimize campaigns specifically for new users if necessary.
4. What about the RMK Google Ads tag in sGTM? Why does Google show a message in the console asking to change events to conversion events in GA4 when we send a Dynamic Remarketing Google Ads hit? Another question is about the items parameters in Dynamic Remarketing. I can see that I'm sending items in the outgoing requests, e.g., &item=(1270**6732**), but in the Google Ads UI, where it shows hits received from the remarketing tag, it shows almost no e-commerce hits.
Make sure you are sending the e-commerce parameters (ecomm_pagetype, ecomm_prodid, ecomm_totalvalue) as per the retail vertical guidelines described here: Google Support - Retail Parameters. The warning in the console is pretty generic, just to ensure you’re aware if you plan to use GA4 import in Google Ads rather than reporting directly.
5. For the remarketing tag in server-side, does it read the items parameter from GA4 event data and format it, or do I need to format and send it as custom parameters in the tag, even on the server?
It's not mandatory. If the parameters are properly formatted and sent from the web, they will be available in the Event Data, and Google tags will parse and send them automatically to the required Google endpoints.
Remarketing tag will parse items in Event Data. However, it's still recommended to send the parameters outlined in the documentation I shared above. To be absolutely sure, you can check the outgoing requests from sGTM and their payload to confirm it parses items and that the requests contain data from there.
Once you start sending ecomm_pagetype and ecomm_prodid, you’ll see them in the Google Ads UI as ‘standard’ parameters that Google use.
We usually send ecomm_ parameters from the web, and then Google tags on the server parse them automatically. The more data you send, the better.
6. Why is the Conversion Linker fired on every event you send? Wouldn't it be better to use the "All Pages" trigger instead of the current setup?
The Conversion Linker sets cookies, so it's crucial to set them as early as possible, often even before the page_view or other events arrive. This approach ensures that cookies are set promptly to minimize the risk of losing tracking data.
7. How do you typically ask for consent for enhanced conversions? Is it done through the cookie banner?
Yes, you can customize your consent banner for each specific functionality. However, a recent update to Google Consent Mode largely covers this with the new parameters ad_user_data and ad_personalization. You can find more details here: https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/security/guides/consent?consentmode=advanced#upgrade-consent-v2
8. Where can I watch the latest webinar about Google Ads Conversion tracking server-side?
You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ASTO--LNLE
You can also find the video and Q&A here: https://stape.io/news/google-ads-conversion-tracking-for-shopify-webinar-from-stape
9. Is capturing just an email enough for enhanced conversions?
Yes, capturing an email is minimally sufficient.
10. If I understand correctly, the hashing of the user data sent is always handled by the variable/template in GTM. So, no extra hashing is needed, right?
That's correct, the tag will handle the hashing of the data automatically.
11. So, there’s no need to use the Google Ads User-provided Data Event sGTM tag?
Yes, it's not necessary. This tag is only required if user data isn't available at the time of conversion but is available in other events. For example, if you're sending a lead on the thank-you page, but the user data is captured during the form submission (and not on the thank-you page), you can use this tag to send user data at the form submission stage. It will then be associated with future conversions from that user.
12. Is a power-up necessary for the hashing to take place after the submission, or is the hashing inherent in the {{userprovided data}} variable?
The data is hashed by the tag before it is sent. You don't need to hash it additionally.
13. Is it okay to enable enhanced conversion tracking if I only send an email? And of course, the more data I send, the better it is for the Google Ads campaign, right?
Yes, that's correct. Email and phone are the two main parameters. It's perfectly fine to send only an email if you don't have any other user data. The more data you provide, the more it can benefit your Google Ads campaigns.
14. Do you add tags (purchase, lead) in the Web or the Server?
In the web container, you should have GA4 tags that pass data to the server. On the server, you should have Google Ads conversion tags that send conversions to Google Ads.
15. Some of my clients are concerned that pushing user data to the data layer without pre-hashing is illegal. Is it still possible to do this but with hashed data?
Yes, you can send hashed data to Google Ads, as long as it is hashed in SHA256 format.
16. On some accounts, Enhanced Conversions panel doesn't appear in the settings section. Have you ever encountered this?
On some accounts, Enhanced Conversions are still managed at the individual conversion level, rather than in the settings for all conversions.
17. Does activating this data collection in GA4 affect the BigQuery export?
No, it does not affect the BigQuery export.
18. Are there any downsides to the raw data in BigQuery if you turn on User-Provided data collection in GA4?
No, it shouldn't affect BigQuery in any way, as long as you do not activate the options in the GA4 admin settings for using this data.
19. I’ve read that when you enable the GA4 user-provided data option, it permanently removes the GA4 user-ID from the BigQuery GA4 export, even if you turn it off later. Is this correct?
This only refers to the setting enabled in GA4. In the tag, it's just a checkbox for the data transfer mechanism, and it doesn't affect the GA4 user-ID in BigQuery exports.
20. If you send the 'user_data' as a parameter or use the checkbox, will it show up as an event parameter in BigQuery with all the user data (PII)?
No, if you simply add that to the GA4 tag, it will not be sent to your GA4. On the server-side, that parameter will be ignored.
21. How do you define a request? Is it only data sent from the server to Google Ads, or is data sent to the server considered a request too?
We define requests as all incoming hits to your server container. We do not count outgoing traffic.
22. Is there a downside to using server-side conversion tracking for Google Ads compared to client-side tracking?
Not really. In fact, we typically observe that server-side Google Ads conversion tracking performs better than client-side tracking, assuming identical settings.
23. For leads, is a data layer necessary? If there is a form that doesn't report to a data layer, what is the alternative for gathering the user-provided data? Would using variables be a solution? If so, is there a reference I can review?
A data layer is just one source of data. If building a data layer isn't possible, you can use a custom JavaScript variable to scrape data directly from the webpage.
24. For server-side tagging with the Google Ads Conversion Linker, is it better to use the 'All Pages' trigger or the 'Client Name equals GA4' trigger? Is there a difference in their effectiveness?
There’s no difference in their effectiveness. However, you should consider your specific setup. We often use client-specific triggers because, in many cases, there are multiple clients within the server container.
Useful links:
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[Stape Webinar] Enhanced conversions tracking - step-by-step setup for GA4 and Google Ads
Our live webinar to learn how to set up GA4 and Google Ads enhanced conversions, including best practices and the latest updates from Google.
Sep 17, 2025
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