Conversion tracking can help you understand how effectively your ad clicks lead to valuable customer activity on your website, such as bookings.
After you set up conversions for hotel campaign reporting, Google will send the booked hotel data to you to enable campaign performance tracking. This will allow you to monitor your hotel data and overall campaign performance.
Follow these steps to implement conversion tracking:
Step 1: Install global site tag
Note:
- The conversion category must be set to "Purchase" to be used for Smart Bidding campaigns (ECPC, Commissions).
- Google only supports the Last-Click Attribution model for hotel campaigns.
- If you’re already using the global site tag conversion tracking code, go to Step 2.
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- In the upper right corner, click the tools icon
.
- Select Measurement > Conversions.
- Click the conversion action you want to use, or create a new conversion action.
- Install the global site tag on your site. Learn how to set up your conversion tracking tag
Step 2: Modify the global site tag hotel parameters
Parameter | Value type | Example value | Description |
Required - Yes/No |
'value' |
Float | 16.20 |
Replace Note: The value will be used for Smart Bidding bid strategies. |
Yes |
'currency' |
String | ‘USD’ |
Replace The currency code applies to the |
Yes |
'transaction_id' |
String | 'HA12345' |
Replace Note: Order IDs won't be reported in Google Ads. |
No (Recommended) |
'id' |
String | ‘1234’ |
Replace |
No (Yes—Commission per stay) |
'start_date' |
String | “2020-12-13” | Replace ‘start_date’ with the check-in date. Format dates as YYYY-MM-DD. |
No (Yes—Commission per stay) |
'end_date' |
String | “2020-12-13” | Replace ‘end_date’ with the check-out date. Format dates as YYYY-MM-DD. |
No (Yes—Commission per stay) |
Note: The only conversion variables available in your campaign reports are ‘value’
and ‘currency’
. You can't view ‘transaction_id’
, ‘id’
, ‘start_date’
, or ‘end_date’
values.
Examples of global site tags configured (Important)
Check the syntax below carefully against your tag implementation. Make sure you’re using the ‘item’
array to include the hotel parameters (for example, ‘id’
, ‘start_date’
, and ‘end_date’
).
Place the global site snippet on all pages, including the confirmation page above the event snippet.
After global site snippet is updated:
<!-- Global Site Tag (gtag.js) - AdWords -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID"></script>
<script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments)};
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID');
</script>
After global event snippet is updated:
<script>
gtag('event', 'purchase', {
'send_to': [
'AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID/GOOGLE_CONVERSION_LABEL'
'transaction_id': 'BOOKING_ID',
'value': PRICE,
'currency': 'CURRENCY',
'items': [{
'id': 'PARTNER_HOTEL_ID',
'start_date': 'CHECK_IN_DATE',
'end_date': 'CHECK_OUT_DATE'
}]
});
</script>
Instructions for Google Tag Manager
If you're using Google Tag Manager, you can implement the gtag.js
for hotel ads by using the custom HTML tagging option to add the booked hotel variables. The global site snippet should be set to run on all pages, including the confirmation pages, and the event snippet should run on the confirmation pages only. We don't recommend using the Google Ads template because it doesn't support all variables for hotel campaign reporting.
Measure conversions for multiple accounts
If you need to count the same event as a conversion for multiple Google Ads accounts, you can pass multiple conversion ID strings via the 'send_to'
parameter of the conversion event snippet.
Alternatively, you should consider using cross-account conversion tracking which allows you to have a manager account (MCC) own the conversion actions and share them with one or more of its sub-accounts. You only need to specify a single conversion identifier in the event snippet. Learn more about cross-account conversion tracking. Ensure auto-tagging is enabled.
Examples of global site tags configured
Example global site tag:
<!-- Global Site Tag (gtag.js)& →
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID_1"></script>
<script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments)};
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID_1');
gtag('config', 'AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID_2');
</script>
Example Event snippet:
<script>
gtag('event', 'purchase', {
'send_to': [
'AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID_1/GOOGLE_CONVERSION_LABEL_1',
'AW-GOOGLE_CONVERSION_ID_2/GOOGLE_CONVERSION_LABEL_2', ],
'transaction_id': 'BOOKING_ID',
'value': PRICE,
'currency': 'CURRENCY',
'items': [{
'id': 'PARTNER_HOTEL_ID',
'start_date': 'CHECK_IN_DATE',
'end_date': 'CHECK_OUT_DATE'
}]
});
</script>
Turn on auto-tagging
Auto-tagging must be turned on to ensure you can properly track conversions. Find instructions to set up auto-tagging for your account.
What happens if you’re missing hotel conversion parameters?
Hotel parameters provide valuable insight into your individual bookings, such as the booked hotel ID and stay dates. They’re also used by Google to better optimize your ad performance and provide more detailed reporting. If you’re using commission (per stay) bidding for your hotel campaign, these parameters are also used for billing. When the data isn’t available with your Google Ads conversion data, we use your default conversion settings for the conversion 'value'
and 'currency'
along with the click-time parameters for the stay dates ('start_date'
and 'end_date'
) and hotel ID (‘id’
). In this case, if your click-time check-in date occurs before the conversion date, we’ll default your check-in date to your conversion date.
Test your conversion tracking tag
If you want to create a test order, follow these steps to check if the parameters are being passed:
Debugging with Chrome Developer Tools
- Open a new tab in Chrome.
- Click the 3-dot icon
in the upper right corner of the browser window, and then select More Tools > Developer Tools.
- If you don't notice the Chrome menu, you can open "Developer Tools" by pressing:
- Ctrl + Shift + i (in Windows)
- Command + Shift + i (on a Mac)
- If you don't notice the Chrome menu, you can open "Developer Tools" by pressing:
- Click the Network tab.
- Leave the developer tools window open.
- Navigate to the page that contains the conversion tracking tag.
- Look for the request:
www.googleadservices.com
. - Examine the components of the conversion tracking request to verify it matches your account and conversion name.
All conversion tracking requests begin with the same URL structure:
www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/
The full request will look similar to this:
http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/123456789/
?
random=1309518235472
&cv=6
&fst=1309518235472
&num=1
&fmt=2
&value=0
&label=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
&bg=ffffff
&hl=it
&guid=ON
&u_ h=1200
&u_w=1920
&u_ah=1174&
u_aw=1920
&u_cd=24
&u_his=2
&u_tz=60
&u_
java=true
&u_nplug=19
&u_nmime=97
&
url=http%3A//www.example.com/conversion-page.html
The number after www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/
should match your conversion ID, and the characters after &label=
should match your conversion label. If they don't, this tag is most likely tied to a different conversion action.
To fix this, you may need to generate a new conversion tag for this conversion action and place it on your site, or check with anyone else who has access to your website code to confirm if they've installed a conversion tracking tag for a different conversion action.
Keep in mind
Security and privacy for website tracking
Google's security standards are strict. Only pages containing the Google conversion tag are tracked through this program using data encryption and secure servers.
Ensure you're providing users with clear and comprehensive information about the data you collect on your websites, and get consent for collections when legally required.
Mobile app conversion tracking
You can use mobile app conversions to track app installs and in-app actions. Similar to website conversions for hotel campaigns, you must enable auto-tagging and set the conversion type to “Purchase” in your conversion settings to be used for Smart Bidding.
You need to subsequently send the relevant hotel parameters, like check-in or checkout dates and hotel ID, via Firebase or third-party SDK to begin tracking mobile app conversions.
Set up mobile app conversion tracking with Firebase
Firebase is Google's mobile platform that’s made to help you build better mobile apps and grow your business. To complete mobile app conversion tracking set up for hotel campaigns, you may send the required hotel parameters via the Firebase Analytics API.
Firebase parameter | Value type | Description | Example |
FirebaseAnalytics.Param.VALUE | Float |
Replace this parameter with the amount the user will pay. You can use either the base price or the total price. Use a "." for decimal numbers (for example, "16.20"). Note: The value will be used for Smart Bidding bid strategies. |
|
FirebaseAnalytics.Param.CURRENCY | String |
Replace this parameter with an ISO 4217 3-letter currency code representing the currency used during booking. The currency code applies to the VALUE variable. |
|
FirebaseAnalytics.Param.TRANSACTION_ID | String |
Replace this parameter with a booking reference number or order ID to your conversion tracking tag to help avoid counting duplicate conversions. Note: Order IDs won't be reported in Google Ads. |
|
FirebaseAnalytics.Param.ITEM_ID | String | Replace this parameter with the property ID of the hotel that you want to record conversion data for. This ID must match the ID in your Hotel List Feed. |
|
FirebaseAnalytics.Param.START_DATE | String | Replace this parameter with the check-in date. Format dates as YYYY-MM-DD. |
|
FirebaseAnalytics.Param.END_DATE | String | Replace this parameter with the check-out date. Format dates as YYYY-MM-DD. |
|
Set up mobile app conversion tracking with a third-party SDK
To help you make informed marketing decisions about your app, Google Ads works with many third-party app analytics providers to support the Google Dynamic remarketing for apps scheme.
If you use one of these third-party app analytics providers, link your third-party app analytics provider to Google Ads to enable your data segment creation. Work with your third-party app analytics representative to set up their app’s SDK, and create the “Purchase” conversion type.
After completion, implement mobile app conversion tracking for hotel campaigns by sending the required hotel parameters using the app_event_data
JSON object as a part of the Conversion Tracking Request. Acceptable values are strings and array of strings.
The following parameters should be added to app_event_data
:
start_date
(in YYYY-MM-DD format)end_date
(in YYYY-MM-DD format)item_id
transaction_id
The following parameters should be added at the conversion level:
value
currency_code