Detailed illustration of the review process for Google Analytics and Google Ads!

Google Ads is an important platform for online merchants, and Google Analytics is another. If tracking is set up correctly, combining the two can provide rich, actionable data for increasing traffic and sales.

Syncing Google Analytics and Google Ads allows data to pass back and forth between the two platforms. Below, Google explains how to link the two.

Once the link is complete, you can check the report the next day to confirm the imported data as shown below.

Google Analytics data in Google Ads

To confirm that data from Google Analytics is integrated correctly, click the Campaigns, Ad Groups, or Keywords report in Google Ads and click Modify Column.

Then click on Google Analytics.

Check the available metrics in Google Analytics.

The following data can be imported from Google Analytics into Google Ads.

Bounce rate

Pages/Session

Average session duration (seconds)

Percentage of New Sessions

Conversion data, such as e-commerce transactions and goals.

Importantly, the following cannot be imported into Google Ads.

Other channel data, such as organic search, social media.

Other pay-per-click platforms such as Microsoft Advertising.

Data on individual pages, such as page views and exits.

Audience data.

Google Ads Data in Google Analytics

To confirm the imported Google Ads data, click Acquisition, then click Google Ads.

Many settings and data can be imported from Ads to Analytics, including:

Campaign data (impressions, clicks, spend, etc.).

Ad group data (impressions, clicks, spend, etc.).

Keyword data (impressions, clicks, spend, etc.).

Search term data (impressions, clicks, spend, etc.).

Bid adjustment settings.

However, the following data cannot be imported from Ads to Analytics:

Google Ads conversions. Analytics can send conversions to Ads, but not vice versa.

Data is not included in the Google Ads reports in Google Analytics.

Comparative Data

A common practice is to compare conversion data for Google Ads traffic. If the data differ, a tracking failure is likely to occur.

First, determine the attribution model set up in Google Ads. In Google Ads, click Tools & Settings, then click Conversions.

Then, click Use tracking code for Ads conversion actions.

Note the attribute model. The following example is set up as Position-based. Also, note the Conversion Window.

Next, in Google Analytics, click Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Model Comparison Tool.

Then set up the report as follows:

Contains the same date range as comparable Google Ads reports.

Includes only one conversion similar to Google Ads.

In the example below, you could choose either "Transaction" or "Goal 1: ordered" because both have almost the same total number of conversions.

Next:

Updated path length to All to report all transitions.

Select Google Ads as the conversion type.

Set the Lookback Window to match your Google Ads settings. In the example, both are set to 30 days.

If you have multiple actions, filter by conversion action in Google Ads.

We get 189.9 transactions in the time frame we compare Google Ads.

In Google Analytics, when we apply the same attribution model, we get numbers that need to be aggregated. The 177.95 total conversions from Google Analytics are close to the 189.9 from Google Ads.

If the two numbers are not substantially aligned:

Check that the Google Analytics conversion tracking code is firing on the same page as Google Ads.

Make sure Google Ads traffic is not redirected and strips auto-tagging query parameters.

Other advertising platforms

Google offers comprehensive integration between Ads and Analytics. Other platforms, like Microsoft Advertising, are nearly impossible to integrate. However, you can use the same process as with Google Analytics and Google Ads to ensure your tracking is accurate. Cost data from other platforms can also be imported into Google Analytics.

Author: Hugo.com Lv Xiaolin

Source: Hugo.com Lv Xiaolin