Enhanced conversions in Google Ads
Written by Jamie Schelling
Digital Marketing & AI Automation
As a digital agency, we are always looking for ways to improve our clients' results. One of the tools we use for this is Google Ads. But with the growing focus on privacy from the European Union and the changing way people search online, measuring conversions accurately is becoming increasingly difficult.
The challenge of conversion measure
ment
- Growing focus on privacy: Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their online privacy and the way their data is collected and used. This has led to stricter privacy legislation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, and the phasing out of third-party cookies by major browsers such as Google Chrome. These developments make it harder to track users and map their conversion paths.
- Cross-device behaviour: Consumers constantly switch between smartphones, tablets and desktops to shop online, search for information and communicate. This makes it harder to attribute conversions to specific devices or channels, as users may click on an ad on one device and convert later on another.
- More complex customer journeys: The customer journey is no longer a straight line. Consumers come into contact with brands via various touchpoints, both online and offline, before they finally convert. This makes it hard to measure the impact of individual touchpoints and to determine the value of different marketing channels.
- Ad blockers and tracking prevention: The use of ad blockers and tracking prevention is becoming more common. This can lead to incomplete data and therefore fewer conversions being measured.
Enhanced conversions contribute to more accurate conversion measurement. This advanced feature in Google Ads allows us to collect additional data and combine it with users' Google accounts, giving us a much more complete picture of conversion paths.
This means that, even when users use multiple devices or block cookies, we can measure more accurately which ads and keywords lead to valuable actions on our clients' websites. This gives us valuable insights that we can use to optimise campaigns, refine bidding strategies and deploy budgets more efficiently.
Accurate measurement and better results
More conversions lead to better results
Measuring conversions is crucial for the Google Ads algorithm to determine which visits are relevant and which are not. The Google Ads algorithm lives, as it were, on conversion data, because conversions tell the system which users are interested and which are not. That is how the algorithm learns that a visitor who makes a purchase is valuable. Google Ads then looks at what it knows about this visitor and takes similar visitors into account. In doing so, the algorithm looks at many signals such as location, device, day of the week, time of day and much more.
More conversions therefore means that Google Ads better understands who is and who is not of interest. The longer a campaign runs and the more conversions come in, the better the campaign gets to know the target audience. We also call this process ‘machine learning’. The machine learns more and more over time because it uses conversions to see who is of interest.
Conclusion
To get the best possible results within Google Ads, enhanced conversions are an important link. More accurate measurement is the basis for data-driven optimisation and better long-term results. Want to know more about how to optimise Google Ads campaigns, or would you like to bring in an expert? Get in touch with us.