Channel Integration - Google Ads
Integrate with Google Ads to track and measure the performance of your Google Ads campaigns with Airbridge.
To enable channel integration, you need to create a Google Ads Link ID and provide it to Airbridge. Then, the Airbridge events must be imported to Google Ads and set as conversion actions. Follow the instructions below for the integration setup.
1. Log in to your Google Ads account and navigate to [Tools]>[Data manager].
2. Find Third-party app analytics and click Manage & link.
3. Click the [plus] icon to create a new link ID. The Create a new link to your provider pop-up window will show.
4. Select Airbridge as the app analytics provider.
5. Select your mobile app's platform. You need to create a link ID for each platform if you have apps on both platforms by repeating the above process.
6. Select your relevant app under [Look up your app], and click Create link ID to get your link ID.
7. If you already have existing linked third-party analytics accounts, navigate to [Tools]>[Data manager], find Third-party app analytics, click Manage & link, and then click the [plus] icon to create a new link ID.
Once you have copied the Google Ads link ID, log in to your Airbridge account, navigate to [Integrations]>[Ad Channel Integration]>[Google Ads], and paste it to the link ID field. Make sure you paste the link ID in the correct field, as the link IDs for Android and iOS apps are different.
1. Log in to your Google Ads account and navigate to [Goals]>[Conversions]>[Summary].
2. Click + New conversion action.
3. Select App from the list of conversion types.
4. Select Third-party Analytics and click Continue.
5. Select the Airbridge events you want to import to Google Ads, which will be set as conversion actions. The Airbridge events are available in the import list only when they are collected by Airbridge after the Google Ads link ID has been registered to Airbridge.
The “First_open” event MUST be included in the selection. Once you have selected all events you want to import, click Import and continue.
You’ll now see your third-party conversion events in the conversion actions table. Click on the name of the event to see more details.
The following Airbridge events are automatically mapped to the corresponding Google Ads events. Other Airbridge events will be mapped to the Google events that share the same names. For example, the sign-up event name is “airbridge.user.signup” in both Airbridge and Google Ads.
Airbridge Events (App) | Google Ads Events |
|---|---|
Install (App) | first_open |
Open (App) | session_start |
Deeplink Open (App) | session_start |
Product Catalog (App) | view_item_list |
Search Results (App) | view_search_results |
Product View (App) | view_item |
Add to Cart (App) | add_to_cart |
Order Complete (App) | ecommerce_purchase |
If you can’t see the conversion actions in the conversion actions table properly or you can’t see the Google Ads campaign data in Airbridge, follow the below tips for troubleshooting.
Make sure you provided the correct Google Ads link ID to Airbridge. The link IDs are different for Android and iOS apps.
Make sure you imported the right Airbridge events as conversion actions, as Google Ads will only track the conversions in the conversion actions table.
If you have defined a new Airbridge custom event and want to track it as a conversion action in Google Ads, you need to import it to Google Ads.
Navigate to [Goals]>[Conversions]>[Summary] and check whether the conversions are being recorded correctly by monitoring the conversion tracking status. Read this Google article to learn more.
The Airbridge events must be collected by Airbridge after the Google Ads link ID has been registered to Airbridge in order to be made available in the list for import. It may take up to 6 hours for the Airbridge events to be made available in Google Ads from the time the corresponding Airbridge events are collected in Airbridge.
Integration status
The integration status is updated on an hourly basis in Airbridge. Therefore, the Google Ads integration status of “App Integration (Android)” and “App Integration (iOS)” in the [Integrations]>[Integration Overview] page may display “Waiting” up to 1 hour after you complete the integration setup process.
Google has introduced GCLID and gBraid to measure ad performance while protecting user privacy. For tracking devices that have opted out of app tracking, gBraid is used.
To use GCLID and gBraid for attribution, you must enable the auto-tagging feature in your Google Ads dashboard. Navigate to [Settings]>[Account Settings] and check the checkbox to enable auto-tagging.
GCLID and gBraid
For Android 12 and later devices that have opted out of personalized ads, identifiers such as GCLID or the Google Play Install Referrer are used due to the absence of GAID.
In line with the enhanced privacy protection policy, gBraid is used to measure campaign performance for devices that have opted out of app tracking. The gBraid parameter provides anonymized and aggregated conversion data to advertisers, allowing for privacy-preserving attribution.
GCLID is also used to optimize Google Ads web campaigns. For more information, refer to the information below.
A user may click a Google Ads web ad and be redirected to a webpage where they click a CTA button to install or launch an app. In this case, Airbridge collects GCLID, which can be sent to Google Ads via postbacks for campaign optimization.
To include GCLID in postbacks, the events being sent should:
Have occurred within 180 days of the GCLID being generated
Not be an app open event
The App Open events don't include Deeplink Open events.
Navigate to [Integrations]>[Ad Channel Integration]>[Google Ads] and select the [Attribution Rules] tab to view the attribution rules for Google Ads. Click Go to edit page to move to the [Management]>[Attribution Rules] page, where you can edit the attribution rules.
To learn about the detailed instructions on how to set the attribution rules, follow this article.
The default click lookback window when using device matching is 7 days for all ad channels except Google Ads, whose default is 30 days. The 30-day lookback window allows you to minimize attribution discrepancy by having Airbridge and Google Ads share the same lookback window.
To custom-configure your lookback windows, navigate to [Management]>[Attribution Rules] in the Airbridge dashboard.
The lookback window for the app campaigns for pre-registration (ACpre) on Google Ads is fixed to 90 days, regardless of your attribution settings on Airbridge.
The lookback window for ACpre can't be viewed or modified in the Airbridge dashboard. If you want to modify the lookback window for ACpre, contact your Airbridge CSM.
For Google Ads campaigns, engaged views follow the same attribution rules as clicks. Thus, the engaged view lookback window is the same as the “click device matching lookback window” in the Airbridge dashboard. Airbridge does not provide an option to configure a separate lookback window for engaged views.
For more information about engaged views, refer to this article.
Google Ads provides different data sets for different campaigns. The scope of data available is subject to change depending on Google Ads’ data policy. If you can’t view some of the data sets, check your campaign type and the scope of data available. For more details, read this Google Ads article.
Properties |
When it is provided | Example |
|---|---|---|
Campaign name (created by marketers) | Always | airbridge campaign, AB test ads |
Campaign ID (created by Google Ads) | Always | 12345678 |
Properties |
When it is provided | Example |
|---|---|---|
Ad group name (created by marketers) | Provided for ACI, ACE, and ACPre campaign types only | AB180 ads, airbridge target ad |
Ad group ID (created by Google Ads) | Always | 34567812 |
However, for the following ad groups, only the ad group ID is provided:
Ad groups that were created or had settings changed before September 15, 2021
Ad groups containing ads that triggered events that occurred before September 15, 2021
Properties |
When it is provided | Example |
|---|---|---|
Ad creative name | Non-existent | - |
Ad creative ID (created by Google Ads) | Campaigns other than ACI, ACE campaigns | 34567812 |
You can track engaged views from Google Ads campaigns in Airbridge. Select “google.adwords” as the channel to access any Google Ads campaign data.
Engaged views are available for Video campaigns, App campaigns, Display campaigns, Demand Gen campaigns, and Performance Max campaigns. For more information about engaged views, refer to this article.
Airbridge reports
In the Actuals Report or the Trend Report, select “Touchpoint Interaction Type” as the GroupBy or filter and use “Engaged View” to view the data. When the “Touchpoint Interaction Type” GroupBy or filter is not selected, the engaged view data is aggregated with the click data for reporting.
Engaged View is not available as a metric.
Raw data
Navigate to [Raw Data]>[App Raw Data] and select “Touchpoint Interaction Type” as an event property.
Refer to this article for detailed instructions on raw data export.
Or navigate to [Raw Data]>[App Real-time Log] and search for attributedInteractionType.
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