Google Ads Integration -- Full Technical Guide

Technical Scope

The Google Ads integration connects Trackdrive to Google
Ads with Google OAuth, discovers accessible Google Ads
customer accounts, maps Trackdrive conversion tracker
rows to Google Ads click-upload conversion actions, and
uploads offline conversion data when Trackdrive calls
convert.

This integration does not capture the Google click id on
your landing page. The gclid must already be captured at
lead time and stored on the Trackdrive lead or call in
the selected Google Click ID Token. Most setups use the
default gclid token.

For the step-by-step setup path, use the "Getting Your
Google Ads Integration Set Up on Trackdrive" guide. This
guide explains the technical behavior behind that
configuration.

End-to-End Flow

A Google ad click sends a visitor to your page, and the gclid is captured by your upstream tracking flow.
The lead enters Trackdrive with the gclid stored in a Trackdrive token, usually gclid.
You click Connect My Google Account in Trackdrive and authorize Google Ads access through OAuth.
Trackdrive discovers the Google Ads customer accounts available to the connected Google account.
You configure one or more conversion tracker rows.
When a matching Trackdrive call converts, Trackdrive prepares the offline conversion.
Trackdrive sends the click conversion to Google through Google's Data Manager ingest.
Google Ads uses the uploaded gclid to attribute the conversion back to the original ad click.
Trackdrive later reads the outcome back from Google and records it on the call log.

OAuth Connection

Trackdrive requests two kinds of Google OAuth access in
one connection: Google Ads access and Data Manager
access. The Google Ads access is used for account
discovery, conversion action discovery, and conversion
action creation. The Data Manager access is used to send
offline conversions. If the authorization is revoked,
expired, or otherwise fails, Trackdrive shows a reconnect
state and you can use Reconnect My Google Account to
repeat the OAuth flow.

Account Discovery

After OAuth, Trackdrive asks Google Ads for the customer
accounts directly accessible to the connected Google
account. Each discovered account is resolved with its
customer id, display name, and whether it is a manager
account.

A Google Ads customer account is the advertiser account
that owns campaigns and conversion actions. A manager
(MCC) account is used for access to child client accounts.
Conversion tracker rows are configured against client
accounts, not manager accounts.

When the connected Google account has manager-account
access, Trackdrive also queries the manager account for
enabled, non-hidden child accounts. Child client accounts
are then shown as selectable Google Ads customers. API
requests for child accounts are routed through the manager
account that discovered them, while directly accessible
client accounts are accessed through themselves.

If the connected Google account only has access to manager
accounts and no selectable client accounts, Trackdrive
asks you to connect an account with client-account access
or grant client-account access to the connected account.

Conversion Tracker Row Anatomy

Each conversion tracker row connects four pieces:

Trackdrive Offer: the offer whose converted calls should be submitted to Google Ads.
Google Click ID Token: the token that stores the gclid value. The default token is gclid, and Trackdrive creates that token for the company when the integration is saved.
Google Ads Customer: the client account that owns the conversion action.
Google Ads Conversion Tracker: the enabled click-upload conversion action that receives the uploaded conversion.
Google Ads Purchase Conversion Tracker: an optional second enabled click-upload conversion action that receives the purchase conversion. It must be a different action from the Google Ads Conversion Tracker; otherwise the integration is not saved and the row shows an error.

Multiple rows can be configured when different offers
need to submit to different Google Ads customer accounts
or different conversion actions.

A row always matches a single Trackdrive Offer. Optional
token rules can narrow the row further. When token rules
are present, the call must match those token values before
Trackdrive submits the conversion.

Conversion Action Discovery and Creation

The Google Ads Conversion Tracker field lists enabled
click-upload conversion actions on the selected Google
Ads customer account. Typing in the field searches every
enabled click-upload action in the account by name. The
Google Ads Purchase Conversion Tracker field lists the
same actions and searches the same way.

If Add A New Conversion Tracker? is enabled in the
setup form, Trackdrive creates a new Google Ads conversion
action on the selected customer account. The created
action is an enabled click-upload conversion action with a
purchase category. After creation, Trackdrive uses the new
conversion action name on the row.

Offline Conversion Upload

After a call completes, Trackdrive checks the Google Ads
integration. Conversions are skipped and logged to the
call log when the integration is disconnected.

A conversion is sent only when:

The offer has a Google Ads tracker configured.
The integration is not disconnected.
The call is not an off-hook buyer call.
The tracker token rules match the call.
The call has a non-blank Google Click ID Token value.
The conversion action field is not blank.

When a matching call converts, Trackdrive waits three
hours before submitting the conversion to Google Ads. The
conversion is dated at the call's end time. A call that
ended more than 90 days ago is dated just inside Google's
90-day window instead.

The upload is sent as a click conversion through Google's
Data Manager ingest. It includes the selected conversion
action, the gclid from the call token, the conversion date
and time, the conversion value, and the currency code.
Google Ads then attributes the offline conversion to the
original click. Google Ads records an uploaded conversion
only when it is first sent within 90 days of the ad click.

Purchase Conversions

When a row names a Google Ads Purchase Conversion
Tracker and the call has revenue above zero, the
three-hour upload also sends a purchase conversion to that
action, carrying the call revenue. The call conversion is
then sent with a value of zero, so the revenue reaches
Google Ads once. The purchase is dated one second after the
call conversion, so it is also dated at the call.

Revenue changes made before the three-hour upload are
carried by that upload. A later change to the call's
revenue, from the API, a call edit, or a conversion rerun,
sends the call's total revenue to the purchase action a
few minutes later. Changes made close together are sent
once. Google Ads treats a resend for the same call and
purchase action as an update to that purchase's value, not
a second purchase, and keeps the date it first recorded.

When the call's revenue drops to zero, for example
because its conversion is removed, nothing is sent to
Google Ads. The call log says so, and Google Ads keeps any
purchase value it already recorded.

Conversion Value and Currency

Trackdrive sends call revenue as the Google Ads
conversion value. If the call has no revenue, the
conversion value is zero. When the row names a purchase
conversion action, the call conversion is always zero and
the revenue goes on the purchase.

The currency sent to Google Ads is US dollars.

Duplicate Protection and Logging

The three-hour upload does not send the same call and
conversion action repeatedly within a short window.

Known preflight skips appear in the call log. Common skip
reasons include no matching conversion tracker row, a blank
Google Click ID Token value, a blank conversion action, a
disconnected integration, or an off-hook buyer call.

Google accepts an upload first and processes it later.
The call log records that the conversion was submitted,
and a status check after about 30 minutes records whether
Google Ads accepted it, did not accept it and why, or had
already recorded it. If Google Ads has not confirmed it
within 48 hours, the call log marks it unconfirmed.
Transient upload errors retry in the background.

Related Guides

For step-by-step setup, read Getting Your Google Ads
Integration Set Up on Trackdrive.