Set up Google Ads tracking

TrackCrown is a transparent click tracker for Google Ads: your tracking template sends every click through a /c/ link that redirects once, with a 302, to exactly the landing page Google puts in the url= parameter. This article takes you from an empty workspace to measured clicks and conversions. Each step links to the detailed article.

Before you start#

You need:

Step 1 — Check the tracking domain#

1. Open Tracking domains.
2. Find the domain you will use and read its certification status:

Adding and verifying a domain is described in Tracking domains, DNS & SSL. A domain is only shown as certified after the platform operator records Google's decision (see Transparency & certification). If your Google Ads account already used this tracker before 28 Aug 2023 you may use the template on an uncertified domain — the builder has a checkbox for that case.

Step 2 — Allow your landing pages#

A transparent link only redirects to hosts you allowed. A host is allowed when it matches any of:

• Allowed destination domains of the workspace (Settings → Workspace → Tracking);
• the offer's allowed domains, when the link key names an offer;
• the host of the offer's destination URL, when the link key names an offer;
• the hosts of the offer's landing pages (offer URLs), when the link key names an offer.

Rules are hostnames. shop.example.com matches that host and www.shop.example.com; *.example.com matches example.com and every subdomain. Performance Max, Dynamic Search Ads and AI Max can send a click to any page of your site, so allow the whole domain for them.

1. Open Settings → Workspace.
2. In the Tracking card, add each landing-page hostname under Allowed destination domains.
3. Save.

Step 3 — Decide whether to append the click ID#

In the same Tracking card:

• Append the click ID to transparent redirects — when on, the redirect adds <param>=<click id> to the landing page, e.g. &click_id=0192a6c3f1e04b7e9c2d8a1f3b5c7d9e. This is the only parameter TrackCrown ever adds (Google calls it a non-foreign parameter).
• Click ID parameter name — click_id by default.

Turn it on if your landing page or checkout reads the click ID from the URL. With parallel tracking (Google's default) the visitor never passes through the tracker, so the landing page will not see this parameter — use the SDK or a gclid postback instead (Step 7).

Step 4 — Build the tracking template#

1. Open Google Ads (/app/google-ads), tab Tracking template.
2. Pick Google Ads and the Campaign type.
3. Pick the Tracking domain and the Link key (Whole workspace, One offer, or Offer + affiliate).
4. Keep the default ValueTrack parameters (always keep gclid).
5. Enter the ad's final URL under Final URL of your ad to check it against the allowlist.
6. Copy the template from the Tracking template panel.

A typical template:

https://trackcrown.com/c/KEY?gclid={gclid}&campaignid={campaignid}&adgroupid={adgroupid}&creative={creative}&keyword={keyword}&matchtype={matchtype}&network={network}&device={device}&force_transparent=true&url={lpurl}

Every option is described in Tracking template builder.

Step 5 — Paste it into Google Ads#

1. In Google Ads open Admin → Account settings → Tracking.
2. Paste the template into Tracking template.
3. Leave Final URL suffix empty.
4. Leave parallel tracking as it is — it is Google's default and TrackCrown supports it (see Parallel tracking).

Templates set at campaign, ad group, ad or keyword level replace the account template for that level. Google uses the most specific level that has a value, and resolves the tracking template, the Final URL suffix and each custom parameter independently — clear lower-level templates you did not mean to keep.

Step 6 — Test before you publish#

1. In the template panel click Simulate in Google. The simulator expands the template the way Google does and follows it in parallel and sequential mode. You want Chain reaches google.com/asnc (parallel) and Page found (sequential).
2. Click Transparency test to request the link once and check the redirect against Google's rules.
3. In Google Ads, click Test next to the tracking template.

See Template linter, simulator and tester for every status.

Step 7 — Attribute conversions#

With parallel tracking the visitor goes straight to your landing page, so the landing page has the gclid but not the TrackCrown click ID. Pick one method:

Step 8 — Send conversions back to Google Ads#

• Offline conversion feeds — Google fetches an HTTPS CSV of your conversions on a schedule. No API access needed. See Offline conversion feeds.
• Google Ads API uploads — connect the account once; approved conversions are uploaded every 15 minutes, with optional enhanced conversions and campaign cost import. See Google Ads API.

Check that clicks arrive#

1. Open Reports → Clicks. Google clicks show the gclid, the campaign, ad group and keyword values from your template, and traffic source google.
2. In the report builder, group by Click mode (dimension group Google Ads): parallel clicks are Google's background requests (url= was google.com/asnc/… or the request carried gb=1), sequential clicks passed through the tracker in the browser.
3. The Parallel tracking tab of the Google Ads page shows the parallel share and the number of google.com/asnc calls in the last 24 hours.

Checklist#

• The tracking domain is certified, or the account used it before 28 Aug 2023 — otherwise use the suffix mode.
• The template uses /c/, has gclid={gclid}, and ends with url={lpurl}; force_transparent=true sits just before url=.
• Every landing-page hostname is allowed (google.com/asnc/… is accepted automatically).
• The simulator shows Chain reaches google.com/asnc and Page found.
• The SDK is on the landing page, or the advertiser sends the gclid in postbacks.
• Conversions flow back through a feed or the API connection.