Web2App · Published 2024-09-26 · 2 min read
Web2App: uploading conversions
The previous article explained why conversions do not show up in Google Ads for iOS apps. Today I will explain what to do so that they do.
The problem
A frequent request from my clients: Google Ads is not showing conversions, either installs or purchases. Because of that the campaign does not learn and the client loses money.
The solution
Let us leave the causes aside for now. What matters here is that Firebase, AppsFlyer or Tenjin does see them and does display them. So the conversions simply have to be exported from the MMP into Google Ads.
The steps
1. Create a Web2App campaign with a tracking template. The key field here is gclid, the campaign identifier. Through that field Google Ads tells the MMP which campaign the user came from.
An example Adjust link: https://app.adjust.com/1flsadasd?campaign={campaignid}&adgroup={adgroupid}&creative={keyword}_{matchtype}&lpurl={lpurl}&external_click_id={gclid}
Your MMP will generate the link for you.
2. After that the gclid campaign identifier is available from the code inside the app.
3. The MMP SDK picks it up and passes it to the MMP for attribution.
4. And here is the interesting part. This is where the final step — "the MMP passes the conversion to Google Ads" — ought to be, and it does not exist. Instead there is a black hole: the question "and then what?", which MMP documentation will not answer.
Sometimes you will have to write code yourself to extract the gclid and store it on a server. Sometimes you will have to buy additional paid MMP services.
Our answer is this: you have to obtain the gclid either from the MMP or from your own code.
5. Build a Google Sheet roughly in this format: gclid, conversion name, time.
6. Upload it into Google Ads. 7. Wait a little. 8. After that the conversions from the MMP appear in Google Ads.
Questions
Why is it so complicated? Is there an easier way? Yes — in rare cases Google Ads switches itself into probabilistic mode, and then conversions do show up. Almost all of them.
But for most of my clients conversions are not visible in Google Ads, and to solve that they use the approach above.
How do I do step 4 and get the gclid? Step 4 involves extracting the gclid from your app, and it depends heavily on your app's stack and on your MMP.
Write to me. I will share the scripts and the checklists.