Importing Google Analytics Goals/Transaction As Conversions Into AdWords.


The great thing about the standard (javascript) AdWords conversion tracking is that it uses a 30 day cookie, so it picks up the vast majority of conversions that would almost certainly not have happened without AdWords.

e.g. If someone clicks on an Adwords ad, then clicks on an organic result and then makes a purchase from your web site, Google Analytics will count this as an organic conversion, but AdWords will show it as an AdWords conversion (provided the conversion happened within 30 days of the last AdWords click).

That is straightforward enough – and covered in the AdWords exams.

But, sometimes it is not practical to get the javascript AdWords conversion code installed, and then you have to rely on importing Analytics Goals into AdWords.

When you do this, there was one thing that was never very clear in my mind. Do the imported goals / transactions still use a 30 day cookie, or are the results going to be different from the standard javascript tracking?

The following blog post tries to answer the question, but doesn’t so so in a clear manner (in my opinion):-

Google Analytics Blog

So….

For those of you wondering if imported goals/transactions will give the same results in your AdWords reports as if you had used the standard AdWords conversion tracking, the answer is…

NO.

If you import your conversions from Google Analytics, then your conversion data in AdWords will almost always look worse than if you had used the standard conversion tracking. How much worse can vary a great deal, but on one account that I work on, the difference is more than 20% !

4 thoughts on “Importing Google Analytics Goals/Transaction As Conversions Into AdWords.

  1. Ruth says:

    Not only that, but you have to wait around 48 hours for the Analytics Goal data to populate the Adwords account. I always prefer to have Adwords conversion tracking in place, but you’re right, it’s not always a practical option. But it’s better to have Analytics data in Adwords than none at all!

  2. Jordan says:

    You’re right – it’s a right royal pain in the behind for there to be such a large delay…

  3. Iulia says:

    I, for one, am not at all happy with how this has been podneericg…1) I can’t use the adCenter desktop tool because my username is too long to be accepted into the login – even though it’s a perfectly acceptable MSN Live.com email address. I reported this as a bug in February and aside from getting a form letter asking me to rate my customer service experience, no one has been able to either help me or, you know, increase the size of the login field by two characters or something…2) Bing lacks global geo-targeting – I don’t need to advertise in Singapore, I need to advertise in China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE and most of western Europe.3) Bing’s keyword selection rules are too restrictive – I run PPC for a place that sells lingerie, costumes, and high heels and I can’t use the term “sexy adult size halloween costume” as a search term in Bing. In fact, they axed 2/3 of the KEYWORDS on a Halloween costume campaign I imported from Google – I’m not use to having keywords disallowed when they don’t contain any brand names or violate trademarks – what do they care what general keywords I use – people are GONNA type that into a search field. duh.4) Yahoo was generating sales with an average cost per conversion of $18 and MSN was delivering conversions at a cost per conversion of about $24… since all this moving around began, MSN CPA has doubled – yes $50 and then some on the busiest campaign – and Yahoo impressions and clicks have dropped by almost half. I’ve been able to maintain CPA in Yahoo a little more closely – up to $20, but the lack of total referrals is having a huge impact when combined with the fact that MSN suddenly costs twice as much now.5) The stupid link to the “compatibility report” in Yahoo (under the new adCenter tab) has never worked… This client may end up leaving both engines if ad delivery on Yahoo properties doesn’t step back up, and if they can’t advertise globally, AND if they can’t start using “sexy” and “naughty” as keywords.

  4. Jordan says:

    Oh dear, sounds like you are not having a great experience with adCenter…
    I also had a load of problems even getting the desktop tool to work on my (Windows 7) PC. But in the UK the have a free support phone number and they are generally quite helpful…

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