Programmatic conversion tracking

Programmatic conversion tracking records a defined action, such as a completed purchase or enquiry, and reports it against eligible ad interactions under a platform’s attribution rules. Define the action and counting method, confirm the event is sent, then read the attributed result alongside the business record. Attribution does not prove the ad caused the action.

Define the action

Choose the point at which the outcome is complete. A purchase confirmation differs from a checkout visit; a submitted enquiry differs from a form start. Give each event a clear name, owner and trigger. If early actions are useful, track them separately from the completed outcome and identify which event guides bidding.

Decide how repeat actions should count. Google Floodlight offers different methods: its standard counter counts every conversion, while its unique counter counts the first per user in each 24-hour day and its per-session counter counts one per user per session. Sales activities have transaction and items-sold methods. Check the activity configured in the account before comparing totals or choosing a bidding signal.

Floodlight Conversion Counting Methods in Display & Video 360

Pre-Launch Checklist for Conversion Tracking

Check implementation and selection

For a website Floodlight activity in Display & Video 360, the activity setup generates tag code to add to your site or app. A line item must also select the activity it uses to count conversions. Check both the site event and the saved line-item selection.

Run an authorised completion journey and check that the expected event is sent with the relevant fields. Then check whether the platform received the event. A request from a test journey may produce no attributed DSP conversion if no eligible ad interaction preceded it. A reported conversion, in turn, does not prove the event represents the intended business outcome. Repeat the check after relevant tag, checkout, form or consent-flow changes.

Steps to Implement Programmatic Conversion Tracking

Separate counting from attribution

Repeated event records can affect totals. Duplicate handling depends on the platform’s rules.

In Display & Video 360, selected Floodlight activities, line-item counting choices and post-click and post-view windows affect the reported total. When Campaign Manager 360 also sets a window, the shorter applicable window governs.

Under Floodlight’s click-through and view-through classification, an eligible click takes precedence over an eligible impression for the same conversion. These settings assign reporting credit; they do not count every order the business received.

Choose a tag format

Display & Video 360 recommends the Google tag for Floodlight activities on websites. It is JavaScript placed on every page, while iframe and image tags are added only to pages with tracked events. The iframe option is for cases where the Google tag cannot be adopted; the image option is for cases where neither the Google tag nor an iframe tag can be adopted.

An activity is created for each event to track, and its format, type and counting method are selected during setup. Floodlight attribution must also be enabled for the activity; if it is disabled, attribution stops for that activity. If Campaign Manager 360 serves the ads, its Floodlight settings manage the activities.

Pros and Cons of Tag Formats for Floodlight Activities

Understand the line-item choice

A line item can count all post-click and post-view conversions, only post-click conversions, or all post-click conversions plus a selected percentage of post-view conversions. If multiple Floodlight activities are selected, the reported count is the sum of the conversions counted by those activities.

Not every line item has to count conversions. For example, a line item may have no Floodlight activity selected when conversion counting is not required for it. Record which activities and conversion-counting option are saved for each line item, because these choices determine which events contribute to its total.

Read conversion-window settings

In Display & Video 360, a post-click or post-view window set to zero days counts events within 24 hours; one day covers 48 hours and two days covers 72 hours. Changing a window affects how conversions are counted from that point onwards, based on flight dates, and does not change conversions counted before the change.

Interpret the result

Compare the DSP report with first-party purchases or enquiries for the same defined action and period, but label the populations separately. The business system can include actions with no eligible measured ad interaction. DSP reporting can also change as later conversions arrive or data is processed. Investigate differences in event definition, counting, attribution, dates and freshness before drawing a conclusion.

For Australian campaigns, name the reporting time zone. Align timestamps when the DSP and order system use different daily cut-offs.

Allow for reporting delays when deciding whether a result is mature. Display & Video 360 updates conversion data roughly every six hours and cross-environment conversion data every 24 hours; impression and click data is updated every three to four hours. Additional data can arrive later during processing, with Display & Video 360 able to update data for up to 31 days.