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Connect Google Ads

Connect Google Ads to compare its reported conversions with processor-confirmed orders attributed to Google Ads. The comparison is per platform. Campaign, ad-group and ad reports contain Google's own results; monetary comparisons require compatible, known currency.

Takes about five minutes

1. Tag your ads

DataStated classifies a visit as Google Ads from gclid, gbraid, wbraid or exactly gclsrc=aw.ds. Other non-empty gclsrc values remain unassigned to an ad platform and stay out of Google's verified side. Without a click id, a utm_source of google, adwords or youtube needs a paid utm_medium such as cpc or ppc (full list). An organic google.com referral is a separate Google channel and is excluded from the Google Ads comparison. Captured parameters classify the visit; they do not independently prove an ad click. A click id takes precedence over the source, then the referrer.

A missing click id can leave a paid visit indistinguishable from an organic referral. Consistent UTMs provide a fallback, although browsers and redirects can remove parameters too. Keep auto-tagging on and set the account-level Final URL suffix in your Google Ads account settings, under Tracking:

utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content={creative}

2. Connect

  • Open your site's settings in the dashboard, choose the Revenue tab, and in the Google Ads card click Connect Google Ads. Only a site owner can do this.
  • Google's consent screen asks for one scope, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/adwords, which is the Google Ads API. DataStated only ever runs reporting queries with it; no campaign, budget or bid is touched. The screen also asks for offline access, so the connection keeps working after you close the tab.
  • Back in DataStated, the card lists the ad accounts your login can reach. One account connects on the spot; several show a picker. If the list cannot be read, the card asks for the Ad account ID instead: the ten digits at the top of your Google Ads screen, with or without the dashes. Click Connect account.

Google issues a refresh token, which is the connection: it is sealed with AES-256-GCM before it is stored and never shown to anyone, including you. Each sync mints a short-lived access token from it and runs a reporting query for daily cost, impressions, clicks, conversions and conversion value per campaign, plus the same rows per ad group and ad. Cost arrives in micros and is converted to money. Nothing is written to your account.

3. What you will see

Numbers come in on the sync that runs every six hours, and the first pass reaches 90 days back, with completion depending on the account size and successful provider reads. Until that first pass lands, the platform side of the comparison carries an Example badge and the Ads panel says the connection is live and numbers appear on the next sync. To pull sooner, call the API:

curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer dsk_YOUR_KEY" \
  https://app.datastated.com/api/sites/acme.com/sync

The What each platform claims panel shows platform-claimed conversion counts beside processor-confirmed orders attributed to its paid channel. Orders without payment confirmation are listed separately. Example claims are labeled; they are not results from your account.

For a window whose ad records all carry provider-reported USD, the Money section shows spend and platform-reported revenue, CPC and ROAS. Campaign, ad-set/ad-group and ad rows remain platform reports. Revenue gaps and efficiency figures also require processor-confirmed payments with compatible USD currency. Unknown, mixed or non-USD ad currency leaves combined dollar figures unavailable and shows currency groups separately, without conversion. Re-sync older records to obtain their account currency. Journey rows separately show Touched, Started and Closed. See comparison scope.

4. Why the numbers differ

Google counts a conversion when someone completes one of your conversion actions within its attribution window after clicking an ad. Under data-driven attribution that credit is split into fractions across clicks, which is why Google's conversions arrive with decimals and the tables round them. Whatever your conversion actions are set to count, Google reports it; if a lead form and a purchase both count as conversions, both land in the claimed number, while the site side counts recorded orders. Someone who clicked on their phone and bought on a laptop is a Google conversion and a direct order on your site. Your site misses anyone running an ad blocker, and Google grades its own homework. The two reports use different evidence and do not establish a lower or upper bound on the sales an ad caused.

5. Troubleshooting

  • No spend showing. Check the currency-scope notice. Combined dollar amounts need known USD ad currency; older rows with unknown currency need a re-sync. Mixed or non-USD amounts are not converted. For missing activity, also check the selected account and date range.
  • Claims but no attributed orders. Google reported conversions and your site recorded no order from a Google-tagged visit. Confirm the tag is installed and orders are tracked (Goals and orders), check auto-tagging is on, then open the UTM sources tab: a utm_source spelled any way but google, adwords or youtube, or a utm_medium that is not a paid one, is the usual cause. Without a paid medium, google is organic Google and never reaches the Google Ads row. Also check whether the conversion action Google counts is a purchase at all.
  • "That does not look like a Google Ads account id." The id is ten digits, like 123-456-7890. A G- code or a Google Analytics property id will not work here.
  • "Google access has lapsed." Google revoked the refresh token, usually because you removed DataStated under your Google account's third-party access or lost access to the ad account. The card asks you to Reconnect Google. Numbers already pulled stay.
  • Wrong account. Click Reconnect and choose again; the new choice replaces the old one. Disconnect revokes DataStated's access on Google's side too, unless Search Console is still connected on this site; then the grant is left for it.

Questions? Email us at hello@datastated.com.