Verify There is No Tracking Below the Account Level with Google Ads

When integrating Google Ads with Wicked, follow these steps to ensure that there is no tracking below the account level.

• Introduction
  • How to verify there is no tracking at the Campaign level
  • How to verify there is no tracking at the Ad-Group level
  • How to verify there is no tracking at the Ad level
  • How to verify there is no tracking at the Landing Page level
• What do I do if I have tracking below the account level?
  • Wicked Recommended: Remove the tracking below the account level
  • Place the Wicked Tracking Code in the Final URL Suffix

Introduction

When setting up & and troubleshooting your Google Ads data, one of the most important things to look for is that you don't have tracking below the Account level - tracking below the account level means at the Campaign, Ad Set, Ad level, or Landing Page level. Any tracking at these lower levels will overwrite the Account level settings, and drastically affect your Adwords reporting.

How does this impact my data quality? 
If you have tracking below the account level, then you will most likely have inaccurate attribution within Wicked Reports. That means you'll see these common effects happening within your Wicked Reports account:

1. Certain campaigns may display costs and clicks without attributed leads and sales
2. New campaigns may appear without associated costs but with leads and sales
3. Some campaigns will have attribution but within the wrong ad channel 

That being said, it is critical that you do not have tracking below the account level. Let's take a look at how to verify that you do not have tracking below the account level and, if you do, what you can do about it.

How to verify there is no tracking at the Campaign level

To verify that you have no tracking on the campaign level, follow these steps:

1. In Campaign Settings, select the columns icon:
   
2. Add these three columns to your reports then save the changes:
   Tracking Template, Custom Parameters, and Final URL Suffix. 
   
   
3. Scroll through your campaigns, look at these newly added columns, and ensure the cells are blank!
   
   1. If the cells are blank, you do not have tracking at the campaign level. Check the Ad-Group level next.
   2. If the cells aren't blank, continue to What do I do if I have tracking below the Account Level?

How to verify there is no tracking at the Ad-Group level

To verify that you have no tracking on the Ad-Group level, follow these steps:

1. In Ad Groups Settings, select the columns icon:
   
2. Add three columns (under Attributes) then save the changes:
   Tracking Template, Custom Parameters, and Final URL Suffix.
   
   
3. Scroll through your ad groups, looking at these newly added columns, and ensure that these cells are blank.
   
   1. If the cells are blank, you do not have tracking at the campaign level. Check the Ad level next.
   2. If the cells aren't blank, continue to What do I do if I have tracking below the Account Level?
      
      

How to verify there is no tracking at the Ad level

To verify that you have no tracking on the Ad level, follow these steps:

1. In Ad Settings, select the columns icon:
2. Add three columns (under Attributes) then save the changes:
   Tracking Template, Custom Parameters, and Final URL Suffix.
   
   
3. Scroll through your ads, look at these newly added columns, and ensure that these cells are blank.
    
   1. If the cells are blank, you do not have tracking at the campaign level. Check the Landing Pages level next.
   2. If the cells aren't blank, continue to What do I do if I have tracking below the Account Level?

How to verify there is no tracking at the Landing Page level

To verify that you have no tracking on the Landing Page level, follow these steps:

1. Access your landing pages in Google Ads and ensure that you do not see UTMs at the end of your URLs or question marks within the URLs:

1. 1. If there are no URL Parameters or question marks, then you are good to go! You have no tracking below the account level, so your Wicked tracking template should track properly.
   2. If there are URL Parameters or question marks, continue to What do I do if I have tracking below the Account Level?

What do I do if I have tracking below the Account Level?

You have two options, choose one:

1. Wicked Recommended: Remove the tracking below the account level
   1. How To Remove Tracking at the Campaign Level
   2. How To Remove Tracking at the Ad Group Level
   3. How to Remove Tracking at the Ad Level
   4. How To Remove Tracking at the Landing Page Level
2. Place the Wicked Tracking Code in the Final URL Suffix.

Let's take a look at both methods.

How do I remove the tracking below the Account Level?

• How To Remove Tracking at the Campaign Level
• How To Remove Tracking at the Ad Group Level
• How to Remove Tracking at the Ad Level
• How To Remove Tracking at the Landing Page Level

How To Remove Tracking at the Campaign Level

To remove tracking at the Campaign level, simply follow these steps:

1. Click Campaign Settings
   
2. Check the box next to the Campaign you want to edit and click Edit.
   
   
3. Select Change Tracking Templates
   
4. Remove the tracking data and ensure the New Tracking Template field is left empty. Then, press Apply.
   
5. Select Change Custom Parameters
   
   
6. Select Remove parameters to remove the custom parameters and click Apply.
   
7. That's it! You've removed the tracking at the campaign level for this specific campaign. You'll want to do this for every campaign that has tracking on the campaign level.
   
   

How To Remove Tracking at the Ad Group Level

To remove tracking at the Ad Group level, simply follow these steps:

1. Click Ad Groups Settings
2. Check the box next to the Ad Group you want to edit and click Edit.
3. Select Change Tracking Templates
4. Remove the tracking data and ensure the New Tracking Template field is left empty. Then, press Apply.
5. Select Change Custom Parameters
6. Select Remove parameters to remove the custom parameters and click Apply.
7. That's it! You've removed the tracking at the ad-group level for this specific ad-group. You'll want to do this for every ad-group that has tracking on the ad-group level.

How to Remove Tracking at the Ad Level
To remove tracking at the Ad Group level, simply follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Ads Settings and click Edit on the ad you want to edit
2. Scroll down and expand the Ad URL options. Delete anything in the Tracking Template, Final URL Suffix, and Custom Parameter fields. Then, press Save Ad.
   
3. That's it! You've removed the tracking at the ad level for this specific ad. You'll want to do this for every ad that has tracking on the ad level.

How To Remove Tracking at the Landing Page Level
To remove tracking at the Landing Page level, simply follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Ads Settings and click Edit on the ad you want to edit
2. Scroll down to the Final URL option and remove any URL parameters that are appended to your URL.
   Note: URL params typically begin after a (?) question mark.
   (Ex. https://wickedreports.com/?utm_source=Wicked)
   
   
   
3. That's it! You've removed the tracking at the landing page level for this specific ad. You'll want to do this for every ad that has tracking on the landing page level.

Place the Wicked Tracking Code in the Final URL Suffix.

Adding the Wicked Tracking Code to the Final URL suffix will typically override below-account-level tracking by forcing these parameters to append to the final URL. However, there are some cases where it is not as effective as removing the URL parameters from below the account level, which is why we recommend removing the tracking below the account level. Regardless, follow these steps if you'd like to add the Wicked Tracking Code to the Final URL Suffix: 

1. Go to Account Settings and open the Tracking Template
   
2. Copy and paste this code into the Final URL Suffix field:
   wickedsource=google&wickedid={gclid}&wickedid={creative}&wcid={campaignid}&wv=4
   
   
   
3. Click Save and you'll be all set!