Google Ads (GA) can estimate a more accurate return on ad spend, that is, return on marketing investment for Google Ads if you upload offline, such as store, physical, and retail conversion events to Google Ads through their Store Sales Direct (SSD) program. Google Ads can ingest and report on any offline action, such as store visit and sign-up that is meaningful to your business.
Google Ads attribution metrics calculated from tracking offline conversions are estimated through complex and proprietary calculations, and therefore offline attribution metrics within Google Ads are not exact but are extrapolated.
Customer Data Platform (CDP) has developed an integration with Google Ads’ APIs to upload your offline events for conversion tracking within Google Ads. This allows you to automate the upload of offline conversions. CDP provides default template reports to upload your offline transactions, in the format required by Google Ads. In addition to the default transaction export, CDP can be contracted to customize the exports to your needs.
Requirements
Google Ads allowlisting
The Google Ads Store Sales Direct (SSD) program requires your Google Ads account to be allowlisted before retail transactions can be uploaded. Your Google Ads account where you are performing the conversion tracking must be allowlisted. This is likely a manager account. In order to be eligible to upload offline conversions to the Google Ads Store Sales Direct program, Advertisers must meet several requirements:
Track store sales data in a customer relationship management (CRM) system
Have a loyalty program or other ways to collect customer information associated with offline transactions
Upload transaction data at least every week or every other week
Receive >500,000 search clicks in the last 90 days
Requirement for advertisers to allowlist - volume is checked during allowlist process and is rejected if insufficient. Data is not guaranteed.
Clients with high seasonality, who do not reach this click threshold consistently, must be advised that they may not receive data in low activity periods.
Search clicks can be from both text and/or PLA
Have at least 6,000 identified offline transactions per month (per country)
If your GA account meets these requirements, reach out to your Google Ads representative to request that your account(s) be allowlisted for Google Ads’s Store Sales Direct (SSD) program, specifically so that CDP can push data to the OfflineDataUploadService API on your behalf.
Limitations
A single upload can take 24 hours or longer, because Google Ads is onboarding your transactions by matching the uploaded hashed, personally identifiable information to their backend identity graph. This takes time. Once the offline customers are matched, then the Google Ads attribution calculations can take place.
Google Ads can track and attribute up to 90 days of transaction history. Transaction history beyond 90 days old cannot be attributed to ad campaigns.
Configuration
Summary of steps
CDP Support & Client: Confirm eligibility for allowlisting by GA SSD program
Client & CDP Support: This determine which client GA account(s) must perform offline conversion tracking; client must give this account’s customer ID to CDP and GA
Likely a manager account so that it can track conversions across the client’s child GA accounts
Cannot have a manager account because, each GA account can only have one manager, and CDP acts as its manager to upload it offline conversions.
Client: request allowlisting by GA for SSD program (specifically the OfflineDataUploadService API) of the client’s GA account(s) where they are performing offline conversion tracking
Client: enable offline conversion tracking of store sales within the client’s GA account
CDP Ops: link CDP’s GA manager account as a manager to the client’s GA account where the offline conversion tracking takes place
CDP Support: configure and execute template report
Execute one historical export of last 90 days transactions
Schedule daily incremental execution
Detailed Steps
Request Google Ads allowlisting
Reach out to your Google Ads representative to request that your customer IDs be allowlisted Google Ads’s Store Sales Direct (SSD) program, specifically so that CDP can call the OfflineDataUploadService API on your behalf.
Enable offline conversion tracking
Google Ads does not perform conversion tracking in all Ads accounts by default. The client must set up an offline conversion tracking action for store sales in an account that has read access to the child GA account that actually executes the ads. This is likely an account that:
A manager account so that it can track conversions across the client’s child GA accounts
Cannot have a manager account because, each GA account can only have one manager, and CDP acts as its manager to upload it offline conversions
Here is some additional GA documentation that can help you to better understand the process in detail:
Link Google Ads accounts
Before configuring Google Ad accounts, review Google Ad’s documentation about linking accounts:
Here are the steps:
Client’s Google Ad Account needs to give CDP’s Google Ads Manager Account enough permission to manage/access their ad account. This allows CDP to upload offline conversions on your behalf.
Within the Client Google Ad Account, find the Google Ads customer ID, and provide it to CDP
CDP requests the appropriate access to manage your ad account
Accept the request in the Client Ad Account:
In the client’s email attached to their ad account, the client receives a notification for the request.
To Accept or Decline the request, the client needs to login to their Ad Account
Go to Tools → Setup → Linked accounts
Go to the MANAGERS tab to see the request. They can Accept or Decline
Schedule and Execute
Once the accounts are linked, CDP sets up and automates the exports. First CDP exports a 90 day history of transactions. Then CDP schedules the daily incremental export.
To view the data uploaded through a successful export:
Go to your ad account
Go to Tools - (Measurement - Conversions)
If successful, the data appears in the All Conv. column.