Cross Account Conversion Tracking in Google Ads (Adwords)

Attribution Modelling

Last Updated: May 26, 2022

Google Ads let you track conversions across multiple Adwords accounts via cross account conversion tracking.

If you are a business conglomerate that uses multiple Adwords accounts and you wish to simplify conversion tracking and consolidate data across all of your Adwords accounts then consider using ‘cross account conversion tracking’.

Advantages of using Cross Account Conversion Tracking in Google Ads

Following are the key advantages of using ‘cross account conversion tracking’:

#1 Cross-account conversion tracking minimises duplicate conversion counts, where the same conversion is counted multiple times in different Adwords accounts. Thus you get more accurate conversion data. This is the biggest advantage of using ‘cross account conversion tracking’

#2 Cross-account conversion tracking makes ‘cross account attribution’ possible within Google Adwords. For example with the help of Cross account conversion tracking, you can determine how your: campaigns, ad groups, ads, and keywords within one account assist conversions within another account.  Thus ‘cross-account conversion tracking’ provides a holistic view of your advertising.

#3 Cross-account conversion tracking helps in consolidating your data across all of your Adwords accounts. For example, you can measure the performance of your keywords across all of your Adwords accounts.

#4 You can use one ‘Google Adwords conversion tracking tag’ for multiple Adwords accounts.

Without ‘Cross account conversion tracking’ you would have to use account-specific conversion tracking tags and may need to set up the same conversions multiple times, one for each account.

In other words, you would need to add multiple conversion tracking tags to your website, one tag for each Adwords account. This makes account-specific conversion tracking complex to implement and maintain.

Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook

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Requirements for Setting up Cross Account Conversion Tracking

#1 You use two or more Adwords accounts and these accounts belong to the same company.

#2 You use ‘My client Center’ account (also known as Google Adwords Manager Account) to set up ‘cross-account conversion tracking’.

In the context of ‘My Client Center’ account, there are two broad categories of Adwords conversions:

#1 Account specific conversions

#2 Cross account conversions

Note: Google Adwords does not provide cross MCC account tracking. So if your Adwords accounts are managed by different ad agencies via different MCC accounts, then you would first need to bring all of your Adwords accounts under one MCC account before setting up cross-account conversion tracking.

Setting up Cross Account Conversion Tracking

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Sign in to your My Client Center (MCC) account and then click on the ‘Accounts’ tab in the top navigation:

Cross Account Conversion Tracking

Step 2: Click on the three-dot icon in the upper right-hand corner:

three dot icon

Step-3: Click on the ‘Conversions’ link:

conversions 1

Step-4: Click on the ‘+Conversion’ button:

conversion actions button

Step-5: Select your conversion source. I selected ‘website’:

new conversion action

Step-6: Define your conversion action as you usually would by entering the:

  • Conversion Name
  • Conversion Category
  • Conversion Value
  • Conversion Count
  • Conversion Window
  • View through Conversion Window
  • Include in Conversions
  • Attribution Model
name category value
count model

Step-7: Click on the ‘Create and Continue’ button.

Step-8: Copy-paste the Global Site Tag between the <head></head> tags of every page of your website.

global site tag

Note: The global site tag is used to add visitors to your basic remarketing lists

Step-9: Copy-paste the event snippet in between the <head></head> tags of the page(s) you’d like to track, right after the global site tag:

event snippet

One of the best places to put the ‘event snippet’ is on the ‘thank-you’ page (the page which is shown to a user after he/she has completed your desired action).

Note(1): The Event snippet is used to track actions that should be counted as conversions.

Note(2): Google recommends leaving your old account-specific conversion tracking tag(s) intact for as long as the number of days in your chosen conversion window. Otherwise, you could lose the conversions generated from the ad clicks which occurred before you set up ‘cross-account conversion tracking’.

Step-10: Click on the ‘Next‘ button. You will now see the following confirmation message:

you have setup

Step-11: Click on the ‘Done’ button to complete your cross-account conversion set up. You can now see your ‘cross-account conversion’ set up:

recording conversions

Note: Test your new conversion setup and make sure that the conversion action status read ‘Recording Conversions‘. This may take a couple of hours.

Step-12: Navigate back to the ‘Accounts’ tab by clicking on the ‘arrow’ button:

arrow button

Step-13: Click on the ‘Management‘ tab and then select the Adwords account(s), you want to share your new ‘conversion’ with:

select accounts

Step-14: Click on the ‘Edit’ drop-down menu and then click on ‘Change manager’:

change manager

Step-15: Select your conversion account:

select conversion account

Note: Conversion account is that Adwords account where conversions were created.

Step-16: Navigate back to the conversion action, we created earlier. You should now see a lock icon next to it:

lock icon 1

The lock icon means the conversion is now shared across accounts and is a cross-account conversion.

lock icon2

If you navigate to the other Adwords account with which you shared the ‘Form Lead’ conversion, you will see the same conversion listed there:

You have now successfully shared your conversion with managed accounts.

Disabling Cross Account Conversion Tracking

When you disabling cross-account conversion tracking, it stops the sharing of your ‘cross-account conversions’ with one or more managed accounts.  

If you want to disable ‘cross account conversion tracking’ for a particular Adwords account then follow the steps below:

Step-1: Sign in to your My Client Center (MCC) account and then click on the ‘Accounts’ tab.

Step-2: Open the Adwords account for which you want to disable the ‘cross account conversion tracking’.

Step-3: Click on the three-dot icon in the upper right-hand corner:

three dot icon

Step-4: Click on the ‘Conversions’ link:

conversions 1

Step-5: Click on the ‘Settings’ link under ‘Conversions Actions’:

conversion settings

Step-6: Set the ‘Conversion Account’ to this account and then click on the ‘Save’ button:

conversion account

You will then see the following message:

change conversion account

Step-7: Click on the ‘Change Account’ button. This action will disable the ‘cross-account conversion tracking’ in the selected Adwords account and the account will be able to record ‘account-specific conversions’ again.

You will now no longer see the cross-account conversion listed:

no longer listed

Step-8: Add the account-specific conversion tracking tag again to your website.

Note: Google recommends leaving your old cross-account conversion tracking tag intact for as long as the number of days in your chosen conversion window. Otherwise, you could lose the conversions generated from the ad clicks which occurred before you set up the ‘account-specific conversion tracking’.

Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook

Get my best selling books on Attribution Modelling

  • Learn to implement attribution modelling in your organisation
  • Understand the customer purchase journey across devices
  • Determine the most effective marketing channels for investment

 Click book covers to find out more

  1. Guide to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  2. Which Attribution Model to use in Google Ads (Google Adwords)?
  3. Cross device attribution reports in Google Ads (Google AdWords)
  4. How to change Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  5. Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  6. Setting up Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  7. Store visit conversion tracking in Google Ads (Google AdWords)
  8. Understanding the Analytics behind Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  9. Understanding View-Through conversions In Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  10. Assisted Conversions Report in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  11. Understanding Conversion Paths in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
  12. Understanding Search Attribution Reports in Google Ads (Adwords)
  13. How to test Attribution Model in Google Ads (Adwords)

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About the Author

Himanshu Sharma

  • Founder, OptimizeSmart.com
  • Over 15 years of experience in digital analytics and marketing
  • Author of four best-selling books on digital analytics and conversion optimization
  • Nominated for Digital Analytics Association Awards for Excellence
  • Runs one of the most popular blogs in the world on digital analytics
  • Consultant to countless small and big businesses over the decade
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