Cross Device Attribution Reports in Google Ads (AdWords)
Table of Contents
- What are Cross Device Conversions?
- Introduction to Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
- How to Access Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
- The ‘Devices’ Report
- The ‘Assisting Devices’ Report
- Mobile Assist Ratio
- Tablet Assist Ratio
- Desktop Assist Ratio
- The ‘Device Paths’ Report
- Other Articles Related to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads
By using cross device attribution reports in Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) you can determine:
#1 How your customers who interacted with your search network ads (somewhere in their shopping journey) used different devices to convert on your website
#2 What role these devices played in their conversion paths.
For example, there is a possibility that some devices (Mobile, Tablet, Desktop) could be assisting conversions rather than directly completing conversions on your website.
This is generally the case with high priced items such as jewellery.
Often people do not feel comfortable carrying out high value transactions (like purchasing Jewellery) on mobile devices.
They may use their mobile devices for Jewellery research and then may return to your website later via desktop, to complete their purchase.
So if you are advertising on mobile devices and people are clicking on your jewellery ads but not making a purchase then it does not always mean that your mobile ads are not working.
It could be that people are using their mobile devices just for researching about your product and then later returning to your website directly, via desktop computer, to complete their purchase.
Through ‘cross device activity’ reports in Google ads, you can measure such cross device behavior of your website users.
Without the insight from cross device reports, you may never understand the role your mobile ads played in the conversion path.
You may then label your mobile ads ineffective and may even stop bidding on them.
If you are getting cross device conversions in Google Ads then you can benefit from cross device activity reports.
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
What are Cross Device Conversions?
In the context of Google Ads, cross device conversions are those conversion actions in which a user interact with your ads on one device/browser but completes conversion on another device / browser.
The device through which a user interact with your ads is called the ‘Ad Interaction Device‘.
The device through which a user complete a conversion on your website is called the ‘Conversion Device‘
Any Mobile, Tablet or Desktop can be reported as ‘Ad Interaction device’ or ‘conversion device’ by Google ads.
Note: Cross device conversions are recorded for ads on Google Search Network, Google Display Network and YouTube. They are not recorded for: mobile app install conversion actions, goals imported from Google Analytics, goals imported via Google Ads Conversion Import.
Introduction to Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
As the name suggest the cross device activity reports provide insight on cross device activities of the users who interacted with your ads.
Through cross device activity reports you can determine, how the people who interacted with your ads used different devices (mobile, tablet, desktop) on their path to conversion.
Google Ads provides the following three cross device activity reports:
- Devices report
- Assisting devices report
- Device paths report
Get the Free E-Book (52 Pages)
How to Access Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
To access cross device activity reports in Google Ads, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Sign in to your Google Ads account.
Step-2: Click on the ‘Tools’ tab and then click on the ‘Search Attribution‘ link under the ‘Measurement’ section:
Step-3: Click on the ‘Cross-Device Activity‘ link on the left hand side navigation menu:
You will then see the various cross device activity reports:
The ‘Devices’ Report
Through the devices report you can determine the total number of cross device conversions generated by each ad interaction device (Mobile, Tablet, Desktop).
You can see these cross device conversions based on ad clicks and ad impressions:
Conversions with Cross-Device Activity – It includes only those conversions which were assisted by more than 1 device.
Conversions – It includes all conversions whether or not they were assisted by more than 1 device.
% of Conversions with Cross-Device Activity = Conversions with Cross-Device Activity / Conversions
Ad Interaction Device – The device through which a user interacted with your ads.
Conversion Device – The device through which a user completed a conversion on your website.
The ‘Assisting Devices’ Report
Through this report you can determine following for each device:
- Last Click Conversions
- Last Click Conversion Value
- Click-Assisted Conversions
- Click-Assisted Conversion Value
- Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
- Impression-Assisted Conversions
- Impression-Assisted Conversion Value
- Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
To learn about the various metrics mentioned in this report, read this article: Understanding Assisted Conversions Report in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
The ‘Assisting Devices’ report also report on following three metrics:
- Mobile Assist Ratio
- Tablet Assist Ratio
- Desktop Assist Ratio
Mobile Assist Ratio
This metric tells you how often your mobile ads assisted conversions that were completed on other devices.
For example, a mobile assist ratio of 2 means that for every conversion completed on a mobile device, 2 conversions on other devices were assisted by a mobile device.
Google ads calculate and report on the ‘mobile assist ratio’ based on ad clicks and ad impressions.
Mobile Assist Ratio (based on ad clicks) = Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Mobile Assist Ratio (based on ad impressions) = Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Tablet Assist Ratio
This metric tells you how often your tablet ads (ads on tablet devices) assisted conversions that were completed on other devices.
For example, a tablet assist ratio of 2 means that for every conversion completed on a tablet device, 2 conversions on other devices were assisted by a tablet device.
Google ads calculate and report on the ‘tablet assist ratio’ based on ad clicks and ad impressions.
Tablet Assist Ratio (based on ad clicks) = Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Tablet Assist Ratio (based on ad impressions) = Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Desktop Assist Ratio
This metric tells you how often your desktop ads (ads on desktop devices) assisted conversions that were completed on other devices.
For example, a desktop assist ratio of 2 means that for every conversion completed on a desktop device, 2 conversions on other devices were assisted by a desktop device.
Google ads calculate and report on the ‘desktop assist ratio’ based on ad clicks and ad impressions.
Desktop Assist Ratio (based on ad clicks) = Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Desktop Assist Ratio (based on ad impressions) = Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
The ‘Device Paths’ Report
This report shows the top cross-device conversion paths and allows you to determine the order in which customers used different devices before they converted on your website.
As such, a traditional MMM model is not suitable for carrying out digital marketing mix modelling aka attribution modelling.
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
Other Articles Related to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads
- Guide to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Which Attribution Model to use in Google Ads (Google Adwords)?
- How to change Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Setting up Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Store visit conversion tracking in Google Ads (Google AdWords)
- Understanding the Analytics behind Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Cross Account Conversion Tracking in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Understanding View-Through conversions In Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Assisted Conversions Report in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Understanding Conversion Paths in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Understanding Search Attribution Reports in Google Ads (Adwords)
- How to test Attribution Model in Google Ads (Adwords)
Do you know the difference between Digital Analytics and Google Analytics?
99.99% of course creators themselves don’t know the difference between Digital analytics, Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).
So they are teaching GA and GTM in the name of teaching Digital analytics.
They just copy each other. Monkey see, monkey do.
But Digital analytics is not about GA, GTM.
It is about analyzing and interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies and KPIs.
It’s about creating strategic roadmap for your business.
Digital Analytics is the core skill. Google Analytics is just a tool used to implement ‘Digital Analytics’.
You can also implement ‘Digital analytics’ via other tools like ‘adobe analytics’, ‘kissmetrics’ etc.
Using Google Analytics without the good understanding of ‘Digital analytics’ is like driving around in a car, in a big city without understanding the traffic rules and road signs.
You are either likely to end up somewhere other than your destination or you get involved in an accident.
You learn data analysis and interpretation from Digital analytics and not from Google Analytics.
The direction in which your analysis will move, will determine the direction in which your marketing campaigns and eventually your company will move to get the highest possible return on investment.
You get that direction from ‘Digital analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
You learn to set up KPIs, strategies and measurement framework for your business from ‘Digital analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
So if you are taking a course only on 'Google Analytics’, you are learning to use one of the tools of ‘Digital analytics’. You are not learning the ‘Digital analytics’ itself.
Since any person can learn to use Google Analytics in couple of weeks, you do no get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing GA.
You need to know lot more than GA in order to work in digital analytics and marketing field.
So what I have done, if you are interested, is I have put together a completely free training that will teach you exactly how I have been able to leverage digital analytics to generate floods of news sales and customers and how you can literally copy what I have done to get similar results.
Here what You'll Learn On This FREE Web Class!
1) The number 1 reason why most marketers and business owners are not able to scale their advertising and maximise sales.
2) Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
3) The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
4) How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
5) How to learn and master digital analytics in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Himanshu Sharma
Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com
Table of Contents
- What are Cross Device Conversions?
- Introduction to Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
- How to Access Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
- The ‘Devices’ Report
- The ‘Assisting Devices’ Report
- Mobile Assist Ratio
- Tablet Assist Ratio
- Desktop Assist Ratio
- The ‘Device Paths’ Report
- Other Articles Related to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads
By using cross device attribution reports in Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) you can determine:
#1 How your customers who interacted with your search network ads (somewhere in their shopping journey) used different devices to convert on your website
#2 What role these devices played in their conversion paths.
For example, there is a possibility that some devices (Mobile, Tablet, Desktop) could be assisting conversions rather than directly completing conversions on your website.
This is generally the case with high priced items such as jewellery.
Often people do not feel comfortable carrying out high value transactions (like purchasing Jewellery) on mobile devices.
They may use their mobile devices for Jewellery research and then may return to your website later via desktop, to complete their purchase.
So if you are advertising on mobile devices and people are clicking on your jewellery ads but not making a purchase then it does not always mean that your mobile ads are not working.
It could be that people are using their mobile devices just for researching about your product and then later returning to your website directly, via desktop computer, to complete their purchase.
Through ‘cross device activity’ reports in Google ads, you can measure such cross device behavior of your website users.
Without the insight from cross device reports, you may never understand the role your mobile ads played in the conversion path.
You may then label your mobile ads ineffective and may even stop bidding on them.
If you are getting cross device conversions in Google Ads then you can benefit from cross device activity reports.
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
What are Cross Device Conversions?
In the context of Google Ads, cross device conversions are those conversion actions in which a user interact with your ads on one device/browser but completes conversion on another device / browser.
The device through which a user interact with your ads is called the ‘Ad Interaction Device‘.
The device through which a user complete a conversion on your website is called the ‘Conversion Device‘
Any Mobile, Tablet or Desktop can be reported as ‘Ad Interaction device’ or ‘conversion device’ by Google ads.
Note: Cross device conversions are recorded for ads on Google Search Network, Google Display Network and YouTube. They are not recorded for: mobile app install conversion actions, goals imported from Google Analytics, goals imported via Google Ads Conversion Import.
Introduction to Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
As the name suggest the cross device activity reports provide insight on cross device activities of the users who interacted with your ads.
Through cross device activity reports you can determine, how the people who interacted with your ads used different devices (mobile, tablet, desktop) on their path to conversion.
Google Ads provides the following three cross device activity reports:
- Devices report
- Assisting devices report
- Device paths report
Get the Free E-Book (52 Pages)
How to Access Cross Device Activity Reports in Google Ads
To access cross device activity reports in Google Ads, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Sign in to your Google Ads account.
Step-2: Click on the ‘Tools’ tab and then click on the ‘Search Attribution‘ link under the ‘Measurement’ section:
Step-3: Click on the ‘Cross-Device Activity‘ link on the left hand side navigation menu:
You will then see the various cross device activity reports:
The ‘Devices’ Report
Through the devices report you can determine the total number of cross device conversions generated by each ad interaction device (Mobile, Tablet, Desktop).
You can see these cross device conversions based on ad clicks and ad impressions:
Conversions with Cross-Device Activity – It includes only those conversions which were assisted by more than 1 device.
Conversions – It includes all conversions whether or not they were assisted by more than 1 device.
% of Conversions with Cross-Device Activity = Conversions with Cross-Device Activity / Conversions
Ad Interaction Device – The device through which a user interacted with your ads.
Conversion Device – The device through which a user completed a conversion on your website.
The ‘Assisting Devices’ Report
Through this report you can determine following for each device:
- Last Click Conversions
- Last Click Conversion Value
- Click-Assisted Conversions
- Click-Assisted Conversion Value
- Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
- Impression-Assisted Conversions
- Impression-Assisted Conversion Value
- Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
To learn about the various metrics mentioned in this report, read this article: Understanding Assisted Conversions Report in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
The ‘Assisting Devices’ report also report on following three metrics:
- Mobile Assist Ratio
- Tablet Assist Ratio
- Desktop Assist Ratio
Mobile Assist Ratio
This metric tells you how often your mobile ads assisted conversions that were completed on other devices.
For example, a mobile assist ratio of 2 means that for every conversion completed on a mobile device, 2 conversions on other devices were assisted by a mobile device.
Google ads calculate and report on the ‘mobile assist ratio’ based on ad clicks and ad impressions.
Mobile Assist Ratio (based on ad clicks) = Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Mobile Assist Ratio (based on ad impressions) = Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Tablet Assist Ratio
This metric tells you how often your tablet ads (ads on tablet devices) assisted conversions that were completed on other devices.
For example, a tablet assist ratio of 2 means that for every conversion completed on a tablet device, 2 conversions on other devices were assisted by a tablet device.
Google ads calculate and report on the ‘tablet assist ratio’ based on ad clicks and ad impressions.
Tablet Assist Ratio (based on ad clicks) = Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Tablet Assist Ratio (based on ad impressions) = Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Desktop Assist Ratio
This metric tells you how often your desktop ads (ads on desktop devices) assisted conversions that were completed on other devices.
For example, a desktop assist ratio of 2 means that for every conversion completed on a desktop device, 2 conversions on other devices were assisted by a desktop device.
Google ads calculate and report on the ‘desktop assist ratio’ based on ad clicks and ad impressions.
Desktop Assist Ratio (based on ad clicks) = Click-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
Desktop Assist Ratio (based on ad impressions) = Impression-Assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions
The ‘Device Paths’ Report
This report shows the top cross-device conversion paths and allows you to determine the order in which customers used different devices before they converted on your website.
As such, a traditional MMM model is not suitable for carrying out digital marketing mix modelling aka attribution modelling.
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
Other Articles Related to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads
- Guide to Attribution Modelling in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Which Attribution Model to use in Google Ads (Google Adwords)?
- How to change Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Setting up Data Driven Attribution Model in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Store visit conversion tracking in Google Ads (Google AdWords)
- Understanding the Analytics behind Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Cross Account Conversion Tracking in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Understanding View-Through conversions In Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Assisted Conversions Report in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Understanding Conversion Paths in Google Ads (Google Adwords)
- Understanding Search Attribution Reports in Google Ads (Adwords)
- How to test Attribution Model in Google Ads (Adwords)
Do you know the difference between Digital Analytics and Google Analytics?
99.99% of course creators themselves don’t know the difference between Digital analytics, Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).So they are teaching GA and GTM in the name of teaching Digital analytics.
They just copy each other. Monkey see, monkey do.
But Digital analytics is not about GA, GTM.
It is about analyzing and interpreting data, setting up goals, strategies and KPIs.
It’s about creating strategic roadmap for your business.
Digital Analytics is the core skill. Google Analytics is just a tool used to implement ‘Digital Analytics’.You can also implement ‘Digital analytics’ via other tools like ‘adobe analytics’, ‘kissmetrics’ etc.
Using Google Analytics without the good understanding of ‘Digital analytics’ is like driving around in a car, in a big city without understanding the traffic rules and road signs.
You are either likely to end up somewhere other than your destination or you get involved in an accident.
You learn data analysis and interpretation from Digital analytics and not from Google Analytics.The direction in which your analysis will move, will determine the direction in which your marketing campaigns and eventually your company will move to get the highest possible return on investment.
You get that direction from ‘Digital analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.
You learn to set up KPIs, strategies and measurement framework for your business from ‘Digital analytics’ and not from ‘Google Analytics’.So if you are taking a course only on 'Google Analytics’, you are learning to use one of the tools of ‘Digital analytics’. You are not learning the ‘Digital analytics’ itself.
Since any person can learn to use Google Analytics in couple of weeks, you do no get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing GA.
You need to know lot more than GA in order to work in digital analytics and marketing field.
So what I have done, if you are interested, is I have put together a completely free training that will teach you exactly how I have been able to leverage digital analytics to generate floods of news sales and customers and how you can literally copy what I have done to get similar results.
Here what You'll Learn On This FREE Web Class!
1) The number 1 reason why most marketers and business owners are not able to scale their advertising and maximise sales.
2) Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics.
3) The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business.
4) How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget.
5) How to learn and master digital analytics in record time.
My best selling books on Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization
Maths and Stats for Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization
This expert guide will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of maths and statistics in order to accurately interpret data and take actions, which can quickly improve the bottom-line of your online business.
Master the Essentials of Email Marketing Analytics
This book focuses solely on the ‘analytics’ that power your email marketing optimization program and will help you dramatically reduce your cost per acquisition and increase marketing ROI by tracking the performance of the various KPIs and metrics used for email marketing.
Attribution Modelling in Google Analytics and Beyond
Attribution modelling is the process of determining the most effective marketing channels for investment. This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling. It will teach you how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to allocate marketing budget and understand buying behaviour.
Attribution Modelling in Google Ads and Facebook
This book has been written to help you implement attribution modelling in Google Ads (Google AdWords) and Facebook. It will teach you, how to leverage the knowledge of attribution modelling in order to understand the customer purchasing journey and determine the most effective marketing channels for investment.
Himanshu Sharma
Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder of Optimizesmart.com