Cross-account conversion tracking in Google Ads

This guide is built from Google Ads Help: About cross-account conversion tracking and Manager Accounts: Set up cross-account conversion tracking. Manager accounts themselves are covered in our Google Ads manager account guide, and creating conversion actions and tags in our conversion tracking guide.

What it is

Normally each Google Ads account has its own conversion actions and its own tag on your site. With cross-account conversion tracking, the conversion actions are created in a manager account instead, and the client accounts you choose use them. Google's example is a hotel company with several accounts sending traffic to one reservation page: it creates one cross-account conversion action in the manager account, puts that tag on the reservation page, and "The same tag will then track conversions for all Google Ads accounts" that use it.

When it helps

Google lists four benefits:

• Fewer tags and reports: one tag across several accounts.
• Combined attribution reports: the attribution reports in the manager account cover all accounts that use the feature, including keyword paths across accounts.
• Fewer miscounts: fewer tags on the site means less risk of counting one conversion twice.
• Faster pages: less code on your site.

Google adds that it "is beneficial for Smart Bidding as it provides more data". It suits a business that runs several accounts for one website, such as separate accounts per country or brand. A single account gains nothing from it.

The rules that come with it

• "A Google Ads account can use account-specific conversions or cross-account conversions. It can't use both." Once a client account uses the manager's actions, it stops using its own.
• Client accounts can see cross-account conversion actions but can't change them; only the manager account can.
• Conversion actions can't be shared between client accounts, only from a manager account.
• An account in more than one manager account can use conversion actions from only one of them.
• Data from the client's old account-specific actions stays available.
• Google Ads tags from manager accounts take priority over account-level tags.
• Google Analytics goals and transactions need to be imported into the manager account that owns the cross-account actions.

Setting it up

Google's setup page has two steps, plus a clean-up.

1. Create the conversion actions in the manager account, the same way as in any account, choosing the right conversion source. Add the new tag to your conversion pages if needed. Leave the old tag in place: Google says not to remove old conversion actions or tags "until your conversion window has passed", or you could lose conversions from earlier clicks.
2. Choose the accounts. In the manager account, click the Accounts icon and open Sub-account settings. In the Google Ads Conversion Account column, click the cell for each account and select This manager.
3. Remove the old tag once the conversion window has passed.

Google's warning: add the tags to the site before changing any conversion accounts, "Otherwise, conversions won't be recorded." To check it works, at least one conversion should be recorded in a client account that uses the manager's actions. Related setups are covered in our guides to enhanced conversions and offline conversion imports.

The Conversion account column

The Google Ads Conversion Account column in Sub-account settings shows where each account's conversions are managed:

• Client: no manager account is chosen; the account uses its own conversion actions.
• This Manager: the manager account you are in manages its conversions.
• Another name: a different manager account manages them.

Smart Bidding and goals

Two points from Google matter most for performance.

First, when an account switches to cross-account tracking, "campaigns targeting a specific conversion action will switch to using the MCC account's default conversion goals". The manager account may not have the same goals as the client account, so check each campaign's goals after the switch. The same happens when switching back.

Second, "Smart Bidding will learn across all conversion actions reported in the 'Conversions' column", even across different goals and bid strategies, and including campaigns in other accounts that share the tracking. That is the point of the feature when accounts sell the same thing, and a problem when they don't. Primary and secondary actions and goals are explained in our conversion tracking guide.

Which manager account to use

If you have more than one manager account, Google suggests:

• several product lines leading to the same conversion: set up tracking in the manager account above all of them;
• product lines or divisions with completely different conversions: consider separate tracking for each, if you don't want Smart Bidding to learn across them.

Switching back

A client account can go back to its own conversion actions at any time. Google says you can switch "without losing any conversions", with two precautions: make sure the client account's own tags are still on the site (or create new ones), and leave the cross-account tag in place for the length of the conversion window.

• From the manager account: Sub-account settings, Conversion account cell, select Client.
• From the client account: Goals menu, Settings, Conversion account, select This account and save.

If a client account is unlinked from the manager, the effects on conversions are described in the unlinking section of our manager account guide.

How we use it

This is our own practice, not Google's guidance:

• We use it only when several accounts send traffic to the same site for the same kind of conversion.
• We use the client's own manager account where they have one, not our agency manager, so tracking doesn't depend on us.
• We review every campaign's conversion goals the day after the switch, and keep the old tags until the conversion window has passed.

If you want help with conversion tracking across several accounts, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Google Ads account use its own and cross-account conversions at the same time?

No. Google says an account can use account-specific or cross-account conversions, not both.

Can a client account edit cross-account conversion actions?

No. Client accounts can see them, but only the manager account can change them.

Do I lose conversion data when I switch to cross-account tracking?

Existing data for account-specific conversions stays available. To avoid missing new conversions, keep the old tag until your conversion window has passed.

How do I stop using cross-account conversion tracking?

In the manager account, set the account's Conversion account to Client, or in the client account go to Goals, Settings, Conversion account and select This account.

Does cross-account conversion tracking affect Smart Bidding?

Yes. Smart Bidding learns from all conversion actions in the Conversions column, including those from other accounts that share the tracking, and campaigns switch to the manager account's default goals.

For more on Google Ads conversions, see our guides to conversion value rules and auto-tagging.