Google Ads Tracking Templates and Final URL Suffix

This guide uses Google Ads Help: About tracking in Google Ads, Final URL: Definition, Tracking template: Definition, Add a Final URL suffix, About URL parameters, About ValueTrack parameters, Set up tracking with ValueTrack parameters, Create custom parameters, About parallel tracking, Use parallel tracking and Test your landing page. How to build UTM tags themselves is covered in our UTM tracking links guide; this page is about where Google Ads puts them.

The three URL fields at a glance

Google groups the tracking fields under "URL options", which "consists of 3 main sections": the tracking template, custom parameters and the final URL suffix. The final URL sits next to them on every ad. Here is what each one is for.

Final URL

Google defines the final URL as "the URL address of the webpage in your website that people reach after they click your ad". Four rules from that page matter for tracking:

• "Your landing page and display URL, or the webpage shown in your ad, must share the same domain." Breaking this leads to Destination mismatch disapprovals; our Policy manager guide covers how to fix those.
• "You may not use cross-domain redirects in your final URL." Redirect-based trackers belong in the tracking template instead.
• If you keep separate mobile pages, enter them in the final URL for mobile field under "Ad URL options".
• Parameters that change the page content, such as a product ID, go in the final URL. Google's URL parameters page says content-modifying parameters "are required to be set in the final URL exclusively".

Tracking template

Google calls the tracking template the field "where you put tracking information". When someone clicks, Google Ads uses it to build the tracking URL from your final URL, ValueTrack parameters and custom parameters. Most templates start with {lpurl}, the ValueTrack parameter that inserts the final URL.

That parameter is not optional above the ad level. Google says: "Tracking templates at the account, campaign, or ad group level must include a ValueTrack parameter that inserts your final URL, like {lpurl}." Without it, "your landing page URL will break." Dynamic Search Ads and auto-targets need a URL insertion parameter "at all levels".

Other rules Google lists for templates:

• HTTPS and server-side. "The tracking template URL and all redirect URLs need to be HTTPS to work. The redirects also need to be server-side." Google Ads "will always use HTTPS for the first tracking call" even if you enter http.
• Time to take effect. "Changes to tracking templates take 24–48 hours to be reflected in your ads serving after updates are made."
• No spaces. Spaces break URLs; a two-word keyword shows up as %20 in your data instead.
• Question marks. If your final URL already has a ?, Google Ads replaces the ? in your template with &, so {lpurl}? is safe for both kinds of URL.

Final URL suffix

Google says the final URL suffix "allows you to enter parameters that will be attached to the end of your landing page URL so you can track information about where people go after they click your ad." You enter only the parameters (Google's example is just x=y) and Google Ads attaches them to the landing page URL.

Google's own example shows how it combines with a template:

• Tracking template: tracker.com/redirect={lpurl}
• Final URL suffix: x=y
• With parallel tracking, the visitor goes straight to https://example.com/?x=y "while the tracking is processed in background".
• With sequential tracking, they "will first be directed to tracker.com/redirect={lpurl} before landing on https://example.com/?x=y."

In both cases the suffix ends up on the page the visitor sees. That makes it the natural home for parameters your analytics tool reads on the landing page, such as UTM tags, while the tracking template is for click measurement that runs separately.

To add one at account level, Google's steps are: Admin > Account settings > Tracking Template, enter the parameters in the "Final URL suffix" field, then Save. The same field exists at campaign, ad group, ad, keyword, dynamic ad target and sitelink level; at ad level it sits under "Ad URL options (advanced)".

Levels: which setting wins

Google says you can set URL options "at the account, campaign, ad group, keyword, or sitelink level", and the final URL suffix page adds ad and dynamic ads target. Performance Max asset groups have their own "Asset group URL options". When more than one level has a template, the most specific one is used:

Keyword > ad > ad group > campaign > account

Google's wording is that "the keyword tracking template is the most specific followed by the ad, ad group, campaign, then account." The "Tracking template source" column shows which template applies. Custom parameters follow the same rule: if an ad group sets {_color}=red and one of its ads sets {_color}=blue, the ad uses blue.

The level also decides whether editing triggers a review. Google says changes "at the ad group, campaign, or account level" go live "without resubmitting your ads for approval", while changes "at the ad, keyword, or sitelink level" still go through review. Editing an ad's custom parameters goes further: "Saving sends this new ad for review, and removes your old ad", so the ad's history starts again. That is a strong reason to keep tracking at account or campaign level.

Parallel tracking

"Parallel tracking is mandatory for Search, Shopping, Display, Video, and Performance Max campaigns. For hotel campaigns, parallel tracking is optional." Some accounts still see a parallel tracking switch in Account settings, but Google says it applies only to hotel campaigns.

With parallel tracking the visitor clicks your ad and sees your landing page; "at the same time, in the background", the Google Ads click tracker and your tracking URL load. Without it, the visitor passes through each redirect first, so "it takes longer for customers to reach your landing page."

The practical effect: your tracking template's redirect chain no longer carries the visitor. Anything the landing page itself must receive belongs in the final URL or the final URL suffix. Google also tells you to check with your click measurement provider, because "if there is an incompatibility, your click measurement could stop working."

ValueTrack parameters

ValueTrack parameters are placeholders in braces that Google Ads fills in at the click. Google explains that they "collect information about the source of your ad clicks" and can go in the final URL, the tracking template or a custom parameter, though Google suggests the tracking template. If Google can't insert a value, it puts an empty space. Some common ones from Google's list:

A few rules worth knowing:

• IF functions. {ifmobile:[value]}, {ifnotmobile:[value]}, {ifsearch:[value]} and {ifcontent:[value]} insert your own text only when the condition is true.
• Escaping. {lpurl} "will be escaped unless you put {lpurl} at the beginning of your tracking template." For redirect chains Google offers variants such as {lpurl+2}, {escapedlpurl} and {unescapedlpurl}, each followed by its own encoded question mark (for example {lpurl}%3F when it is not at the start).
• Campaign support differs. Google lists ValueTrack as compatible with Search, Display, AI Max for Search, Shopping, Video and App campaigns. Demand Gen ads don't support {placement}, {target} or {keyword}, and in Performance Max some parameters, including {gclid}, have only limited support.

Separating AI Max traffic is a newer use. Google says a {matchtype} of "a" confirms a keywordless match, and that {search_term_matchtype} equal to "a" with a normal {matchtype} marks AI Max broad expansions. Our AI Max guide explains those matches.

Custom parameters

Custom parameters let you choose the value yourself, unlike ValueTrack. Google's limits:

• "Up to 8 custom parameters at any level of your account except for the account level."
• Name: "Up to 16 alphanumeric characters". Value: "Up to 250 characters", which can include ValueTrack parameters.
• The name starts with an underscore inside braces, such as {_campaign}.

You define the value at campaign, ad group, ad, keyword or sitelink level, then reference it in a template. Google's example: set {_campaign}=branding or {_campaign}=leads on each campaign and use one account template, {lpurl}?source_campaign={_campaign}. One template then reports a clean, readable name per campaign. If you change a sitelink's custom parameters, the change also applies everywhere that sitelink is shared.

Anchors, {ignore} and AI Max

Anchors. If your final URL has an anchor (#) or AJAX fragment (#!) and your template appends parameters to the end, Google says "you must put all the tracking parameters in your final URL", ideally behind {ignore}. Its example is http://site.com?{ignore}param=1&tracking=1&device={device}#anchor.

{ignore}. It works only in the final URL or final mobile URL and tells Google Ads that everything after it is tracking, not page content. Google adds: "You must use {ignore} in your final URL if anything in your final URL can be modified by a third party when someone clicks on your ad."

AI Max. With final URL expansion, AI Max may send people to a different page on your site. Google warns that templates that don't use {lpurl} in the usual way can break those pages with a 404. The safe patterns are {lpurl}?, {lpurl}&, {lpurl}# or plain {lpurl}. A fixed URL with no {lpurl} sends everyone to that one URL.

Testing your URLs

Every tracking template field has a Test button. Google says it "will combine your final URL with any tracking you set up to make sure your ad will lead to a landing page URL." To test at campaign, ad group or keyword level, add the "Tracking template" column (Columns > Modify columns > Attributes), select the template and choose Test. For ads and sitelinks, open the item and find Test under the URL options. Results you may see:

The test has limits. Google says it "doesn't check for Google Ads policies violations", "doesn't catch all parallel tracking errors", and doesn't work for standard Shopping product ads. After the 24 to 48 hours a template change can take, also click a live ad yourself or check your analytics for the new parameters.

A simple setup

This is our suggestion for a typical small business account, not a Google rule:

1. Keep final URLs clean: only the real page address, plus any parameter that changes the page content.
2. Put UTM tags, if you use them, in the account-level final URL suffix, for example utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={_campaign}. Our UTM guide covers naming. You may not need them: Google's auto-tagging page says auto-tagging adds a GCLID to the click URL, is on by default for new accounts, and that in GA4 "auto-tagging is prioritized over manual tagging". Our auto-tagging guide explains how the two work together.
3. Use the tracking template only for a third-party click tracker, or for ValueTrack data your own system needs, starting with {lpurl}.
4. Set things at account or campaign level so edits don't send ads back to review.
5. Press Test after every change, then click a live ad once the change has had time to apply.
6. Make sure your site accepts extra URL parameters and keeps them through redirects. Google notes that "a small percentage of websites don't allow arbitrary URL parameters", and that with redirects "it's also important to make sure the GCLID is passed to the final landing page" for conversion tracking.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a tracking template and a final URL suffix?

The tracking template builds a tracking URL around your final URL; with parallel tracking it loads in the background. The final URL suffix adds parameters to the end of the landing page URL the visitor actually sees.

Do I need {lpurl} in my tracking template?

Yes at account, campaign and ad group level. Google says those templates must include a parameter that inserts the final URL, such as {lpurl}, or the landing page URL will break. Dynamic Search Ads need one at all levels.

Can I turn off parallel tracking?

Not for Search, Shopping, Display, Video or Performance Max campaigns, where Google says it is mandatory. The switch in Account settings applies only to hotel campaigns.

How long do tracking template changes take?

Google says changes to tracking templates take 24 to 48 hours to show in your ads serving.

Can I set custom parameters at account level?

No. Google allows up to 8 custom parameters at any level except the account level. You can still reference them in an account-level tracking template.

Tracking only helps if the landing page turns clicks into enquiries. See our Google Ads basics guide, our website development service and all our services, or email [email protected].