What is auto-tagging

Auto-tagging is a feature that is needed to:

  • Track conversions on your website on all browsers.
  • Import conversion data into Google Ads from Google Analytics, as well as other external sources, such as your Customer Relation Management (CRM) system.
  • Import Google Ads campaign and cost data into Google Analytics reports.
  • Import Google Analytics site engagement metrics, such as bounce rate and average session duration, into Google Ads reporting.

How auto-tagging works in Google ads and Microsoft Ads

Whenever someone clicks on your ad, Google adds Gclid and Microsoft adds Msclkid to the URL, to identify the campaign and other attributes of the click associated with the ad for ad tracking and campaign attribution.

What info is captured in Auto-tagging

When you use auto-tagging, you can see data for the following dimensions:

  • Campaign (Campaign name)
  • Source (Source of click/Google)
  • Medium (Medium of click/CPC)
  • Content (for content differentiation)
  • Keyword (keyword that has triggered the ad)
  • Query Match Type (How your keyword was actually matched to the search query)
  • Ad Group (The ad group associated with the keyword/creative and click)
  • Final URL (Google Ads Final URL)
  • Ad Format (text, display, video)
  • Ad Distribution Network (Google Search)
  • Placement Domain (the domain on the content network where your ads were displayed)
  • Google Ads Customer ID (the unique three-part number that’s assigned to your Google Ads account).

 Why need Auto-tagging in Google ads and Microsoft ads

  1. Auto-tagging saves time. The easiest way to start tracking conversions. Tagging every campaign URL is time-consuming for big ad accounts.
  2. Auto-tagging is imperative if you need to import Google Analytics conversions into Google Ads.
  3. If you want to set offline conversion tracking, you first need to turn Auto-tagging on.
  4. Using Auto-tagging, the dimensions would get consistent in Google and Microsoft like medium as CPC in both.

When you use auto-tagging, you get richer data than with manual tagging in the following reports

  1. Hour of Day
  2. Placements (Where your ads on the content network were placed)
  3. Display Targeting
  4. Video Campaigns
  5. Shopping Campaigns

When to use manual tagging instead of Auto-tagging in Google Ads

If need any tracking changes that are more specific, then we can do that with manual tagging(value track parameters and custom parameters).
For example, When you need to use Source other than Google and Medium other than CPC.

Need Paid Ads services to grow your business? Get a free consultation with us!