Google Ads (Auto-Append)
Rockerbox’s is able to apply URL tracking automatically to most Google Ads using the Google Ads API. This automatically appends a set of Rockerbox parameters to all relevant objects in your Google Ads account. All UTMs and other custom parameters will remain in place.
Setup Instructions
- Authenticate your Google Ads account(s) here. This will allow Rockerbox to ingest daily spend and append our parameters to your campaigns.
- Reach out to support@rockerbox.com letting them know the channel, the launch date, and the tier structure you'd like applied for this type of marketing activity.
- The day after launch, confirm that tracking is applied to all your ads using the Advertising Platform page. More info on QAing your tracking can be found here.
If you see that tracking is not applied to specific placements, it's possible that they did not meet the below requirements for having tracking applied automatically. Take next steps to apply tracking manually.
Auto-Parameter Requirements
- No ads using the Final URL Suffix field. We recommend moving all ad-level values to the ad group or campaign.
- Not using SA360 or any other platform that overwrites the Final URL Suffix field.
- Not using the Final URL Suffix field on video campaign types or any ad groups or ads underneath video campaigns.
- Not using the Final URL Suffix field on express campaign types or any ad groups or ads underneath express campaigns.
- Cannot apply for any objects using DCM internal redirect tags in the Tracking URL Template field. If you have any objects with these fields, follow this process to add and manually maintain tracking for those objects. You can use Auto-Append for any other objects in the account that do not use the DCM internal redirect tags.
- Not using the Final URL Suffix field on keywords or sitelinks
- Not using tracking URL templates with {lpurl} on any level of the account
How Rockerbox Parameters are Applied
The Final URL Suffix field will be modified at these levels:
- Account Level: Rockerbox parameters will be added to support object types that don’t have a Final URL Suffix field (some “smart” campaigns that were migrated from Google Express) and some campaign types that are not accessible via the Google API (video campaigns).
- Campaign Level: Rockerbox parameters will be added. Any UTMs or custom parameters from the account level will also be appended to ensure that no tracking is lost when campaigns are no longer inheriting the Final URL Suffix value from the account level.
- Ad Group Level: Rockerbox parameters will be added only if there are other parameters in place already. This is to ensure that Rockerbox parameters don’t override custom UTMs that might be in place on a higher level in the account. As with the campaign level, if parameters are added, they will include any custom account level UTMs as well. If all custom parameters are removed from an ad set that previously contained some, the Rockerbox parameters will also be removed at the next scheduled auto-append run.
Contact Rockerbox for assistance resolving this if it significantly impacts your reporting.
View-Based Tracking for Google
Rockerbox is able to track view-based activity for some ad types where views are within the more common ways a user engages with an ad. Supported tracking includes:
Pixel-Based Tracking
Google supports 3rd party impression pixels for display inventory run through the Google Display Network. See our GDN Impression Tracking instructions for more information on how to implement Rockerbox pixels.
Probabilistic Tracking
For ad types where Google does not allow 3rd party view-based tracking, Rockerbox may create synthetic events to close the gap in attributed conversions.
Synthetic events are currently supported for Youtube ads where the ad network type = YOUTUBE_WATCH
- PMAX
- Discovery
- Demand Generation