---
title: Google Ads conversion tracking for your event
description: Configure Google Ads conversion reporting for paid competition and challenge registrations
order: 1
---

# Google Ads conversion tracking for your event

DistantRace can attribute paid registrations that start from Google Ads, Meta, Microsoft, or a UTM-tagged link. For Google Ads, it reports conversions in two ways:

- An automatic browser tag on the registration thank-you page
- A scheduled CSV feed that Google Ads imports daily

Both methods work for competitions and challenges. This page covers the browser tag; see [Conversion feed and attribution exports](conversion-feed-and-attribution-exports.md) for the daily feed.

## Open Marketing tracking

**Path:** Console → your competition or challenge → Settings → **Marketing tracking**

**Marketing tracking** is its own tab next to **Advanced Settings**.

- Organization users with the **ADMIN** role can edit the fields and manage the feed.
- Support-level users see the fields as read-only and do not see the feed section.

<!-- Screenshot placeholder: Capture the Marketing tracking tab for a demo competition or challenge. Include the tab beside Advanced Settings and all three Google Ads fields. Use fictional values, show Registration as the export name, and exclude the feed URL or any real secret token. -->

## Enter the conversion settings

Ask your marketing agency for these values from the Google Ads conversion action tag:

| Field | What to enter |
|-------|---------------|
| **Google Ads conversion ID** | The ID in the format `AW-XXXXXXXXX` |
| **Google Ads conversion label** | The string after the slash in the tag's `send_to` value |
| **Conversion name for exports** | The conversion action's name in Google Ads, matched **exactly**; the default is `Registration` |

The conversion ID and label must be set together. If you do not want to use the browser tag, leave both fields empty.

::: note For your marketing agency
Provide the organizer with the conversion ID, conversion label, and exact conversion action name from the same Google Ads conversion action. The export name is also used by the CSV export and scheduled feed.
:::

## When the browser tag fires

DistantRace fires the tag automatically on the registration thank-you page only when:

- The order was paid online
- The order contains a registration
- The participant accepted marketing cookies

The reported conversion value is the **registration fee only**. Merchandise and add-on products are excluded. DistantRace sends the order code as the transaction ID.

If one order contains registrations for several of your events that share the same Google Ads destination, DistantRace combines their registration fees into one conversion.

## When the browser tag does not fire

The browser tag does not fire for:

- Bank-transfer orders that are still awaiting payment
- Race-day or on-site registrations
- Add-on or after-sale purchases
- Merchandise-only orders

Paid bank-transfer registrations can still reach Google Ads through the [conversion feed](conversion-feed-and-attribution-exports.md).

## No callback to an embedded website

DistantRace does not send a JavaScript callback to the website that embeds registration when an order completes. Browser cross-origin policies make such callbacks unreliable. Conversion reporting is available only through the thank-you-page tag and the feed.

For an embedded registration form, use the dedicated snippet described in [Embedding registration with ad-click tracking](embedding-registration-with-ad-click-tracking.md).

## Attribution data DistantRace captures

DistantRace captures only this allowlist:

- Ad click IDs: `gclid`, `wbraid`, `gbraid`, `fbclid`, `msclkid`
- UTM parameters: `utm_source`, `utm_medium`, `utm_campaign`, `utm_term`, `utm_content`
- The landing page path and capture time

The data is captured server-side and held in the visitor's session for at most 24 hours. It is bound to the organization whose page the visitor landed on, so one organization's campaign cannot be attributed to another organization's order. The first capture attached to an order wins.

Attribution data does not contain names, email addresses, or other personal details.

## Related

- [Conversion feed and attribution exports](conversion-feed-and-attribution-exports.md)
- [Embedding registration with ad-click tracking](embedding-registration-with-ad-click-tracking.md)