Activate Google Ads tracking (gclid → ad_id)

Goal

Enable gclid → ad_id resolution in Metrikia so every Google Ads click is attributed to the right creative, and your Google Ads ROAS / CPA are computed on real data.

Why this matters: by default, Google Ads appends a gclid to every click URL, but that gclid does not carry the creative ID. Without extra configuration, Metrikia sees the click but does not know which ad produced it: Google Ads ROAS therefore stay null.

Prerequisites

• A Google Ads account connected to Metrikia (see "Connect Google Ads" guide)
• Auto-tagging enabled in Google Ads (Tools → Setup → Tracking → Auto-tagging)
• The Metrikia pixel installed on your site (see "Install pixel" guide)

Step 1: get the recommended URL suffix

In Metrikia:

1. Go to /app/integrations
2. Select your Google Ads integration
3. Click "View recommended URL suffix"
4. Copy the string (starts with utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc...)

The recommended suffix contains the following Google Ads macros:

• {campaignid} → campaign ID
• {creative} → creative ID (this is what unlocks ad_id tracking)
• {keyword} → triggering keyword
• {gclid} → the gclid itself

Step 2: paste into Google Ads

1. Open Google Ads
2. Go to Account Settings → Account-level URL options
3. In "Final URL suffix", paste the Metrikia suffix
4. Click Save

Official docs: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6325879

Step 3: verify

After a few hours (waiting for new clicks to come in):

1. Go to /app/leads
2. Open a lead that came from Google Ads
3. Click "Journey"
4. Check that the paid_search touchpoint is linked to an ad (ad_id populated)

What happens without the suffix?

If you do not configure the suffix, Metrikia falls back to "async resolution":

• The pixel captures the gclid alone
• Metrikia queries the Google Ads API (click_view) in the background to fetch the ad_id
• Slower (up to 24h to resolve) and consumes your Google Ads API quota
• Most importantly, clicks older than 90 days can no longer be resolved (click_view API limit)

The URL suffix is therefore strongly recommended for immediate, reliable tracking.

Historical backfill

If you already have paid_search touchpoints with unresolved gclid, contact Metrikia support. An administrator will run a backfill resolution for every click in the last 90 days.

Common issues

• "I pasted the suffix but utm_content stays empty": make sure auto-tagging is enabled. Without auto-tagging, the {creative} macros are not expanded.
• "The suffix breaks my URLs": ensure the suffix does NOT start with ?. Google Ads adds the separator on its own.
• "crmRoas stays empty after 24h": open a support ticket: either the pixel is not loaded on the landing page, or the Google Ads OAuth token expired.