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Enhanced Conversions for Google Ads

We implement Enhanced Conversions for web and for leads, sending SHA-256 hashed email, phone and address data with your conversions. Suited to advertisers losing attribution to cookie restrictions, Safari and cross-device journeys.

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Enhanced ConversionsIllustrative
  1. Form or Checkout
  2. DataLayer Push
  3. Normalize and Hash
  4. Google Ads Tag
  5. Google Matching
What this covers
  • User-provided data variable in GTM
  • SHA-256 hashing and normalization
  • Enhanced Conversions for leads
  • Diagnostics and match coverage review
Platforms
Google AdsGoogle Tag ManagerConsent PlatformWebsite FormsCheckout
Best for

Advertisers with login, checkout or lead forms that capture email or phone numbers

01 The problem

Why Standard Tags Miss Conversions Today

A standard conversion tag depends on the click ID cookie still being available when the conversion happens. That assumption breaks more often than most advertisers realize.

  1. 01

    Short Cookie Lifetimes

    Browser privacy features can shorten or clear cookies, so the stored click ID is gone before the user converts.

  2. 02

    Cross-Device Journeys

    A user clicks an ad on mobile and buys on a laptop. Without user-provided data, Google Ads has no way to connect the two.

  3. 03

    Poorly Formatted Data

    Unnormalized emails, phone numbers without country codes, or fields sent before a form validates lead to weak matching.

02 What we implement

What Our Enhanced Conversions Setup Includes

We capture user-provided data at the moment of conversion, normalize it, and pass it to Google Ads in the format Google expects, with consent respected throughout.

  • 01

    User-Provided Data Variable

    A GTM variable that reads email, phone, name and address from the dataLayer or form fields.

  • 02

    Normalization and Hashing

    Lowercasing, trimming and E.164 phone formatting before SHA-256 hashing, or hashing handled by the Google tag.

  • 03

    Enhanced Conversions for Web

    User data attached to purchase and lead conversion tags so Google can match signed-in users.

  • 04

    Enhanced Conversions for Leads

    Hashed lead data captured on the form so later offline uploads can match without relying on the GCLID.

  • 05

    Account Level Settings

    Enhanced Conversions enabled in Google Ads with the correct method selected and terms accepted.

  • 06

    Consent Aware Delivery

    User data sent only when ad_user_data consent is granted under Consent Mode v2.

03 Live data flow

How Enhanced Conversions Match a User

User-provided data travels with the conversion in hashed form, giving Google Ads a second way to connect the conversion to the original ad interaction.

Enhanced Conversions data flowIllustrative
  1. 01Form or CheckoutUser enters email and phone number
  2. 02DataLayer PushValues exposed on the conversion event
  3. 03Normalize and HashFormatted and hashed with SHA-256
  4. 04Google Ads TagHashed data sent with the conversion
  5. 05Google MatchingMatched to signed-in Google accounts
04 How it works

From audit to validated data.

How Enhanced Conversions projects run. Nothing goes live until it has been tested.

  1. 01

    Audit

    Audit forms and checkout for available email, phone and address data

  2. 02

    Strategy

    Choose GTM, Google tag or API method and plan dataLayer fields

  3. 03

    Implementation

    Build the user-provided data variable and attach it to conversion tags

  4. 04

    Testing

    Test hashed payloads in preview mode and network requests

  5. 05

    Validation

    Review Enhanced Conversions diagnostics in Google Ads after launch

05 Deliverables

What's Included in Enhanced Conversions

Everything is documented and handed over, so your team knows exactly what was built and why.

  • 01

    Data Capture Review

    We check where email, phone and address are available on your site and at what point in the flow.

  • 02

    Implementation Method Choice

    We choose between GTM, the Google tag and the API based on your stack, data availability and privacy setup.

  • 03

    Consent and Privacy Setup

    Consent Mode v2 wiring and a review of what personal data is hashed and sent, and when.

  • 04

    Payload Verification

    We inspect outgoing requests to confirm hashed fields are present, formatted correctly and not sent in plain text.

  • 05

    Diagnostics Monitoring

    We follow the Enhanced Conversions diagnostics in Google Ads after launch and address any warnings raised.

  • 06

    Technical Handover Notes

    Documentation of the data sources, variables and settings so developers know what not to break.

Platforms

The tools involved in a typical Enhanced Conversions implementation.

  • Google AdsEnhanced Conversions
  • Google Tag ManagerUser-provided data
  • Consent Platformad_user_data consent
  • Website FormsEmail and phone capture
  • CheckoutCustomer details
06 QA and testing

Tested before anything goes live.

Test hashed payloads in preview mode and network requests. Review Enhanced Conversions diagnostics in Google Ads after launch.

QA checklistEnhanced Conversions
  • Tag AssistantConversion tag and linker fire with the right valueschecked
  • GTM PreviewTriggers fire once per real conversionchecked
  • Conversion diagnosticsRecording status and Enhanced Conversions health in Google Adschecked
  • End-to-end testA test lead or order followed into the Google Ads accountchecked

Each check is repeated after launch on live traffic.

07 FAQ

Enhanced Conversions FAQ

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Is sending hashed customer data to Google Ads allowed?

Enhanced Conversions is a Google feature designed for this purpose and requires you to accept its customer data terms. Data is hashed before it leaves the browser. You should still review it against your privacy policy and consent setup, which we help configure.

What is the difference between Enhanced Conversions for web and for leads?

Enhanced Conversions for web improves matching for conversions that happen on your site, such as purchases. Enhanced Conversions for leads captures hashed data on the form so that when you later upload qualified or closed leads, Google can match them without a GCLID.

Do I need a developer to set this up?

Often not. If email and phone are available on the page or in the dataLayer, GTM can handle it. Sites with complex checkouts or single page forms sometimes need a developer to push the values into the dataLayer, and we write that specification for them.

Can Enhanced Conversions work together with server-side tagging?

Yes. User-provided data can be passed through a server-side GTM container to Google Ads. We make sure it is not sent twice and that the conversion is deduplicated using the transaction ID.

How do we know Enhanced Conversions is working?

Google Ads shows an Enhanced Conversions diagnostics view per conversion action. We check that data is being received and review any warnings about formatting or coverage, then document what we saw.

→ Next step

Get Enhanced Conversions right the first time.

Build a tracking and measurement system you can trust.

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