Google Analytics 4 admins now have more flexibility in attributing web conversions to marketing channels.
Google recently added an attribution settings option that lets you choose whether to allocate conversion credits to paid Google Ads campaigns only, or to both paid and organic channels.
For focused companies solely If you can better assess the impact of your ad spend, limiting conversion credit to paid Google Ads channels may provide a clearer view of ROI.
Interested in the combined If you’re leveraging the power of paid and organic marketing, you can still use the default option, which gives conversion credit to both channel types.
As Google Ads and GA4 become increasingly integrated, the ability to align conversion attribution with marketing priorities is a valuable tool for data-driven businesses.
Why this matters to marketers
This new option gives you more control over how you measure the impact of Google Ads campaigns.
By limiting conversion credit to paid Google Ads channels, you can isolate the impact of your ad spend on web conversions and revenue.
This may allow for a more accurate assessment of your Google Ads ROI.
On the other hand, giving credit to both paid and organic channels provides a complete view of the customer journey and how different marketing efforts work together to increase conversions.
This more comprehensive option might be a better choice if you want to focus on the overall impact of your digital marketing strategy.
How to make the change
Follow these steps to update your GA4 attribution settings:
- Sign in to your Google Analytics 4 account
- Navigate to Admin > Attribution Settings
- Under “What channels can you give credit to your web conversions imported into Google Ads?”, select either “Google Paid Channels” or “Paid and Organic Channels”.
- Click “Save” to apply the new setting.
Kudos to Himanshu Sharma for sharing this accompanying image Twitter:
Screenshot from: twitter.com/analyticsnerd, June 2023.Note that when you re-process campaign data, it may take 2-3 days for the changes to fully take effect in your Google Ads account.
Once fully implemented, be sure to review your Google Ads conversions and ROI metrics to see the impact of your choices.
You can switch between the options at any time by updating the attribution settings and allowing a few days for the reprocessing.
Visit Google’s support page for more information.
Featured image: Michael Vi/Shutterstock
