Enhanced Conversions Setup Issues

What This Means

Enhanced Conversions is a Google Ads feature that supplements conversion tags by sending hashed first-party customer data (email, phone, address) from your website to Google. This data helps Google match conversions more accurately, especially in a cookie-less world with iOS 14.5+ tracking limitations, browser privacy features, and ad blockers. Without enhanced conversions, you lose 20-40% of conversion data, can't optimize campaigns properly, and waste ad spend on untracked conversions.

How Enhanced Conversions Work

Standard Conversion Tracking (Limited):

// Basic conversion tag
gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'value': 99.99,
    'currency': 'USD',
    'transaction_id': '12345'
});

// Problem: Relies only on cookies
// Lost if user:
// - Blocks cookies
// - Uses Safari (ITP)
// - Uses iOS 14.5+ (ATT)
// - Clears cookies

Enhanced Conversions (Better):

// Send hashed user data with conversion
gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'value': 99.99,
    'currency': 'USD',
    'transaction_id': '12345',
    // Enhanced conversion data
    'email': 'user@example.com',
    'phone_number': '+1234567890',
    'address': {
        'first_name': 'John',
        'last_name': 'Smith',
        'street': '123 Main St',
        'city': 'New York',
        'region': 'NY',
        'postal_code': '10001',
        'country': 'US'
    }
});

// Google hashes this data and matches to signed-in Google users
// Much higher match rate = better tracking

Impact on Your Business

Conversion Tracking Accuracy:

• 20-40% more conversions tracked - Recovers cookie-blocked conversions
• Better attribution - Know which ads actually drive sales
• Reduced data loss - iOS 14.5+ and Safari ITP protection
• Cross-device tracking - Match users across devices

Ad Campaign Performance:

• Better ROAS - Optimize based on accurate data
• Smarter bidding - Automated bidding has more signals
• Campaign optimization - Google can optimize better with more data
• Budget efficiency - Stop wasting spend on ineffective ads

Without Enhanced Conversions:

100 actual conversions
↓
60-80 tracked in Google Ads (20-40% lost)
↓
Google optimizes campaigns based on incomplete data
↓
Wasted ad spend + missed opportunities

With Enhanced Conversions:

100 actual conversions
↓
85-95 tracked in Google Ads (5-15% lost)
↓
Google optimizes with accurate data
↓
Better ROI + campaign performance

How to Diagnose

Method 1: Google Ads Enhanced Conversions Status

1. Open Google Ads
2. Go to Goals → Conversions
3. Click on conversion action
4. Check Enhanced conversions section

Status Indicators:

✅ Enabled and working:

Enhanced conversions: Enabled
Status: Recording enhanced conversions
Match rate: 75% (Good)

⚠️ Enabled but not working:

Enhanced conversions: Enabled
Status: No enhanced data detected in last 7 days
Match rate: 0%

❌ Not enabled:

Enhanced conversions: Not set up

Method 2: Google Tag Assistant

1. Install Tag Assistant
2. Visit conversion page (checkout confirmation, thank you page)
3. Complete test conversion
4. Check Tag Assistant

Look For:

✅ Working:

Conversion Event Fired
Enhanced Conversion Data Detected:
- email: ✓ (hashed)
- phone: ✓ (hashed)
- address: ✓ (hashed)

❌ Not working:

Conversion Event Fired
Enhanced Conversion Data: None detected

Method 3: Browser DevTools Network Tab

1. Open DevTools (F12)
2. Go to Network tab
3. Filter by googleadservices.com
4. Complete test conversion
5. Examine conversion request

Check Request Payload:

✅ Enhanced data present:

Request URL: /pagead/conversion/...
Payload:
  em: "482c811da5d5b4bc6d497ffa98491e38..." (hashed email)
  ph: "c6c7418748c87c98e73d5f7f93a1e..." (hashed phone)
  fn: "96d9632f363564cc3032521409cf22a14a... (hashed first name)

❌ No enhanced data:

Request URL: /pagead/conversion/...
Payload:
  value: 99.99
  currency: USD
  (no em, ph, fn fields)

Method 4: Check Implementation Method

Manual code review:

// ❌ BAD: No enhanced conversion data
gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'value': 99.99,
    'currency': 'USD'
});

// ✅ GOOD: Enhanced conversion data included
gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'value': 99.99,
    'currency': 'USD',
    'email': userEmail, // From form
    'phone_number': userPhone
});

Method 5: Google Ads Diagnostics

1. Tools & Settings → Conversions
2. Select conversion action
3. Check Diagnostics tab
4. Review issues

Common Warnings:

⚠️ Enhanced conversions not detected
⚠️ Low match rate (below 50%)
⚠️ Inconsistent data format
⚠️ Missing required fields

General Fixes

Fix 1: Basic Enhanced Conversions Setup

Add customer data to conversion event:

// On conversion page (checkout success, thank you page)
gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'value': 99.99,
    'currency': 'USD',
    'transaction_id': '12345',
    // Enhanced conversion data (Google hashes automatically)
    'email': 'customer@example.com',
    'phone_number': '+12345678900', // E.164 format: +[country code][number]
    'address': {
        'first_name': 'John',
        'last_name': 'Smith',
        'street': '123 Main St',
        'city': 'New York',
        'region': 'NY', // State/province
        'postal_code': '10001',
        'country': 'US' // ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
    }
});

Fix 2: Pull Data from Form Fields

Capture user data from checkout form:

// On form submission or order confirmation page
function sendEnhancedConversion() {
    // Get data from form fields or page variables
    const email = document.getElementById('email').value;
    const phone = document.getElementById('phone').value;
    const firstName = document.getElementById('first_name').value;
    const lastName = document.getElementById('last_name').value;
    const street = document.getElementById('street').value;
    const city = document.getElementById('city').value;
    const state = document.getElementById('state').value;
    const zip = document.getElementById('zip').value;

    // Send enhanced conversion
    gtag('event', 'conversion', {
        'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
        'value': parseFloat(document.getElementById('order_total').value),
        'currency': 'USD',
        'transaction_id': document.getElementById('order_id').value,
        'email': email,
        'phone_number': phone,
        'address': {
            'first_name': firstName,
            'last_name': lastName,
            'street': street,
            'city': city,
            'region': state,
            'postal_code': zip,
            'country': 'US'
        }
    });
}

// Trigger on page load (order confirmation)
window.addEventListener('load', sendEnhancedConversion);

Fix 3: E-commerce Platform Integration

WooCommerce example:

// functions.php or custom plugin

add_action('woocommerce_thankyou', 'enhanced_conversion_tracking');
function enhanced_conversion_tracking($order_id) {
    $order = wc_get_order($order_id);

    // Get customer data
    $email = $order->get_billing_email();
    $phone = $order->get_billing_phone();
    $first_name = $order->get_billing_first_name();
    $last_name = $order->get_billing_last_name();
    $address = $order->get_billing_address_1();
    $city = $order->get_billing_city();
    $state = $order->get_billing_state();
    $postcode = $order->get_billing_postcode();
    $country = $order->get_billing_country();
    $total = $order->get_total();

    ?>
    <script>
    gtag('event', 'conversion', {
        'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
        'value': <?php echo $total; ?>,
        'currency': '<?php echo $order->get_currency(); ?>',
        'transaction_id': '<?php echo $order_id; ?>',
        'email': '<?php echo $email; ?>',
        'phone_number': '<?php echo $phone; ?>',
        'address': {
            'first_name': '<?php echo $first_name; ?>',
            'last_name': '<?php echo $last_name; ?>',
            'street': '<?php echo $address; ?>',
            'city': '<?php echo $city; ?>',
            'region': '<?php echo $state; ?>',
            'postal_code': '<?php echo $postcode; ?>',
            'country': '<?php echo $country; ?>'
        }
    });
    </script>
    <?php
}

Fix 4: Shopify Enhanced Conversions

Shopify theme (thank you page):

<!-- In Settings → Checkout → Additional scripts -->
{% if first_time_accessed %}
<script>
gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'value': {{ checkout.total_price | money_without_currency }},
    'currency': '{{ checkout.currency }}',
    'transaction_id': '{{ checkout.order_id }}',
    'email': '{{ checkout.email }}',
    'phone_number': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.phone }}',
    'address': {
        'first_name': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.first_name }}',
        'last_name': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.last_name }}',
        'street': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.address1 }}',
        'city': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.city }}',
        'region': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.province_code }}',
        'postal_code': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.zip }}',
        'country': '{{ checkout.shipping_address.country_code }}'
    }
});
</script>
{% endif %}

Fix 5: Google Tag Manager Implementation

GTM enhanced conversions setup:

1. Enable Enhanced Conversions in Tag:

• Edit Google Ads Conversion Tag
• Check "Include user-provided data from your website"
• Select "Code" or "Event Parameters"

2. Create Data Layer Variables:

// Push to dataLayer on conversion page
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
dataLayer.push({
    'event': 'purchase',
    'transactionId': '12345',
    'transactionTotal': 99.99,
    'userEmail': 'customer@example.com',
    'userPhone': '+12345678900',
    'userFirstName': 'John',
    'userLastName': 'Smith',
    'userStreet': '123 Main St',
    'userCity': 'New York',
    'userRegion': 'NY',
    'userPostalCode': '10001',
    'userCountry': 'US'
});

3. Map Variables in GTM:

• Create User-Defined Variables for each field
• Variable Type: Data Layer Variable
• Data Layer Variable Name: userEmail, userPhone, etc.

4. Configure in Conversion Tag:

• Email: \{\{userEmail\}\}
• Phone: \{\{userPhone\}\}
• First Name: \{\{userFirstName\}\}
• etc.

Fix 6: Fix Phone Number Format

Use E.164 international format:

// ❌ WRONG: Various formats
'555-1234' // Missing country code
'(555) 123-4567' // Wrong format
'1234567890' // Missing +

// ✅ CORRECT: E.164 format
'+12345678900' // +[country code][number], no spaces/dashes

// Function to format phone number
function formatPhoneE164(phone, countryCode = '1') {
    // Remove all non-digits
    phone = phone.replace(/\D/g, '');

    // Add country code if missing
    if (!phone.startsWith(countryCode)) {
        phone = countryCode + phone;
    }

    // Add + prefix
    return '+' + phone;
}

// Usage:
const formattedPhone = formatPhoneE164('(555) 123-4567', '1');
// Returns: '+15551234567'

Fix 7: Normalize Email Addresses

Clean email data before sending:

function normalizeEmail(email) {
    // Convert to lowercase
    email = email.toLowerCase().trim();

    // Remove Gmail dots and plus addressing
    if (email.includes('@gmail.com')) {
        const [local, domain] = email.split('@');
        const cleanLocal = local.split('+')[0].replace(/\./g, '');
        email = cleanLocal + '@' + domain;
    }

    return email;
}

// Usage:
const email = normalizeEmail('John.Doe+newsletter@Gmail.com');
// Returns: 'johndoe@gmail.com'

gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
    'email': email
});

Fix 8: Test Enhanced Conversions

Create test conversion:

// Test enhanced conversions in development
function testEnhancedConversion() {
    gtag('event', 'conversion', {
        'send_to': 'AW-123456789/AbC-D_efG-h12_34-567',
        'value': 10.00,
        'currency': 'USD',
        'transaction_id': 'TEST-' + Date.now(),
        'email': 'test@example.com',
        'phone_number': '+11234567890',
        'address': {
            'first_name': 'Test',
            'last_name': 'User',
            'street': '123 Test St',
            'city': 'Test City',
            'region': 'TS',
            'postal_code': '12345',
            'country': 'US'
        }
    });
    console.log('Test enhanced conversion fired');
}

// Run test
testEnhancedConversion();

Platform-Specific Guides

Detailed implementation instructions for your specific platform:

Verification

After implementing enhanced conversions:

Test 1: Tag Assistant

1. Open Tag Assistant
2. Complete test purchase
3. Check conversion event
4. Verify enhanced data detected

Test 2: Google Ads Conversion Report

1. Wait 24-48 hours
2. Check Conversions report
3. Look for "Enhanced conversions" column
4. Match rate should be 50%+ (ideally 70%+)

Test 3: Network Request

1. DevTools Network tab
2. Complete conversion
3. Find googleadservices request
4. Check for em=, ph=, fn= parameters (hashed)

Test 4: Diagnostics

1. Google Ads → Conversions
2. Click conversion action
3. Check diagnostics
4. Should show "Recording enhanced conversions"

Common Mistakes

1. Wrong phone format - Must be E.164 (+12345678900)
2. Not normalizing emails - Case-sensitive, extra spaces
3. Missing data - Not all conversions have user data
4. Wrong timing - Send on confirmation page, not form submit
5. Invalid country codes - Use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (US, GB, CA)
6. Including PII in GTM container - Security risk
7. Not testing - Always test before deploying
8. Sending unhashed data - Google hashes automatically, don't pre-hash

Further Reading

• Google Enhanced Conversions Guide
• Enhanced Conversions Implementation
• GTM Enhanced Conversions
• Phone Number E.164 Format
• Tracking Issues Overview