This guide walks through the options, what each one creates in your Google Ads account, and how to check the result.
How Google Ads ties a purchase to a click
When auto-tagging is on, Google Ads adds a click ID to the landing page address of your ad. The tag on your store reads it and keeps it. When the visitor later buys, the purchase event carries that click back to Google Ads, which counts a conversion for the ad and puts it on the day of the click.
Two things follow from this. The click ID must survive the way from the ad to your store, so redirects that drop it break tracking. And the purchase must be reported by something that still knows the click, which is usually the shopper's browser.
Option 1: the Google & YouTube channel
The most common setup. Google's Merchant Center help says that when you link your Google Ads account to the Google & YouTube app on Shopify, a purchase conversion action is created in Google Ads automatically and set as the account default. Google lists further actions it creates as well, such as Add to cart, Begin checkout and Page view, and says those are for observation only and do not affect bidding.
This is the simplest route and needs no code. It runs as a pixel in Shopify's Customer events, so it depends on the browser: on the pixel loading, on the shopper's consent, and on the checkout pages loading.
Option 2: import GA4 key events
If your store already sends purchases to Google Analytics 4, you can import the GA4 purchase into Google Ads as a conversion. Google's help lists the requirements: the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts must be linked, auto-tagging must be on, and the event must first be marked as a key event in GA4. Google also says conversions created from the Google Analytics side start as secondary, so they do not drive bidding until you change that in Google Ads.
This route is useful when GA4 is your main source of truth. Its counts follow GA4's data, so anything GA4 misses, Google Ads misses too.
Option 3: the Google tag through your own code
Some stores add the Google Ads conversion tag through Google Tag Manager, a custom pixel in Customer events, or theme code. This gives the most control, for example over the value you send. It also needs the most care: Shopify's custom pixels run in a sandbox where not all third party features work, and older purchase code on the Thank you page may no longer run after Shopify's move to the newer Thank you and Order status pages.
Enhanced conversions
Enhanced conversions add hashed customer data, such as the email address, to a conversion, so Google can match more purchases to ad clicks. How to turn them on for each route is in Google Ads enhanced conversions on Shopify.
Keep one Primary purchase action
Google's help says Primary conversion actions appear in the Conversions column and are used for bidding, and that a secondary action is used for bidding only when it is part of a custom goal. Secondary actions appear in All conversions for observation. A store that has the Google & YouTube purchase action, an imported GA4 purchase and a manual tag, all set as Primary, can count one sale more than once.
Pick one purchase action as Primary. Set the others to secondary, or remove them if nothing uses them. Then compare the Conversions column with your orders again after a full week.
Check your setup
- 1In Google Ads, open the list of conversion actions under Goals. Note every purchase action, its source and whether it is Primary.
- 2If more than one purchase action is Primary, keep one and set the others to secondary.
- 3Check the status of the Primary action. An inactive status usually means Google has not recorded the tag recently.
- 4In Shopify admin, open Settings > Customer events and list every pixel that could send to Google Ads, including the Google & YouTube channel.
- 5Check your theme code and any Tag Manager container for a Google Ads conversion tag on the checkout pages.
- 6Place a test order from a link with a Google click ID, then check the conversion action's status and recent conversions over the next day.
- 7Compare whole weeks by conversion time with your paid orders that came from a Google ad click. Google Ads puts conversions on the click date, so recent days keep changing.
For how Google Ads fits next to Meta and GA4, see Shopify conversion tracking.
FAQ
Should I use the Google & YouTube app or GA4 import?
Use one of them as the Primary purchase action. The app sets itself up. The GA4 import makes sense when you already trust your GA4 purchases and want both tools to agree.
Why does Google Ads show fewer conversions than my orders?
It counts only purchases after a Google ad click, within your conversion window, and on the day of the click. Consent declines and lost click IDs lower it further.
Why does it show more conversions than my orders?
Usually two Primary purchase actions count the same sale, or the counting method is set to count every conversion per click.
Does consent affect Google Ads conversions?
Yes. When a shopper declines, the tag cannot store the click in the same way. With consent mode, Google may show some of these purchases as modelled conversions.
Where Tikra fits
Tikra sends each paid online order of your Shopify store from our server to Meta, Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, ChatGPT Ads and Klaviyo, and keeps a record for each order: what was sent, when, and the platform's answer. Before Google Ads goes live in Tikra, turn off the store's own Google Ads purchase tracking, or Google Ads counts each purchase twice (Connect Google Ads). Tikra applies your customers' consent choices to every order, and in Strict mode an order is sent only with the buyer's consent. Klaviyo gets paid orders in every consent mode, like Klaviyo's own Shopify integration. A written guarantee in our Terms covers eligible orders: at least 97 % reach each platform, fixed within 12 hours or a month's fee credited (Terms of Service, section 8).
The free diagnosis helps with the comparison in step 7. It shows your paid orders of the last 7 full days and how many came from a Meta, Google or TikTok ad, and, after a full day and 10 paid online orders, how many your shoppers' browsers reported. It does not read your Google Ads or GA4 numbers, and it sends none of your orders anywhere.