Google’s Enhanced Conversions is a feature that can improve the accuracy of conversion measurement. It supplements existing conversion tags by sending hashed first-party conversion data from websites in a way that safeguards privacy.
The feature uses a secure one-way hashing algorithm called SHA256 on first-party customer data, such as email addresses, before sending it to Google. The SHA256 algorithm for hashing your customer data is the industry standard for one-way hashing of data.
The hashed data is then matched with signed-in Google Accounts to attribute campaign conversions to ad events, such as clicks or views.
How do Enhanced Conversions work?
When a customer completes a conversion on a website, they may submit first-party customer data such as an email address, name, home address, and/or phone number.
This data can be captured in, hashed, conversion tracking tags, sent to Google in its hashed form, and then used to match customers to Google Accounts, which customers signed in to when they engaged with the ad. The data will be used to better report the online conversions driven by ad interactions.
How accurate is it?
Enhanced conversions will only work for conversion types where customer data like subscriptions, sign-ups, and purchases are present. One or more of the following pieces of customer data must be collected:
- Email address (preferred)
- Name and home address (street address, city, state/region, and postcode)
- Phone number (must be provided in addition to one of the other two pieces of information above)
Setting it up
Enhanced Conversions can be set up in two ways:
Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager is a tag management system that allows you to quickly and easily update tags and code snippets on your website. If you currently use Google Tag Manager for conversion tracking, you can set up enhanced conversions with Google Tag Manager with only slight changes to your configuration.
Global Site Tag
If you currently have conversion tracking implemented using Google’s global site tag directly on your page (not within a third-party tool or iFrame), you can set up enhanced conversions with your global site tag by making slight changes to your configuration.
Google’s Promise
Google is committed to protecting the confidentiality and security of user data. Google states that customer data will be kept confidential and secure using the same industry-leading standards they use to protect their own users’ data.
They will only report aggregated and anonymised conversions. This comes with the wave of recent user privacy changes by other companies, such as Apple and Firefox.