Question from Reddit user:
I have been running Google Ads for a video game company. The video game is installed on the user’s computer, which is free to download and play with a free trial. I’m trying to improve visibility of the purchase path.
We can see that they register, and then when they end up competing a purchase for the monthly subscription.
But we can’t see if they downloaded the game or logged in and played.
Is it possible to still use Google Ads Conversion tags to track activity within a desktop application? The game is built with C++. Any suggestions?
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
No, it is not possible to directly trigger the traditional client-side Google Ads conversion script (the JavaScript/HTML tag you’re familiar with) from within a desktop video game built with C++ because the game environment is not a web browser.
However, you can absolutely track in-game activity by adopting a server-side approach using the Google Ads API.
This method involves having your game’s server send conversion data, such as a successful game download or the completion of the free trial, directly to Google Ads, allowing you to accurately track the full purchase path.
The long answer is:
Your challenge is common when transitioning from web-based tracking to a proprietary application environment.
The standard Google Ads conversion tag is a piece of JavaScript code designed to execute inside a web browser and is useless within a C++ desktop application.
Trying to simulate a browser or a web view to fire that tag is overly complex and fragile.
The elegant and robust solution is to use the Google Ads API for Enhanced Conversions for Leads or Offline Conversion Import.
This shifts the responsibility for conversion tracking from the user’s computer (client-side) to your own game server (server-side).
To implement this, you first need to capture the Google Click ID (gclid) when the user clicks your ad and lands on the download page.
You must pass this gclid from your landing page, perhaps stored in a first-party cookie or a hidden field, into your game’s registration or installation process so that your game server records it alongside the user’s unique ID.
This gclid is the universal key that links the in-game action back to the original Google ad click.
Once a significant in-game event occurs, such as a successful game download, a first login, or the completion of the free trial (which are your new, valuable micro-conversions), your game server can use the Google Ads API to transmit this event data directly to Google.
You would send the original gclid, the type of conversion (e.g., Game Download or Trial Completed), and the exact timestamp.
The Google Ads API accepts this data and attributes the in-game event to the correct ad campaign, allowing you to see conversion metrics beyond the initial website interaction.
This method is highly reliable, unaffected by ad blockers or browser privacy settings, and gives you the visibility you need across the entire user journey, from the ad click all the way through the game trial completion to the final subscription purchase.
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