Question from Reddit user:
We have campaign where we need to track ticket sales. Initially we were Jost going to send the ads right to eventbrite and it would track the conversion back to google ads once a ticket is purchased. However Google Ad Grant only allows specific domains (not eventbrite).
I’m trying to figure out the best route to accurately track a ticket sale. thoughts?
Things I was going to explore:
- Embedding the eventbrite container on the site so that you buy the tickets while on that page. I hope we can track this way but have not experimented.
- Figuring out how to use UTM parameters (I have never done this before and am not even sure if I should be exploring it or if its a dead end).
Flow would be Ad > Website > eventbrite > ticket.
or Ad >website (with eventbrite embedded). Ticket purchased through the container on the page.
Thanks for any thoughts!
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
The reason your initial plan won’t work is correct: Google Ad Grants strictly enforce that all ad destinations must be your approved website domain, not a third-party site like Eventbrite, even if Eventbrite offers a native integration.
The best solution to ensure accurate tracking and maintain compliance with the Ad Grant policy is to implement server-side tracking using the Eventbrite API to send the final purchase data back to Google Ads.
The flow should be Ad > Your Website Landing Page > Eventbrite > Ticket.
You can use the Eventbrite API to capture transaction details post-purchase and then use a server-side tagging solution like Stape or Google Cloud Platform to send a Conversion Import event directly to the Google Ads API, bypassing all client-side tracking issues and ensuring 100% accurate conversion attribution tied back to the initial ad click.
The long answer is:
Your challenge is the definitive hurdle for any nonprofit using the Google Ad Grant: you cannot direct traffic away from your approved domain.
This means the flow Ad > Your Website Landing Page > Eventbrite > Ticket is mandatory.
The two tracking options you listed are problematic.
Embedding the Eventbrite container (via an iFrame or widget) is a partial solution, but it often makes it difficult to track the conversion accurately because the purchase event is happening within a third-party domain’s context, which can break cross-domain tracking and cause lost attribution, especially with modern browser privacy features.
Using UTM parameters is a good start, as it will pass your source and medium data to your website, but it’s not a solution for the final conversion tracking on the Eventbrite platform, as those parameters are lost when the user clicks the final link and leaves your site for Eventbrite’s checkout.
The only bulletproof solution is to use a server-to-server connection to confirm the sale.
The core components of this advanced solution are the Eventbrite API, the Google Ads API, and a server-side environment like Stape or Google Cloud Platform.
Here’s the detailed process:
First, when a user clicks your Ad Grant ad and lands on your website, you capture the unique Google Click ID (gclid) from the URL and pass it through to the final link that sends the user to Eventbrite.
You can do this by appending the gclid to the Eventbrite link as a custom parameter.
Second, once the user completes the ticket purchase on Eventbrite, your developer can use the Eventbrite API to get real-time notification of the sale.
This API notification contains all the transaction details, including the custom parameter where you stored the gclid.
Third, you send this data to your server-side environment (Stape or GCP).
In this environment, you then use the Google Ads API to execute a Conversion Import event.
This process sends the gclid and the conversion details directly to Google Ads.
Google Ads matches the gclid with the original ad click and correctly attributes the conversion to your Ad Grant campaign.
This server-side method is superior to client-side pixels because it’s immune to ad-blockers, browser restrictions, and cross-domain tracking loss, providing you with the highest level of data accuracy for your crucial purchase event and ensuring you remain fully compliant with the Ad Grant rules.
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