Question from Reddit user:
After years of doing PPC, it seems like various people have various theories on how to track conversions.
Some just paste the very tracking codes provided by Google Ads on their pages, others feed them through GTM, others track through Google Analytics then back to Google Ads, others use some additional Javascript or 3rd party system or code, etc.
So I’d be curious to learn what the consensus is. What method do you think is the most reliable to track conversions?
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
The most reliable and future-proof method to track conversions in Google Ads is not a single, client-side script but a combination of client-side data collection and server-side API integration using the Google Ads API.
While directly placing the Google Ads tracking code is the simplest approach, it is highly vulnerable to browser restrictions, ad blockers, and cookie loss.
The optimal solution is to capture conversion data with Google Tag Manager, send it to a server-side environment like Stape or Google Cloud Platform, and then use the Google Ads API to send the conversion back to Google Ads, effectively bypassing client-side limitations and maximizing the data available for bidding.
The long answer is:
Your question about conversion tracking reliability is timely, as the industry is rapidly moving away from purely client-side methods due to increasing browser privacy restrictions like Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) and the phasing out of third-party cookies.
The consensus among advanced PPC practitioners has shifted from simply pasting the tracking code or using the Google Analytics import to a more robust, server-side approach.
The traditional methods you mentioned – direct script placement or GTM deployment – are client-side methods, meaning they rely on the user’s browser to execute the code, which is exactly where tracking is most likely to fail due to ad blockers or consent issues, leading to underreporting.
The superior solution involves using the Google Ads API for server-side conversion uploading, which is often referred to as Enhanced Conversions or Conversion Import.
You would use Google Tag Manager on the client side to capture the high-quality, first-party data, including the necessary Google Click ID (gclid) from the landing page URL and hashed personally identifiable information (PII) like email or phone number from the form submission.
This information is then immediately passed to a server-side container hosted on a platform like Stape or Google Cloud Platform.
In this server environment, you use the Google Ads API to upload the conversion event directly to Google Ads.
This process works in the background, independent of the user’s browser, making the conversion tracking incredibly resilient.
Furthermore, you can use the Google Analytics Data API to enrich this data by ensuring your GA4 reporting also receives the most accurate, consistent data, tying back to the same first-party information.
This API-to-API communication ensures maximum accuracy for Google Ads’ Smart Bidding algorithms, as the data is less likely to be blocked, providing a complete view of performance.
This setup is the most reliable because it utilizes your own server to act as a secure intermediary, providing the highest level of control and data quality.
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