Last checked against Google’s documentation on 29 September 2026.
What are Google Ads enhanced conversions?
Enhanced conversions is a Google Ads feature that sends hashed first-party customer data, such as the email address a customer typed into your checkout or lead form, along with your conversion data. Google matches that hashed data to signed-in Google accounts to credit conversions that cookies alone would miss. Google’s enhanced conversions overview describes it as a way to improve measurement accuracy and support stronger bidding.
To turn it on, go to Goals > Settings, open the enhanced conversions section, agree to the customer data terms, and choose how data reaches Google: the Google tag, Google Tag Manager, or an API or Data Manager connection. It only helps once your base conversion tracking works, so start there if you are unsure (see the Google Ads conversion tracking guide).
Enhanced conversions for web vs for leads
Google has described two versions, which solve different problems:
| For web | For leads | |
|---|---|---|
| Measures | Conversions that happen on your website, such as a purchase or sign-up | Sales or qualified leads that happen later, offline, from a website lead |
| Data captured | Hashed customer data on the conversion page | Hashed lead data when the form is submitted, then imported again with the outcome |
| Replaces | Nothing; it adds to the tag | An upgrade to standard offline conversion import |
Google’s enhanced conversions for leads article describes the flow: a person clicks an ad, fills in your form, and the site sends Google the hashed lead details. The lead goes into your CRM. When that lead later becomes a customer, you import the outcome with the same hashed details, plus the Google click ID where you have it, and Google matches the two.
The 2026 change: one setting, several sources
Google’s page on updates to your enhanced conversions settings sets out three dated changes:
- Starting in April 2026, Google Ads accepts user-provided data from website tags, Data Manager and API connections at the same time, so you no longer choose a single implementation method.
- Starting in June 2026, enhanced conversions for web and for leads are combined into a single feature with an on/off switch.
- Starting June 15, 2026, offline conversion imports and enhanced conversions for leads uploads are migrated to the Data Manager API and blocked in the Google Ads API.
Google says no action is needed to remain active: accounts that previously agreed to the customer data terms are migrated to the unified status automatically. The one group that does need to act is anyone uploading leads through the Google Ads API, directly or through a tool; Google recommends moving those uploads to the Data Manager API.
What data you send
Google’s Google tag setup article lists what counts as enough data. You need at least one of:
- An email address, which Google prefers.
- A full name and address: first name, last name, postal code and country are required; street, city and region are optional.
- A phone number, but only together with an email address or a full name and address.
Before hashing, Google normalizes the data: it trims spaces, lowercases text, and formats phone numbers in E.164 format. If you hash the data yourself, you have to do the same, or the hashes won’t match.
How to set up enhanced conversions
Step 1: turn it on in Google Ads
- Go to Goals > Settings. Depending on your account, the panel is labelled enhanced conversions or Customer data use.
- Select Turn on enhanced conversions.
- Review and agree to the customer data terms.
- Choose how you will send user-provided data.
With the Google tag
If the Google tag is installed directly on your site, pick one of three ways to capture the data, per Google’s Google tag instructions:
- Automatic detection: the tag looks for email and address fields on the page. Least effort, and Google says it works for most advertisers.
- CSS selectors or JavaScript variables: you tell the tag exactly where the data sits on the conversion page.
- Code snippet: your site passes the data to the tag in code. Most work, most reliable, because the data arrives in a consistent format.
With Google Tag Manager
Google’s Tag Manager instructions add a few steps after you choose Google Tag Manager as the method. In the Google tag settings, allow user-provided data capabilities. Then, in the Google Ads conversion tag, add a user_data parameter backed by a User-Provided Data variable, set to automatic detection, CSS selectors or JavaScript variables, or code. Preview, then publish the container.
With Data Manager or an API
For leads, Google calls Data Manager the fastest way to set up enhanced conversions for leads; it accepts both click IDs and user-provided data as match keys. Programmatic uploads go through the Data Manager API from June 15, 2026. This is usually a job for whoever runs your CRM integration.
Customer data terms and privacy
Turning on enhanced conversions means agreeing that Google’s customer data terms apply and that you comply with its customer data policies. Those policies require you to follow applicable privacy and data protection law, to upload customer data only through Google’s approved API, tag or interface, and to hash it with SHA256. Google says it won’t share your data with other advertisers, and conversions in sensitive categories can’t be used for enhanced conversions measurement.
Practical points before you switch it on:
- Update your privacy policy to say that customer data may be shared with Google for ad measurement.
- Make sure your consent banner and consent mode setup reflect how you use the data in your regions.
- Send only the fields Google asks for. There is no reason to pass anything else.
- If you have legal counsel, have them review the terms; this guide is not legal advice.
How to check enhanced conversions status
Google’s tag diagnostics article explains where to look. Go to Goals > Conversions > Summary, hover over a conversion action’s status and select Details, then open the Diagnostics tab. There is also an account-level Diagnostics tab at the top of the conversions page. The report uses these statuses:
| Status | What Google says it means |
|---|---|
| Excellent | Active and fully optimized; recording enhanced conversions as expected. |
| Good | Active, but you could send more user data. |
| Needs attention | Active, but with errors to fix. |
| No recent data | No conversions recorded in the past 7 days. |
The key number is coverage: the share of eligible conversion events that include enough user-provided data. Google says the diagnostics report appears about 72 hours after you implement with the Google tag, and Google’s Tag Manager instructions suggest reviewing it after 48 hours. Low coverage usually means the tag fires before the customer has entered their details, or fires on a page where the fields aren’t present.
Common enhanced conversions issues
- Missing fields. The tag fires on a thank-you page that no longer shows the email, so automatic detection finds nothing. Use CSS selectors, variables, or code instead.
- Badly formatted data. Google’s diagnostics flag emails and addresses in the wrong format, and addresses missing the country or postal code.
- Data hashed twice, or hashed without normalizing. The hash no longer matches Google’s. Normalize first, hash once.
- Terms not accepted. The setting can’t turn on until the customer data terms are agreed.
- Unpublished Tag Manager changes. The workspace has the new variable, but the live container doesn’t.
- Old API uploads. Lead uploads still calling the Google Ads API after June 15, 2026, when Google says they are blocked there.
- Expecting it to fix a broken tag. Enhanced conversions improve matching; they don’t record conversions the base tag misses entirely. If recording stopped, work through why Google Ads conversions dropped to zero.
Once matching improves, reported conversions can rise without any change in real results. Keep that in mind when you compare periods, and when you review the counting settings covered in one vs every conversion counting.
Boxoo doesn’t install tags or turn on enhanced conversions for you; website tags and this setting can’t be changed through the Google Ads API. Its tracking and measurement agent reviews your conversion actions every day and files a case when recording or settings look wrong, with the evidence and the steps above. To see what it finds on your account, run a free Google Ads audit.
