AdWords Conversion Tracking + Google Checkout

[gaps]

Has anyone figured out how to implement Google AdWords conversion tracking with e-junkie and with Google Checkout?



I added the conversion tracking snippet to my e-junkie thank you page, but when I place an order via Google Checkout, all I see is a Google Checkout thank you page that displays "You're all done!". So, nobody is going to see my e-junkie thank you page.



Currently, I have the e-junkie Google Analytics E-commerce tracking configured correctly - that works great!



However, I would like to setup Google AdWords Conversion Tracking, but I don't know how to make it work with Google Checkout.



I found this page:

http://code.google.com/apis/checkout/developer/checkoutpixel_tracking.html#AWCT



It describes using a parameterized URL to accomplish the task.



Their example snippet:



<merchant-checkout-flow-support>

<parameterized-urls>

<parameterized-url

url="src="https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/0062225003/?value=1&label=purchase&script=0"/>

</parameterized-urls>

...

</merchant-checkout-flow-support>



How could I use that with e-junkie? Would that even work?

[penny]

Yes!!! I have this same question...



For the life of me I can't get Adwords conversion tracking to work. I have no clue if I'm getting sales through adwords or not and that is the whole point of advertising with them.



Has anyone found a simple way to make this work? I'm at my wits end and I'm not a "power user" or html person, so I'm looking for an easy way to do this.



I didn't realize that Google Analytics had an E-commerce tracking tool that was different than the adwords one. I'll have to look into that.

[E-junkie_Chef]

GAPSHas anyone figured out how to implement Google AdWords conversion tracking with e-junkie and with Google Checkout?



I added the conversion tracking snippet to my e-junkie thank you page, but when I place an order via Google Checkout, all I see is a Google Checkout thank you page that displays "You're all done!". So, nobody is going to see my e-junkie thank you page.

You can create an email with the thank you link in E-junkie > Preferences .. something which tells the buyer to go to the thank you page to confirm the order details maybe?

Currently, I have the e-junkie Google Analytics E-commerce tracking configured correctly - that works great!



However, I would like to setup Google AdWords Conversion Tracking, but I don't know how to make it work with Google Checkout.

Your Analytics tracking will perfect with Google Checkout, but with PayPal and other processors, we rely on buyer to go to the thank you page.

I found this page:

http://code.google.com/apis/checkout/developer/ checkout pixel_tracking.html#AWCT



It describes using a parameterized URL to accomplish the task.



How could I use that with e-junkie? Would that even work?

Not currently, it's on our to-do to add support for this. However, it will still only work with Google Checkout, for all other payment processors, you still rely on the buyer to reach the thank you page.

[dvdcent]

I have the same problem. It is extremely important for AdWords users to be able to get accurate conversion reports in AdWords.







Dear E-Junkie,



Please make it finally work for Google Checkout ASAP so at least sellers who use mostly Google Checkout would have accurate conversion tracking in their AdWords accounts.



I'm using E-junkieChef's suggestions for a while now. I use an email with the thank you link in it and tell buyer's to "finalize the orders by clicking on the link" (which sounds strange for buyers already, after they saw "You are all done" in Google Chekcout).



Guess what? Only 10-20% of my conversions show up in my AdWords account! That is ridiculous, I'm bidding almost BLINDLY on my keywords!!! Buyers don't want to click on the link, or just don't pay attention? Cookies expired by the time they see the email? I don't know...









I never used Google Analytics. As I understand form the postings about that it works perfect with e-junike. Can anyone tell , will I be able to track what search keywords have led to conversion from Google Analytics?



Even i I can see that in Google Analitics, I will probably not be able to determine, whether the conversion came from gogole, yahoo or msn.

[penny]

Yeah, this is a big, big problem...



I use Google Checkout, and Google adwords, but don't get the full benefit because I'm using E-junkie in the middle.



I honestly couldn't figure out EJunkieChefs suggestions. They seemed a bit technical and like Russ said, why would you have someone click on a link after their order is already processed. It is just very unprofessional.



Surely SOMEBODY has figured out how to make adwords conversion tracking work...



I can't believe something this important can't be implemented. Especially when a mulit-billion dollar company (Google) makes all their revenue off of the fact that it does work for everyone else. (Just not E-Junkie users...)



Please help!

[dvdcent]

We really need a Chef's comment here.



This should be a #1 priority!



I didn't know that this posiblity even exist and having a lot of trouble with conversion tracking. Now I can't wait to see it working. It'll save me tons and tons of money as I will be able to optimize my AdWords keywords much better.

[E-junkie_Guru]

Google Checkout can transmit sales conversion tracking to Google Analytics even if the buyer does not continue to any thank-you page after they check out; you only need to paste our version of Google Analytics tracking code into your sales pages where you are using our Cart buttons:

http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/help.tracking.htm



Regarding the matter of requiring buyers to click a link on the checkout page in order to reach a thank-you page where conversion tracking would happen (for any case aside from Google Checkout with Google Analytics), we simply have no control over the payment processor's site and checkout behavior. We don't operate the payment processors' sites, so we have no way to force auto-refreshing to a thank-you page when the processor provides no means to make that happen on their checkout site.



This behavior varies according to processor. Checkouts using regular PayPal standard, Google Checkout and TrialPay require the buyer to manually click past Checkout to reach the thank-you page where sales conversion tracking would occur; checkouts via PayPal Pro, Authorize.Net, ClickBank and 2CheckOut actually will refresh to the thank-you page automatically upon successful payment completion.



All that said, we can investigate again whether any new methods have become possible (such as this new parameterized URL) to have Google Checkout in particular send conversion tracking for AdWords without visiting a thank-you page, in addition to the Analytics tracking that's already built-in to work like that.

[penny]

I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what Google analytics tracking is... nor why you would need it.



I use Google Adwords. I presume that is different. I PAY a LOT for Adwords, so I'm really curious if people are clicking on adword links and buying my product. Right now there is no way to know.



I'm not as technical as the other people on this site, but I just have a simple question... how do I get conversion tracking to show up in Adwords?



The title of this thread was about Google Adwords, so I'm not sure what all this analytics talk is about... I thought analytics was just to show you what pages people were visiting.

[dvdcent]

TysonAll that said, we can investigate again whether any new methods have become possible (such as this new parameterized URL) to have Google Checkout in particular send conversion tracking for AdWords without visiting a thank-you page

Please push this question to your top priority to-do list. This is extremely important for AdWords users.

[mkp007]

Can't say I'm an expert on the subject but I'm working through the problem right now and it is making sense to me.



First off, if you don't have Google Analytics but have AdWords, then you are missing out. Go sign up for Google Analytics. When you enter in a web page, they give you code to place inside each of your pages. This code allows them to track who is looking at that page, how many times it is looked at and so on. Tons of useful info. And it ties in with AdWords very well.



Here is an example of the code that Google Analytics gives you:



<script type="text/javascript">

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");

document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));

</script>

<script type="text/javascript">

try {

var pageTracker = gat.getTracker("UA-XXXXX-X");

pageTracker._trackPageview();

} catch(err) {}</script>





Ok, but according to E-Junkie (http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/help.tracking.htm) you need to use their modified version of the code:



<script type="text/javascript">

var gaJsHost=(("https:"==document.location.protocol)?"https://ssl.":"http://www.");

document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='"+gaJsHost+ "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));

</script>

<script type="text/javascript"> var ejGATracker = gat.getTracker("UA-XXXXX-X"); ejGATracker.setDomainName("none"); ejGATracker.setAllowLinker(true); ejGATracker._trackPageview(); </script>



NOTE: You need to replace the "UA-XXXXX-X" with the unique code for your web page profile.



Now you need to create a goal inside Analytics for that web site. This is really easy. Go to Analytics Settings and click "edit". This will take you to the web page "Profile Settings". Now click "edit" on the first of the four goals. Turn the goal to "active", leave match type as "head match", insert the following URL "https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/rp.php", give you goal a name and a value (the value can be anything, I used $20 for $100 average sale and 20% successful transactions).



That's it I think. Once I get some sales I'll have to report back.

[dvdcent]

Yes, that surely works. But it would be much much more comfortable to have precise conversion tracking directly in AdWords account, especially if it is possible to implement.

[mkp007]

Tyson,



This page (http://www.e-junkie.com/ej/help.tracking.htm) could still use some clarification.



These two notes seem to conflict with each other (specifically for Google Checkout):



- Google Checkout sends Google E-commerce conversion tracking data even when the buyer does not choose to continue past Checkout to reach the thank-you page;



- Checkouts using regular PayPal standard, Google Checkout, or TrialPay require the buyer to manually click past Checkout to reach the thank-you page where sales conversion tracking for Google Analytics, AdWords or other third-party tracking could occur;



Also, why does the Goal need a link (https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/rp.php)? Does this mean the customer has to view the thank-you page in order for the purchase to map to that goal?



My previous post suggested creating a goal was necessary but I think it is optional. It is probably not that useful if the customer has to view the Thank-you page to map the sale to the goal (I would have to change the goal to $2 = $100 average sale * 20% successful transactions * 10% Thank-you page views).



Thanks

[penny]

Wow, this is all greek to me...



I just want adwords conversion tracking to work. They make it sound so simple and fun to use. I'm blowing all this money on adwords and don't have a clue if it is working or not.



At least tell us this issue is being looked at. I mean the whole point of this e-commerce thing is to be able to track this kind of stuff. I'm really at a loss here.





I appreciate mkp007's comments. I'll have to look into analytics further. I'm now using them to track some basic traffic patterns, but not sure how it works from an e-commerce standpoint.



That said, ADWORDS is what needs to work from a return on investment standpoint... So very, very frustrating...

[gaps]

If you do connect Google Analytics to E-Junkie (and AdWords), it will provide a wealth of information of your AdWords spending. I can see how much revenue was generated by: Direct (typing in my website), AdWords, Organic (by each engine), from referring sites, etc. I can even see the RPC (revenue per click) based on Ad Group and by Keyword.



Getting Analytics up and running and integrated with E-Junkie cannot be recommended enough.



That said... It still would be nice to have the AdWords conversion tracking working.

[mkp007]

AdWords has its own snippet of code that gets added to your page. Here is an example:



<!-- Google Code for YOURPAGE Sale Track Conversion Page -->

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

<!--

var google_conversion_id = "some numbers";

var google_conversion_language = "en_US";

var google_conversion_format = "1";

var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";

var google_conversion_label = "some numbers and letters";

//-->

</script>

<script language="JavaScript" src="https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js">

</script>

<noscript>

<img height="1" width="1" border="0" src="https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/"same as conversion ID"/?label="same as conversion lable"&script=0"/>

</noscript>





So, there is probably good value in getting a unique E-Junkie's code for AdWords as was done for Analytics. Is this a easy problem to fix? If you compare the Google's Analytics code and the E-Junky Analytics code, the only difference is setting of variables:



Google's:

try {

var pageTracker = gat.getTracker("UA-XXXXX-X");

pageTracker._trackPageview();

} catch(err) {}





E-Junkie's:

var ejGATracker = gat.getTracker("UA-XXXXX-X");

ejGATracker._setDomainName("none");

ejGATracker._setAllowLinker(true);

ejGATracker._trackPageview();





I'm not sure if there is additional coding that is done. If not, perhaps it is this easy to modify the AdWords:



Google's:

var google_conversion_id = "some numbers";

var google_conversion_language = "en_US";

var google_conversion_format = "1";

var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";

var google_conversion_label = "some numbers and letters";



(var definition: http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=86277)



E-Junkie's:

???



Tyson, sure would like some feedback on this ASAP.



Sorry to Penny and Russ. Like I said, I'm just trying to work through this problem myself.



Some more info comparing Analytics to Adwords:



Google Analytics differs from AdWords Conversion Tracking, here is how:

https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=55535



Also, from this page:

http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en-ie&answer=66983#0.1.1step7



"Step 7 - Tag your advertising campaigns



Note to AdWords users: If you'll only be tracking AdWords campaigns, you may skip this step. Once you've linked your AdWords and Analytics accounts, AdWords keywords are automatically tagged with the required tracking variables."



and



"Generally speaking, you need to tag all of your paid keyword links, your banners and other ads, and the links inside your promotional email messages, except those in Google AdWords, which are automatically tagged. "



So, it seems that Analytics will allow you to see which key words are creating conversions. I'm not sure how the AdWords Conversion tracking will differ from Analytics in terms of information and the ability to tweak settings.

[mkp007]

After further investigation it seems that the main problem with Google Checkout and Adwords Conversion Tracking is that Google Checkout does not automatically redirect the customer to the Thank You page. This Thank You page should have the AdWords Conversion Tracking code as described in my previous post.



Otherwise, the customer may never go to the Thank You page and the AdWords Conversion Tracking code may never be triggered.



I have been emailing the Google Checkout team to see if they can help with this situation. The best way they can help is to automatically redirect the customer to a Thank You page.



I will post a follow-up if I hear back from Google.



Mark

[mkp007]

Ok, I got a response back from Google. Here it is:



Hello Mark,



Thank you for your patience while we consulted your issue to a specialist.



Google Checkout is different than some other checkout flows and payment

processors in that it does not automatically redirect buyers to a

thank-you page on the merchant's website after a transaction is complete.

Because of this, the steps for setting up AdWords Conversion tracking are

a bit different.



Here's the documentation explaining how the AdWords Conversion tracking

should be set up if you have a custom integration using the API

http://code.google.com/apis/checkout/developer/checkoutpixel_tracking.html#AWCT.



In regards to your recent question, currently, the tracking URL needs to

be included in the shopping cart post sent to Google Checkout. The

tracking pixel will then be requested on the receipt page. Customers will

not have to click on the continue shopping link to activate the tracking

pixel.



However, I see that you're using E-Junkie as your third party shopping

cart. So E-Junkie would be able to provide a way to specify the AdWords

conversion tracking URL, and then E-Junkie would need to include code like

the following in the shopping cart posts that are sent to Google Checkout:

...

<merchant-checkout-flow-support>

<parameterized-urls>

<parameterized-url



url="

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1063258683/?label=H03KCO3fXBC7lID7Aw&script=0"/>

</parameterized-urls>

...

</merchant-checkout-flow-support>

...



You may forward the information above to E-Junkie to ask them to consider

implementing this if it is not already available.



Please feel free to visit our Help Center at

http://checkout.google.com/support/sell if you have any additional

questions. Alternatively, you can visit

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/checkout-merchants?hl=en to reach

out to other Checkout merchants for troubleshooting tips.



Sincerely,



Shital

The Google Checkout Team

[biggest_e_junkie_fan]

Hi E-Junkie Crew,



Has there been any improvements in this since 2008??? I am seriously considering looking for another shopping cart service if they can offer integrated Google Adwords tracking. As you know without this I am advertising in the dark.



Thanks,

James

[E-junkie_Chef]

We do support Adwords tracking now.



Just add this code before your VIEW CART button



function EJEJC_config() {

EJEJC_BEACON = "http://URL.From.Adwords.Tracking.Beacon";

}

[mkp007]

Do i put that code before every view cart button on my page or just the first one? Can you explain how it works and solves the issues mention in this post.



Thanks.