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What if I already have a custom tracking template in Google Ads?

Written by TrafficGuard Support
Updated over 2 weeks ago

TrafficGuard works by adding its own tracking template to your Google Ads account. If you already have a custom tracking template in place, you need to handle it carefully to make sure both your existing parameters and TrafficGuard's template work correctly.

Why this matters

Google Ads applies tracking templates in order of priority — the lowest level template takes precedence. TrafficGuard adds its template at the account level, which is the highest level. This means if you have a custom tracking template at a lower level (campaign, ad group, ad, or keyword), Google will use that lower-level template instead, and TrafficGuard's tracking will not fire.

To avoid this, you need to move any existing tracking parameters out of your tracking template and into the Final URL suffix field before TrafficGuard applies its template.

ℹ️ This applies to custom tracking templates at all levels in Google Ads: account, campaign, ad group, ad, and keyword.

⚠️ If you make changes to tracking templates at the ad or keyword level, your ads may go into review temporarily.

Why use the Final URL suffix?

Google recommends using the Final URL suffix to pass additional tracking parameters alongside a third-party tracking template. Moving your parameters there means both your existing tracking and TrafficGuard's template will work correctly at the same time.

What to do

Your existing tracking template likely looks something like this:

{lpurl}?param1={example1}&param2={example2}

You need to move the parameters (everything after {lpurl}?) into the Final URL suffix field in Google Ads.

Here's how to prepare them:

  1. Remove {lpurl}? from the beginning — this is the landing page URL placeholder and is already handled by Google Ads automatically.

  2. Add &gclid={gclid} to the end of your parameters. This passes the Google click ID and is required for accurate tracking.

  3. Your Final URL suffix should end up looking like this:

param1={example1}&param2={example2}&gclid={gclid}

4. Paste this into the Final URL suffix field in your Google Ads account settings.

5. Enter the TrafficGuard tracking template into the tracking template field. See: TrafficGuard tracking templates

6. Click Save.

ℹ️For more detail on the Final URL suffix field, see Google's support documentation.

ℹ️For manual tracking template instructions, see: How to manually update your Google Ads tracking template.

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