Use ValueTrack Templates for Shopping and Product Listing Ads

Shopping campaigns and Product Listing Ads (PLAs) require different ValueTrack parameters than standard search campaigns. This guide shows you how to configure tracking templates that capture product ID data instead of keywords.

Before You Begin

Before setting up ValueTrack for Shopping campaigns, ensure you have:

An active Google Ads account with a Shopping campaign
Products configured in Google Merchant Center
WhatConverts tracking script installed on your website
Auto-tagging enabled in Google Ads

How It Works

Shopping campaigns don't use keywords like search campaigns. Instead, they use product IDs from your Merchant Center feed. The ValueTrack template for Shopping campaigns replaces the {keyword} parameter with {product_id} so WhatConverts can track which products drive leads.

Set Up Shopping Campaign Tracking

Sign into your Google Ads account.
Select your Shopping Campaign from the campaigns list.
Click "Settings" in the left menu.
On the Shopping Campaign Settings page, select "Campaign URL options".

Paste the following in the Tracking Template text box:
{lpurl}?campaign={campaignid}&content={creative}&keyword={product_id}
Click "Save".

Note: The {product_id} parameter will populate the keyword field in WhatConverts with the product ID from your Merchant Center feed. This allows you to track which specific products generate phone calls, forms, and other conversions.

Understand the Template

The Shopping campaign tracking template includes:

{lpurl}: The landing page URL from your product feed
{campaignid}: The unique ID of your Shopping campaign
{creative}: The ad creative identifier (not applicable to Shopping ads but included for consistency)
{product_id}: The unique product identifier from your Merchant Center feed

When someone clicks a Shopping ad, Google Ads replaces these parameters with actual values, and WhatConverts captures the data.

Verify Product Tracking

After setup, test that product data is flowing correctly:

Click on one of your Shopping ads (or use the test method from Simulate Google Ads Clicks to Test Tracking Numbers).
Navigate to your WhatConverts Lead Manager.
Find the lead generated from your test click.
Check that the Keyword field is populated with the product ID from your feed.

If product data isn't appearing, verify that:

Auto-tagging is enabled at the account level
The tracking template is correctly formatted at the campaign level
Your products are properly configured in Google Merchant Center

Apply the Template at Campaign vs. Account Level

For Shopping campaigns, apply the tracking template at the campaign level rather than account level. This ensures the product-specific template doesn't interfere with keyword tracking in your search campaigns.

If you have multiple Shopping campaigns, you'll need to add the tracking template to each campaign individually.

For additional information on Google Ads tracking see Google Ads Integration.

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