Introduction
Editing UTM Parameters on the campaign or ad group level does NOT start another ad review process , does NOT affect your optimization score and DOESN`T set back the learning phase. It’s best to make these changes as soon as possible.
Different campaign types need to be treated differently. Please implement the below changes carefully, so that all of your campaigns are tracked accurately.
Make sure Auto-tagging is activated.
Note: Templates at the ad group or ad level override campaign-level templates and can break Kickbite tracking. If Kickbite parameters are set at campaign level, ensure no templates exist at lower levels.
These are the UTM Parameters every campaign needs to use for our tracking pixel to work:
Default Channel Mix:
Channel | If you are not using UTMs | If you are already using UTM Parameters |
Search Brand | {lpurl}?kb=ga_sb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_sb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Search Non-Brand | {lpurl}?kb=ga_snb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_snb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Performance Max | {lpurl}?kb=ga_pm_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_pm_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Youtube Paid | {lpurl}?kb=ga_vd_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_vd_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Demand Gen | {lpurl}?kb=ga_dg_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_dg_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Shopping Brand | {lpurl}?kb=ga_shp_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_shp_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Shopping Non-Brand | {lpurl}?kb=ga_shnb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_shnb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Display | {lpurl}?kb=ga_dis_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_dis_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
If you are already using UTM Parameters, you need to add Kickbite (kb) parameters at the end of your existing ones. In that case, make sure to change the “?” at the beginning of our parameters to an “&” symbol. And put the {lpurl} at the beginning of your UTMs.
Example
lpurl}?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&kb=ga_dg_{campaignid}_{adgroupid}
Extra Channels
Sometimes you may want more detail than the default Kickbite channel mix provides. To do this, you need to use different tracking parameters for new channels.
Here are some examples we already support. If you don’t see your channel listed, please reach out to customer support.
Channel | If you are not using UTMs | If you are already using UTM Parameters |
Demand Gen Retargeting | {lpurl}?kb=ga_dr_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_dr_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Display Retargeting | {lpurl}?kb=ga_dir_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} | &kb=ga_dir_{campaignid}_{adgroupid} |
Implementation
In Google Ads tracking templates are applied on campaign level to all the ads under the campaign. To add the tracking template at the campaign level:
Ver. 1 - for bulk changes.
After creating a Campaign (regardless of the type), click on the campaign type menu that will undergo the tracking template implementation (it has to be done for each type).
Example for search campaigns:
2. Click settings > campaign settings.
3. Click on Columns to add the Tracking Template option and then “Apply”.
4. Click on “Edit” to modify the tracking template according to the tracking instructions per channel and click “Save’.
Ver. 2 - suitable for single-campaign changes.
Select the campaign > Settings > Additional settings
2.In “Campaign URL option” add Kickbite tracking code in the field “Tracking template” and save the settings.
Important notes
In the hierarchy of tracking Adgroup and Ad level templates are more chief than Campaign’s level templates. This means they overwrite the campaign parameters. So if you need to add tracking on these levels - do not forget to use our Kickbite tags.
In case you have other tracking (not Kickbite) scripts or if you need to add it, you can use ‘&’ sign:
Before kb script:
{lpurl}?aw_account=123456789&..random_script....{placement}}&kb=ga_sb_{campaignid}_{adgroupid}
Or after kb script:
{lpurl}?kb=ga_disp_{campaignid}_{adgroupid}&aw_account=123456789&aw_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content=display_rem&aw_adgroup={adgroupid}.....random_script.......
Best-Practices
Add the “Tracking template” column to your campaign / ad group column preset and always check if the correct parameters are applied.
You can check if the tracking template works by clicking on the tracking template's edit icon and choosing "Test". If the URL looks exactly like the tracking template suggests, Kickbites tracking will work as expected.
In case you're using multiple tracking templates at different levels, the most specific tracking template is used. Specificity is defined in this order: ad > ad group > campaign > account. So, if you're using "Tracking templates" or "Final URL suffixes" to add URL parameters on the ad level, this will override Kickbite's parameters set on the level above and cause our script to not track these ads.