Enhanced conversions in Google Ads: how they work, how to set them up and how to check them

As of: 5 November 2026.

What are enhanced conversions in Google Ads?

Enhanced conversions for web are a Google Ads feature that supplements your existing conversion tag with hashed first-party customer data. According to Google Ads Help, you send the data from your site when a user converts, and Google matches it to the Google accounts the user was signed in to when they engaged with your ad.

The feature does not replace the conversion tag and does not create a new conversion. It adds a signal to an existing conversion, so Google can attribute it to a click more easily. Google states that it reports only conversions that comply with its privacy rules.

Enhanced conversions for web have a sibling: enhanced conversions for leads, which connect a CRM event to a click. We cover that variant in our piece on offline conversions in Google Ads. This article is about conversions recorded on the site: a purchase, a form submission, a booking.

What data do you send and how is it protected?

Enhanced conversions send Google an email address, phone number, name or address, hashed with the SHA256 algorithm. The setup guide sets out which fields are required and in what format you pass them.

• Email address: the preferred field, key `email`; it is enough on its own.
• Postal address: requires first name, last name, postal code and country; street, city and region are optional.
• Phone number: key `phone_number`, E.164 format (a plus sign and digits, with no spaces or dashes); it works only together with an email or with a name and address.
• Minimum: you must provide at least an email address or a postal address.

If you hash the data yourself, normalise it first: trim spaces at the start and end, convert letters to lowercase and, for gmail.com and googlemail.com addresses, remove dots before the domain. You can send a hex-encoded hashed value yourself or pass plain data and let Google normalise and hash it. If you use Google Ads tags with the Google tag gateway or with server-side Google Tag Manager, the data is also encrypted before it is sent.

How do you turn on enhanced conversions step by step?

You turn on enhanced conversions in the conversion settings of Google Ads by accepting the customer data terms and choosing how data is collected. The help pages describe three paths: the Google tag, Google Tag Manager and the Google Ads API.

• Step 1: in Google Ads open conversion settings, accept the customer data terms and turn on enhanced conversions.
• Step 2: choose a method. With the Google tag you have three options: automatic detection, CSS selectors or JavaScript variables, or code on the page.
• Step 3: with code on the page you pass the data with `gtag('set', 'user_data', {...})` on the conversion page, and data from code takes priority.
• Step 4: if your tags live in a container, choose the Google Tag Manager method in conversion settings and configure the tag following Google's instructions; we cover container setup in our guide to Google Tag Manager.
• Step 5: remove fields your form does not collect instead of leaving them empty.

How do you check that enhanced conversions work?

You check on two levels: in the browser's network traffic right after launch and in the Google Ads diagnostics report a few days later. Google Ads Help says the diagnostics report appears about 72 hours after implementation, and the impact on results about 30 days after a successful implementation.

• Network traffic: look for the `em` parameter in the conversion request. A value starting with `tv.1~em` followed by a long string means hashed data; `tv.1~em` alone means empty data, most often because the data was not yet available when the conversion fired.
• Diagnostics report: the Diagnostics tab of the conversion action shows the results of the implementation diagnostics.
• Result after launch: after about 30 days the conversion actions table shows the impact of enhanced conversions.

For the measurement setup as a whole, run our GA4 Audit: the scan shows whether conversion tags fire at the right moment and whether the requests contain personal data in plain form. We implement the remaining parts of ad account configuration in the GA4 and analytics service.

What about user consent and GDPR?

Enhanced conversions work on personal data, so you send them only from people who consented where the law requires it. Google Ads Help on conversion tracking asks you to give users clear information about the data you collect and to obtain consent where law or Google policies require it, including the EU user consent policy.

In technical terms consent is handled by Consent Mode: according to the Google tag documentation the `ad_user_data` signal sets consent for sending user data related to advertising to Google. The documentation does not say directly what happens to enhanced conversions when that signal is denied, so check it on your own setup in Tag Assistant before launch. The GA4 help page on user-provided data adds that the feature is meant for consented first-party data and requires you to review the user-provided data policy (Analytics Help). The effectiveness of enhanced conversions therefore depends on correct consent: we describe how tags are blocked and released in our article on Consent Mode v2.

What implementation mistakes happen most often?

In our experience the mistakes come down to a few recurring situations: a wrong data format, no data at conversion time and a badly chosen method. You can check each of them in network traffic before publishing a change.

• Wrong phone format: a number without the plus sign or with spaces does not meet the E.164 format, so Google cannot match it.
• Data not cleaned: when you hash yourself, spaces at the start or end of an email address and capital letters change the hash, which is why you normalise the value before hashing.
• Empty fields in the configuration: Google's help tells you to remove fields your form does not collect instead of leaving them empty.
• Data too late on the page: the tag fires before the email address appears in the page code; the request then shows only `tv.1~em`.
• Phone number alone: a phone number without an email or a full address is not enough, so such a configuration matches nothing.
• Two methods at once: when you set code on the page and automatic detection together, data from the code takes priority, so a mistake in the code overrides correct detection.

After every change to the checkout form or the thank-you page, repeat the test in network traffic. A layout change can shift the moment at which data appears in the page code, and enhanced conversions may then stop working.

Which businesses benefit from enhanced conversions?

Enhanced conversions make sense wherever a customer gives an email address or phone number at the moment of conversion on the site: in an online shop, in a quote form, when booking an appointment. In our experience the difference is largest in accounts where a sale or an enquiry ends with a form on the site.

• Online shop: the email address is in the cart, so the data is available at purchase time; this is the simplest case to implement.
• Service business with a form: the customer types an email or phone number, so the conversion can be matched as soon as the enquiry is sent.
• Business whose customers call: the conversion happens off the site, so you need the leads variant or an offline import.
• Account with few conversions: the signal helps, but first check that the conversion tag itself fires correctly.

Before you turn the feature on, sort out the basics: one conversion counted once, correct consent and working tags. Enhanced conversions add a signal to measurement that already works; they do not repair measurement that does not.

When are enhanced conversions not enough?

Enhanced conversions recover only signals that can be linked to the customer data provided at conversion time. They do not fix tags that never fire, a missing consent, or conversions that happen outside the site, such as a phone call to the company.

• No data at conversion time: when a customer buys without giving an email and the form collects no phone or address, there is nothing to send.
• Conversions on the CRM side: sales closed by phone need the leads variant or an offline import, as in the Maxi Mobil case study.
• Signal lost in the browser: when script blockers cut the tag, only sending from a server helps, which we describe in our piece on server-side tracking.
• Measurement outside Google: enhanced conversions apply to Google Ads, so the Meta pixel needs its own setup; for the wider picture of lost data see our article on conversions without cookies.

If you are preparing measurement for a new account, start by tidying the measurement and turn on enhanced conversions as one of its elements. Our marketing agency sets this up together with the Google Ads account and GA4.

FAQ: enhanced conversions