Google Ads Campaign Tracking

Track your Google Ads campaigns across Search, Shopping, Display, and Video to understand true profitability and ROAS. This guide covers viewing campaign data, analyzing performance, and optimizing based on profit insights.

Viewing Google Ads Campaigns

Campaign Dashboard

  1. Go to Alpha Insights → Google Ads Campaigns
  2. See all campaigns with key metrics

Note: Campaigns are stored as WordPress custom post types (google_ad_campaign) for efficient data management and reporting.

Main Dashboard Integration

  1. Go to Alpha Insights → Dashboard
  2. Google Ads spend included in total ad spend
  3. Filter to view Google Ads separately

Campaign Types and Tracking

Search Campaigns

What they are: Text ads on Google search results

Tracked metrics:

Unique insights:

Shopping Campaigns

What they are: Product feed ads with images and prices

Tracked metrics:

Unique insights:

Display Campaigns

What they are: Banner ads across Google Display Network

Tracked metrics:

Insights:

Video Campaigns (YouTube)

What they are: Video ads on YouTube and partner sites

Tracked metrics:

Performance Max Campaigns

What they are: Google's automated campaigns across all networks

Tracked metrics:

Note: Performance Max combines Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail - Alpha Insights tracks as one campaign

Key Google Ads Metrics

Cost / Ad Spend

What it is: Total amount spent on campaign

Synced from: Google Ads daily spend data

Updates: Based on your sync frequency (every 6 hours recommended)

Data source: Retrieved from metrics.cost_micros via Google Ads API v20 and converted from micros

Clicks

What it is: Number of clicks on your ads

Why it matters: Compare to orders to calculate conversion rate

Data source: Retrieved from metrics.clicks via Google Ads API

Impressions

What it is: How many times ads were shown

Useful for: Understanding reach and visibility

Data source: Retrieved from metrics.impressions via Google Ads API

Average CPC (Cost Per Click)

Formula: Cost / Clicks

Example:$500 spend / 250 clicks = $2.00 CPC

Use to: Compare campaign efficiency, identify high/low competition keywords

Data source: Retrieved from metrics.average_cpc via Google Ads API (converted from micros)

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

Formula:(Clicks / Impressions) × 100

Example:(250 / 10,000) × 100 = 2.5% CTR

Benchmarks:

Calculation: Alpha Insights calculates CTR as (Clicks / Impressions) × 100

Attributed Revenue

What it is: Revenue from orders attributed to this campaign

Attribution based on:

Note: Google Ads API returns metrics.conversions_value which represents revenue tracked by Google, but Alpha Insights primarily uses WooCommerce order data matched via GCLID and campaign parameters for more accurate attribution.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Formula: Revenue / Cost

Example:$3,200 revenue / $800 spend = 4.0 ROAS

Google Ads Benchmarks by Campaign Type:

Calculation: Alpha Insights calculates ROAS as Conversion Value / Cost where conversion value comes from metrics.conversions_value via Google Ads API

Profit

Formula: Revenue - (Product Costs + Shipping + Fees + Ad Spend + Expenses)

Example: 

	Revenue: $3,200 - Product costs: $1,280 (40% COGS) - Shipping: $160 - Payment fees: $95 - Ad spend: $800 - Allocated expenses: $320 = Profit: $545

How it's calculated: Alpha Insights calculates campaign profit as Conversion Value - Cost for API-sourced data. For more accurate profit calculations including product costs, use Alpha Insights' order-based reporting where GCLID and campaign parameters link orders to campaigns.

Profit Margin

Formula:(Profit / Revenue) × 100

Example:($545 / $3,200) × 100 = 17% margin

Cost Per Order

Formula: Ad Spend / Orders

Example:$800 / 32 orders = $25 per order

Compare to: Your average profit per order to ensure sustainable acquisition

Conversion Rate

Formula:(Orders / Clicks) × 100

Example:(32 / 400) × 100 = 8% conversion rate

Benchmarks:

Calculation: Alpha Insights calculates conversion rate as (Conversions / Clicks) × 100 where conversions come from metrics.conversions via Google Ads API

Campaign Data Storage

All campaign performance data is stored in WordPress as custom post types with the following structure:

Analyzing Campaign Performance

Campaign List View

The campaigns list shows:

Column What It Shows
Campaign Name Name from Google Ads
Type Search, Shopping, Display, etc.
Status Active, Paused, Ended
Spend Total cost for date range
Revenue Attributed sales
ROAS Return on ad spend
Profit True profit after all costs
Orders Number of attributed orders

Sorting and Filtering

Sort by:

Filter by:

Campaign Detail View

Click any campaign to see:

Performance Trend

Data source: Daily campaign performance is stored in post meta field _wpd_campaign_daily_data as an array

Product Performance (Shopping campaigns)

Geographic Performance

Device Breakdown

Google Ads Reports

Pre-Built Reports

Note: Report availability depends on your Alpha Insights configuration. These reports combine Google Ads API data with WooCommerce order data for comprehensive profit analysis.

1. Google Ads Overview

Complete performance snapshot:

2. Search Campaign Performance

Detailed Search campaign analysis:

3. Shopping Campaign Analysis

Product-level insights:

4. Campaign Type Comparison

Compare Search vs Shopping vs Display:

Creating Custom Google Ads Reports

  1. Go to Reports → Create New
  4. Save report

Optimization Strategies

For High ROAS Campaigns (5.0+)

Action: Scale up

  1. Increase daily budget in Google Ads
  2. Expand to similar keywords/products
  3. Increase bids to gain more impression share
  4. Create similar campaigns targeting related audiences

Monitor: ROAS may decrease slightly as you scale (normal), but should stay profitable

For Moderate ROAS Campaigns (2.5-4.0)

Action: Optimize

For Low ROAS Campaigns (< 2.5)

Action: Fix or pause

  1. Check if campaign has enough data (need 20+ clicks minimum)
  2. If new, give it 7-14 days to optimize
  4. Make significant changes or pause campaign

Shopping Campaign Optimization

Based on Alpha Insights product profit data:

High-Profit Products

Low-Profit Products

Negative Profit Products

Google Ads vs Facebook Ads Comparison

With both integrated, compare platforms:

Typical Performance Differences

Metric Google Ads Facebook Ads
ROAS Higher (3-6) Lower (2-4)
Intent High (searching for product) Low (discovery)
CPC Higher ($1-5) Lower ($0.50-2)
Conversion Rate Higher (5-10%) Lower (2-5%)
Volume Limited by search demand Larger audience potential

Budget Allocation Strategy

If Google Ads has higher ROAS:

If Facebook Ads has higher ROAS:

Balanced approach:

Troubleshooting Tracking Issues

Revenue Not Attributed Correctly

Ensure UTM parameters are set:

  1. In Google Ads, go to Settings → Account settings
  2. Enable Auto-tagging (GCLID)
  3. Or manually add UTM parameters to destination URLs

UTM format: 

	?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}

Or better, use Alpha Insights' recommended parameter: 

	?google_cid={campaignid}

Spend Doesn't Match Google Ads

Check:

Note: Spend data comes from metrics.cost_micros in the Google Ads API and is converted from micros (divided by 1,000,000) for display

Missing Campaigns

Verify:

  1. Campaign type is selected in sync settings
  2. Campaign has spend during date range
  3. Campaign status (ended campaigns may be filtered out)

Note: Campaigns are queried from the Google Ads API using: SELECT segments.date, campaign.id, campaign.name, campaign.start_date, campaign.end_date, campaign.status, metrics.clicks, metrics.impressions, metrics.cost_micros, metrics.average_cpc, metrics.conversions, metrics.conversions_value FROM campaign

Best Practices