[Performance Max] ValueTrack and Custom parameters for improved tracking

Do you want to track Performance Max clicks at the Asset group level?

Fellow list member Felipe Martins sent in this question (shared with permission, slightly edited for clarity):

“Since I’ve started with PMax campaigns I need to track more properly, since we are using auto-tagging and seeing NULL values in the utm_content for these campaigns.

Do you know anything about ValueTrack and Asset Groups? I mean, if you know any kind of template we could use to track “asset group name” or “asset group id”?

Great question.

I’ve tested ValueTrack parameters in my PMax campaigns by adding the following Tracking template to multiple campaigns:

'{lpurl}?matchtype={matchtype}&extensionid={extensionid}&targetid={targetid}&network={network}&gsn={ifsearch:1}&gdn={ifcontent:1}&keyword={keyword}&placement={placement}&adposition={adposition}' 

Unfortunately, NONE, of the parameters get any value assigned. There’s an occasional exception for the network parameter; sometimes the value for ‘network’ is set to ‘x’. I think ‘x’ stands for ‘crossnetwork’, not sure why this happens only occasionally.

The same happens when you add the tracking parameters as Final URL Suffix; no values are assigned.

What you can do though, is add your Custom parameters at the PMax campaign level: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6325879?ctx=tltp. You can do this manually, or use a script to automatically set the parameters for you.

Another thing you can do is adding some tracking variables to your Asset groups!

As far as I know, Google does not allow you to add a tracking template or custom parameters at the asset group level.

What you can do, is use a script to automatically set the Final URL of your PMax asset groups to contain your custom parameters.
That is, you can add the Name and Id of the asset group by hardcoding them in your Final URL:

'?utm_source='google'&utm_medium='cpc'&utm_campaign={PmaxCampaignName}&utm_content={PmaxAssetGroupName}&utm_id={PmaxAssetGroupId}'

Here are two links to help you get started:

Happy scripting!

– Nils

PS: If you want me to create the script for you, send me an email at nils@nilsrooijmans.com.

Author: Nils Rooijmans

Google Ads Performance Architect with a passion for PPC Automation & AI, in particular via Google Ads Scripts.