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Quick Summary
  • Open your Google Ads destination in Upstack and turn on Enable Conversion API.
  • Click Connect Google Ads and grant Upstack offline access during the Google consent screen.
  • Select the Google Ads account you want to forward conversions to.
  • In Event Conversion Mappings, link each tracked event to a conversion action — use Create & Link to create dedicated Upstack conversion actions automatically.
  • Save the configuration and confirm the destination shows Healthy.

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What the Conversions API path adds

The browser pixel (Conversion ID and Conversion Label) tracks your primary conversion from the visitor’s browser. The server-side Conversions API runs alongside it: Upstack sends each tracked event directly to Google Ads server-to-server, attached to its own dedicated conversion action. Server-side delivery reaches Google even when the browser pixel is blocked by ad blockers, ITP, or cookie restrictions, and it carries the original click identifier (gclid, gbraid, or wbraid) plus SHA-256 hashed customer data for Enhanced Conversions match-rate uplift.
The Conversions API and the browser pixel run independently and in parallel. Enabling server-side forwarding does not change or disable your pixel — the pixel keeps tracking your primary conversion using the Conversion ID on the destination.

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Prerequisites

Before you start, you need:
  • An active Upstack Data account (sign up)
  • An existing Google Ads destination in Upstack with the Conversion ID and Pixel ID already filled in. If you haven’t set those yet, follow How to Configure Google Ads Destination in Upstack Data → first.
  • Admin or Manager access to a Google Ads account, with permission to create or edit conversion actions
  • The Google account you sign in with during OAuth must have access to the Google Ads account you want to forward to (including the manager/MCC account, if you use one)

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Setup Steps

1

Open your Google Ads destination

Sign in to Upstack Data at app.upstackdata.com, navigate to Events Destination (app.upstackdata.com/pixel/event-destinations), and open your Google Ads destination.If you haven’t created the destination yet, add it first using How to Configure Google Ads Destination in Upstack Data →.
2

Enable the Conversion API

Turn on the Enable Conversion API toggle on the destination. The server-side connection panel appears below the pixel fields.
3

Connect Google Ads with OAuth

In the Connect Google Ads card, click Connect Google Ads. A Google consent screen opens.Sign in with a Google account that has access to your Google Ads account and grant the requested permissions.
You must grant offline access so Google returns a refresh token. If you skip or revoke that permission, Upstack shows the error “Google did not return a refresh token. Make sure you grant offline access.” — reconnect and accept all requested scopes.
On success the panel updates to Google Ads Server-Side Connected with the connection timestamp.
4

Select your Google Ads account

Under Google Ads Account, choose the account you want to forward conversions to. The dropdown lists every account your connected Google login can access, shown as Account Name (10-digit ID).
If you manage accounts through a manager (MCC) account, pick the individual advertising account that owns the conversions — not the manager account itself.
5

Map events to conversion actions

The Event Conversion Mappings table loads pre-filled with common events so you can map them quickly:
  • Purchase
  • NC Purchase (new customer purchase)
  • Subscription Initial Purchase
  • Subscription Recurring Purchase
  • Add to Cart
  • Initiate Checkout
For each row, set the Conversion Action the event should report to:
  • Pick an existing action from the dropdown, or
  • Choose + Create new in Google Ads to create a dedicated conversion action for that event (named ” - Upstack (Server-side)”).
Use + Add Mapping to add a row for a custom event (type the event name into the event combobox), and the trash icon to remove any event you don’t want to forward.
To set up everything at once, fill in the event names you want and click Create & Link. Upstack creates a dedicated Google Ads conversion action for every row that doesn’t have one yet and links it for server-side forwarding. Remove any rows you don’t need before clicking it.
6

Save the configuration

Save the destination. You need at least one complete mapping (an event name and a conversion action) for server-side forwarding to start.
If no row has both an event and a conversion action, Upstack shows “No server-side events will be forwarded yet.” The pixel keeps running regardless — only server-side forwarding is paused until you complete a mapping.

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Promote new conversion actions carefully

Conversion actions that Upstack creates start as secondary (observation-only) goals. As with any new Google Ads conversion, run them alongside your existing setup for 7–14 days and confirm the volume reconciles before promoting one to primary. See How to Enable the Google Ads Upstack Purchase Goal and Switch to Primary Optimization Goal →.

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Verify the Setup

After saving:
  • The Google Ads destination should show Healthy under Events Destination in the Upstack dashboard.
  • Place a test order on your store, then check Goals → Conversions → Summary in Google Ads within 24–48 hours and confirm the mapped conversion action records the event.

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FAQ & Troubleshooting

Yes. The Conversion ID and Pixel ID power the browser pixel, which tracks your primary conversion and remains required on the destination. The Conversions API is an additional server-side path that forwards events to their own conversion actions — it does not replace the pixel.
Sending server-side events into the same conversion the pixel fires would mix two sources into one goal and make deduplication and quality comparison impossible. Dedicated server-side conversion actions keep the data clean and let you compare them against your existing goals before promoting any to primary.
Google reserves the names of conversion actions even after they’re removed, so creating “Purchase - Upstack (Server-side)” can fail if one existed before (“A Google Ads conversion action named … already exists in this account”). Give the action a different display name and try again.
The action was deleted on the Google Ads side after it was mapped in Upstack. Pick a different existing action or create a new one for that event, then save.
Yes. Connect with a Google login that can access the account through the manager account, then select the individual advertising account that owns the conversions. Upstack handles the manager-account context when it forwards events.
Click Disconnect in the connection panel, or turn off Enable Conversion API. This clears the stored OAuth connection, the selected account, and all event mappings. The browser pixel keeps tracking your primary conversion.

Configure destination

Set the pixel Conversion ID and Pixel ID on the Google Ads destination.

Enable primary goal

Promote a conversion to primary so Smart Bidding optimizes against it.

Conversion API forwarding

How Upstack Signal forwards events to ad platforms via server-to-server APIs.

Events not reaching destination

End-to-end diagnostic guide when events aren’t arriving at any destination.