What to do
For a website conversion, the tag receives the chosen conversion action and available customer fields, hashes supported identifiers, and sends the event to Google. Google compares the identifiers with its matching data. For a later qualified lead or sale, the business must also import that outcome; the website tag cannot observe it on its own.
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Follow one inquiry through the two conversion flows
Imagine a visitor submits an estimate request. The website conversion tag reports that submission to the selected Google Ads action. When permitted and available, the email or other supported customer fields accompany it as enhanced-conversion data. Google uses the identifiers to improve matching to an ad interaction.
Two days later, your team qualifies the inquiry. That outcome exists in your sales system, not on the original website page. An enhanced-conversions-for-leads workflow imports the qualified outcome with its time, conversion action, and matching customer details. Both events can be useful, but they answer different questions.
- Website: visitor completes the chosen online action
- Tag: sends the action and available matching fields
- Google: processes the data for matching and attribution
- Sales system: records a later qualified lead or sale
- Import: reports that later outcome through a supported connection
What happens to email, phone, and click identifiers?
The Google tag can accept supported customer fields and handle hashing. An API integration must follow the normalization and hashing rules itself. For example, email normalization removes extra spaces and uses lowercase, and phone numbers use the international E.164 format. A badly formatted identifier is not made useful merely by hashing it.
In Simple CAPI's browser path, available form fields are supplied to the Google tag. Its optional server upload hashes normalized email and phone; that upload does not send address identifiers. Google click identifiers are included when they are available on the configured conversion page or in previously captured session data. The script does not recover an identifier that never reached it.
For a Schedule event, customer fields must be available on the confirmation page or carried from a preceding Simple CAPI Lead tracker for the same provider, site, and browser session. A booking page on an unrelated domain does not automatically share that information.
- Customer identifiers support matching
- Click identifiers preserve available ad context
- Conversion action identifies the outcome
- Conversion time describes when it happened
- None of these fields guarantees attribution
Why a transaction ID does not solve every duplicate
Google uses a matching transaction ID to recognize repeated events for the same conversion action. Different real conversions need different IDs. A repeated event with a new ID can still look like a new conversion.
Simple CAPI generates an event ID for the triggered event and uses it as the browser transaction ID and optional server order ID. Its website action and server upload action are separate. Sharing that ID does not deduplicate across those actions. Review which actions are used for bidding, and avoid having another tag report the same website outcome independently.
- Check for duplicate scripts or tag-manager rules
- Keep lead submission and later qualification distinct
- Review Primary and Secondary action settings
- Test a reload and a repeated submission
Matching information is separate from money and consent
A customer's email is a matching signal, not a conversion value. Simple CAPI reads an actual amount only from supported conversion fields or explicitly marked booking data. It keeps a real zero, uses the event currency or configured currency fallback when an amount exists, and omits value and currency when no valid amount is supplied. Google Ads can still apply defaults saved in the conversion action.
Your consent manager must set the appropriate defaults before Google measurement runs and communicate later choices. Simple CAPI accepts explicit Google consent values from the site; it is not a consent banner. An explicit denial of ad_user_data removes personal identifiers from its Google event request.
What a test can prove, and what still needs checking
Tag Assistant can show whether the website tag fired with the intended action and enhanced-conversion data. Google Ads diagnostics then help identify missing fields, formatting problems, coverage, and matching issues. These are different checks from seeing a conversion attributed to a campaign.
A Simple CAPI configuration check only verifies that the saved setup can be read. Browser-only delivery means no server upload took place. Even a successful API response does not prove that Google matched the customer or credited an ad. Use the advertiser's Google Ads diagnostics and reporting to verify those results.
- Tag fired: the browser executed the request
- API accepted: Google accepted a server request, if configured
- Data quality: Google processed the matching fields
- Attributed conversion: reporting connects the outcome to an ad
Trace the conversion before trusting the total
01Identify the website or offline outcome
02Find the system that knows it happened
03Check the chosen conversion action
04Inspect the permitted matching fields
05Check duplicate tags and action settings
06Review Google diagnostics and reporting
Common questions about this setup
How do enhanced conversions work?+
They give Google hashed customer identifiers alongside a website conversion or an imported offline outcome, adding another way to match that outcome to an ad interaction.
Does enhanced conversion tracking replace the Google tag?+
A browser implementation still needs the Google tag and a correctly triggered conversion. A later offline outcome also needs an import workflow.
Will one transaction ID deduplicate different conversion actions?+
No. Google's website transaction-ID deduplication applies within the same conversion action. Review separate website and upload actions so they do not count the same outcome twice for bidding.
Why can a tag fire without a reported conversion?+
Tag execution alone does not establish a match or eligible ad attribution. Check the action, customer data, consent, diagnostics, and reporting before concluding that tracking is complete.
Does Simple CAPI make up a value for a free inquiry?+
No. It omits the amount and currency if the conversion supplies no valid amount. Check Google Ads separately for any default value configured in the conversion action.
Official references
Use these official references when checking the current Google Ads setup and account screens.