Floodlight is the conversion tracking system for the Google Marketing Platform (GMP). It acts as a shared data layer, allowing you to track conversions and user events across Campaign Manager 360, Display & Video 360, and Search Ads 360 using a single set of tags.
On this page
- Why use Floodlight
- How Floodlight works
- Core features of Floodlight
- Advanced customization
- Reporting on Floodlight
Why use Floodlight
Floodlight offers a unified view of user activity, preventing data silos between your search and display efforts.
- Cross-channel measurement: Since Floodlight activities are shared across the GMP platform, you can de-duplicate conversions. For example, if a user clicks a display ad and then a search ad before converting, Floodlight ensures the conversion is reported accurately according to your attribution model, rather than counting it twice.
- Audience building: You can build audience lists based on specific actions users take on your site (for example, Added to Cart) and target these users across both Search and Display campaigns.
- Bidding optimization: Floodlight data powers the automated bidding strategies in Search Ads 360 and Display & Video 360, optimizing for actions that drive real value.
How Floodlight works
Floodlight relies on a snippet of code, known as a tag, placed on your website or app. When a user visits a page where the tag is installed, such as a “Thank You” page, the tag generates a Floodlight impression.The system then checks if this user has viewed or clicked one of your ads within your specified lookback window. If a match is found, a conversion is counted.
Configuration and sharing
In most workflows, Campaign Manager 360 acts as the parent for Floodlight settings. While the Floodlight Configuration (the container for your tags) must be established in Campaign Manager 360, you have flexibility with your conversion actions. You can create Floodlight Activities (the specific events you track) in either Campaign Manager 360 or Search Ads 360.
These settings are then synced to Search Ads 360. When linking these platforms, keep the following in mind:
- Permissions: You must have the correct user profile permissions in both platforms to initiate the link or create activities in Search Ads 360.
- Sync timing: Changes made in Campaign Manager 360, such as creating a new activity, may take a few hours to appear in Search Ads 360.
- Editing limitations: Your Floodlight Configuration and global settings (like lookback windows) are managed in Campaign Manager 360. Search Ads 360 is used primarily for creating and managing specific activities and assigning them to campaigns.
Learn more about How Floodlight activities are shared between Campaign Manager 360 and Search Ads 360 .
Core features of Floodlight
You can implement Floodlight using the Google tag or Google Tag Manager. We highly recommend the Google tag, which is a site-wide tagging library that ensures accurate measurement and easier integration with other Google products. If you are using older iframe or image tags, you should migrate to the Google tag to prevent data loss.
Alternatively, Google Tag Manager allows you to manage tags without editing site code directly.
Learn how to Create Floodlight conversion actions and Use Google Tag Manager to manage tags for Floodlight conversion actions .
Offline conversion tracking
For conversions that begin online but finish offline (such as sales completed via a call center) you can upload offline data to Floodlight. This helps bridge the gap between ad clicks and final revenue.A common best practice is to use a placeholder Floodlight activity (one not implemented on your live site) for these uploads. This keeps your offline data separate from your online pixel fires.
Learn more About uploading offline conversions .
Enhanced conversions
Enhanced conversions improve accuracy by capturing first-party data, such as email addresses, during a conversion. This data is hashed for privacy (using SHA256) and matched against Google accounts. This process helps recover conversions that cookies might miss due to browser restrictions.
Learn more About enhanced conversions .
Advanced customization
Custom Floodlight variables (CFV)
While standard Floodlight tags count the volume of conversions, custom Floodlight variables allow you to capture the context. You can set these up to track dimensions like "Movie Genre" or metrics like Shipping Cost.You can create up to 100 custom variables in Campaign Manager 360 and sync them to Search Ads 360 to use in your reporting columns and bidding strategies.
Learn more About custom Floodlight metrics and dimensions in Search Ads 360 .
Floodlight instructions
Floodlight instructions allow you to clean or modify your data in Search Ads 360 without changing the code on your website. You might use instructions to convert revenue into a different currency, exclude specific testing activities from your reports, or correct a revenue value if a tag fired incorrectly.
Learn more About Floodlight instructions .
Reporting on Floodlight
When viewing Floodlight data in Search Ads 360, it is important to distinguish between the 2 main columns in your reporting table:
- All Conversions: This column reports everything tracked, including all Floodlight activities and platform-specific goals. It is best used for high-level analysis and verifying raw data.
- Conversions: This column reports only the specific actions you have explicitly selected to Include in Conversions. This is the column Bidding Strategies use. You should only include your most important key performance indicators here to ensure your bidding focuses on the right data.
To find more granular data, such as specific Floodlight activities or Custom Variables, you will need to create a Custom Column.
Learn how to Use custom dimensions to filter a Floodlight column in Search Ads 360 .
