Google Ads setup guide

Track Google Ads clicks in Linkrail by using one of our tracking links as your ad’s tracking template. Our tracking domains are transparent click trackers: they always send visitors to exactly the page in the URL, so Google can see where every ad leads.

Availability: the Google Ads section appears in your dashboard once one of our tracking domains is certified by Google. Until then it’s open to accounts in our early-access program.

1. Copy the tracking template

Open a link in the dashboard. Under Google Ads tracking template you’ll find:

https://lrlclk.com/c?lid=<link id>&url={lpurl}

{lpurl} is a Google Ads ValueTrack parameter: Google replaces it with your ad’s final URL.

2. Add it in Google Ads

1. Open the campaign, ad group or ad you want to track.
2. Go to Settings → Campaign URL options (or the ad’s Ad URL options).
3. Paste the template into Tracking template.
4. Set the Final URL to the link’s destination, or another page on the same site.
5. Click Test. Google follows the template and should reach your final URL.
6. Save.

A template set at ad level overrides the ad group, which overrides the campaign.

3. See the clicks

Google Ads clicks appear in the link’s analytics with source Google Ads, usually within a minute, including Google’s gclid when present.

Parallel tracking

Most Google Ads campaigns use parallel tracking: the visitor goes straight to your final URL while Google calls the tracking URL in the background. That’s why our tracker responds immediately with a plain redirect and records the click without slowing anything down. Clicks are counted the same way whether the request comes from the browser or from Google in the background.

Rules the tracker follows

• It redirects only to the exact url value, with a 302. No other hops, pages, scripts or cookies.
• The destination must be on the same site as the link’s destination, or a domain you’ve allowed in Google Ads → Extra allowed destinations. Anything else is refused, so nobody can use your link to redirect elsewhere.
• It never adds UTM or other parameters. Put those in your final URL or final URL suffix.
• The only parameter it can add is our click ID, trk_cid, if you turn on “Append our click ID”. Use it to match clicks with your own analytics.

Troubleshooting