Google Ads · Enhanced conversions
Browsers block cookies. People switch devices. Some conversions simply go missing. Enhanced conversions use details your customers already give you, like an email address, to match sales back to your ads, safely and in scrambled form. More measured results means smarter bidding.
What Google receives
The email address itself never leaves the browser. Only the scrambled code does.
How it works
Normal conversion tracking relies on cookies. When someone clicks your ad, Google stores a click ID. When they convert, your tag reads it and gives the ad the credit. That works until something breaks the chain: a browser that blocks tracking, a customer who clicks on their phone and buys on their laptop, or a sale that happens days later.
Enhanced conversions add a backup. When a customer fills in a form or checks out, the Google tag takes the email address or phone number they typed, scrambles it with a one-way code called SHA-256, and sends that code with the conversion. Google compares it with the scrambled details of people signed in to Google. If there is a match, the conversion is credited to the right ad.
The result is simple. More of your real conversions show up in Google Ads, so smart bidding learns from a fuller picture and makes better decisions with your budget.
It builds on solid GA4 conversion tracking. If your basic tracking is broken, enhanced conversions can’t fix it, so we always check the foundations first.
See it for yourself
Type an email address below. Your browser scrambles it the same way the Google tag does, right here on this page.
This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved.
Try changing a single letter. The whole code changes, which is why a hash can be matched but can’t be turned back into the email address.
Spaces trimmed and letters made lowercase. For Gmail addresses, Google also drops the dots before the @.
What changed
Enhanced conversions used to come in two versions with separate setups. That changed in 2026.
Matches conversions that happen on your site, like a purchase or a form submission, at the moment they happen.
Captures the email from a lead form, then matches it later when you send the sale from your CRM. This is how you teach Google which leads became customers. See offline conversion imports.
How we set it up
Enhanced conversions are simple to switch on and easy to get quietly wrong. Here is how we do it.
We confirm what customer details your forms and checkout collect, and that your privacy policy explains they are used for advertising measurement. You also need to accept Google’s customer data terms in your account.
We switch on enhanced conversions in Google Ads and confirm which conversion actions use it.
We map the email and phone fields on your forms and checkout to the Google tag in Google Tag Manager, so they are scrambled in the browser before anything is sent.
Forms inside pop-ups, iframes or third-party booking tools need extra work. We find a reliable way to capture the data, or tell you honestly when it can’t be done.
Google Ads has an enhanced conversions diagnostics report. We check it and fix any warnings until data is flowing properly.
We compare conversions before and after, and keep an eye on bidding while Google adjusts to the fuller data.
Australian privacy
Enhanced conversions use personal information, even though it is scrambled. That means Australian privacy law applies. The Privacy Act already covers how you collect and use customer details. In August 2026 the government released draft changes that would widen what counts as personal information, including data used for tracking and targeted advertising.
We are not lawyers, and this isn’t legal advice. If you are unsure, check with your legal adviser. What we can do is set enhanced conversions up the careful way, so you are in a good position whatever the final rules look like.
What we find
Switching it on is one click. Making it actually work is the real job.
The setting says on, but the tag isn’t collecting a single email address.
We check the diagnostics report, fix the field mapping and test with real submissions.
The tag grabs the newsletter box in the footer instead of the email on the checkout.
We map the exact fields on each form and check them one by one.
A plugin and the Google tag both send customer data, formatted differently.
We choose clean sources and remove the duplicates.
Booking widgets and embedded forms hide their fields from your tag.
We use the tool’s own integration, a data layer or a server-side route.
Is your tracking actually working?
Paste your website into our free Tracking Checker. In about 20 seconds you’ll see whether GA4, Google Ads, the Meta Pixel and cookie consent are set up, and what’s missing.
Check my tracking Free. No sign-up.Keep exploring
Each of these works best alongside the others. Here is how the rest of our tracking and setup work fits together.
We manage Google Ads for businesses right across Australia, including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Rockingham, Mandurah and Busselton.
Questions
The things people ask before they turn it on.
The details are scrambled in the browser with SHA-256 before they are sent, so Google receives a one-way code, not the email address itself. Google uses it to match conversions to ads. You still need to explain this in your privacy policy.
It usually increases the conversions Google Ads can see, because it recovers some that cookies missed. It doesn’t create sales. How much it helps depends on how many customers share an email or phone number and are signed in to Google.
Usually not. We set it up through Google Tag Manager or the Google tag. Custom checkouts, iframes and some booking tools need a developer’s help, and we will tell you upfront.
Enhanced conversions help measure conversions that happen on your website. Offline conversion imports send results that happen later, like a signed contract, back to Google Ads. Enhanced conversions for leads links the two by matching the email from your form to the sale in your CRM.
Yes. Both can pass order details to the Google tag. We check that the email is captured on the order and that each order is counted only once.
They do different jobs. Consent mode tells your tags what each visitor agreed to. Enhanced conversions improve matching for the conversions you can measure. If you use a consent banner, we set up both so they work together.
About the author
Director and Lead Consultant, Anahaw Media
John Conigliaro is the Director and Lead Consultant at Anahaw Media, a Perth digital marketing agency focused on performance. A Filipino-Australian digital marketer now based in Perth, WA, with more than 15 years’ experience across Singapore and Australia, he has led agencies in Australia on technical execution and growth strategy, founded a globally recognised eCommerce brand, and managed almost 300 campaigns, from small businesses to multinational brands, including Canon, Uniqlo, Benefit Cosmetics, Asiana Airlines, Changi Recommends, APM and Golfbox. He completed an MBA and a dissertation on Digital Transformation, holds a specialisation in Computer Applications from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSU-CSB), and is also a consumer tech critic and publisher. His mission is to use his talent and passion for digital marketing to change businesses for the better, in how they win customers and how they build their brand.
Get a free Google Ads audit. We will check whether enhanced conversions are on, whether data is actually flowing, and what your tracking is missing.
Free guides
Plain-English, step-by-step guides from our team. Use them to do it yourself, or to know what good looks like before you hire anyone. See all guides
How to Set Up Google Ads Conversion Tracking ProperlyHow to set up Google Ads conversion tracking you can trust: what to count, values, One vs Every, GTM vs GA4, enhanced…Read the guide 
How to Import Offline Conversions into Google AdsHow to import offline conversions into Google Ads: GCLID capture, CRM fields, upload methods, time limits and bidding on real sales.Read the guide 
How to Set Up Google Tag Manager (Without Breaking Your Tracking)A plain-English guide to set up Google Tag Manager on WordPress or Shopify, with GA4, Google Ads tags, testing and consent done…Read the guide 
