Upgrade from the Google Ads API

Upgrade your conversion uploads from the Google Ads API to the Data Manager API to gain access to several improvements and features.

Here's a comparison between using the Data Manager API and the Google Ads API to manage conversions.

Data Manager API Google Ads API
Support for sending offline conversions and enhanced conversions for leads Supported. Supported.
Support for sending Google Ads tag conversions as an additional data source for your tag conversions, to maximize ad interaction signals and strengthen your data and overall performance Supported. Not supported.
Data model Unified data model across all Google Ads conversion use cases and all Google advertising products. Data model is only for Google Ads use cases, and differs for each use case.
Encryption Supports encryption. Not supported.
Developer token Not required. Required.
Support for uploading session attributes and IP addresses for events Available to all API users. Only available to specific API users.
Conversion adjustments Supported in the unified IngestEvents method. Requires the separate ConversionAdjustmentUploadService.
Quotas and limits Project-based quotas and per-request limits. Developer token-based quotas and per-request limits.
Error model Uses a fast-fail model. Uses a partial failure model.

Difference in destination account requirements

In the Data Manager API, the operating_account of the destination must be the Google Ads conversion customer. This differs from the Google Ads API.

The Google Ads API supports sending conversions for a Google Ads account using the customer_id of either:

  1. The Google Ads conversion customer.

    The Data Manager API supports this approach.

  2. Any account that is a parent or descendant of the Google Ads conversion customer.

    The Data Manager API doesn't support this approach. If you're utilizing this behavior in the Google Ads API, change the operating_account of each destination to the owner of the conversion action. This may differ from the customer_id you use in your Google Ads API requests.

Conversion adjustments

The Data Manager API unifies initial conversion uploads and subsequent conversion adjustments into a single method.

In the Google Ads API:

  • Adjusting conversions requires using the separate UploadConversionAdjustments method in the ConversionAdjustmentUploadService.
  • If you attempt to upload multiple conversions using the standard UploadClickConversions method for the same conversion action with the same transaction ID (order_id), the request will fail.
  • You must specify the ConversionAdjustmentType in the request.

In the Data Manager API:

  • Conversion uploads and adjustments use the unified IngestEvents endpoint.
  • Uploading an event with an existing transaction_id for the same conversion action with updated conversion values or user data is automatically handled as an adjustment. The API won't return a duplicate transaction ID error.
  • No adjustment type is required in the request. The Data Manager API infers how to process the adjustment based on the fields provided in the event.
  • Unlike the Google Ads API, the Data Manager API doesn't support conversion retractions, which completely remove a previously recorded conversion by setting its conversion value and count to 0. You can restate the value of a conversion, but the conversion count will remain the same.

For more details, see Conversion adjustments.

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Steps to upgrade