Send events

You can work through this quickstart to get familiar with sending event data.

Event data is an additional data source for your tag conversions, to maximize ad interaction signals and strengthen your data and overall performance.

Choose the version of the guide that you want to see:

In this quickstart, you complete the following steps:

  1. Prepare a Destination to receive event data.
  2. Prepare event data to send.
  3. Build an IngestionService request for events.
  4. Send the request with the Google APIs Explorer.
  5. Understand success and failure responses.

Prepare a destination

Before you can send data, you need to prepare the destination to send the data to. Here's a sample Destination for you to use:

    {
      "operatingAccount": {
        "product": "GOOGLE_ADS",
        "accountId": "OPERATING_ACCOUNT_ID"
      },

      "productDestinationId": "CONVERSION_ACTION_1_ID"
    }
  • Set the accountId of the operatingAccount to the Google Ads account ID that will receive the event data. The product of the operatingAccount must be GOOGLE_ADS.

  • Set the productDestinationId to the ID of the conversion action for the events. The conversion action must be a Google Ads conversion action with type set to WEBPAGE.

    This guide shows how to construct a request that sends every event to the same conversion action. If you want to send events for multiple conversion actions in the same request, see multiple destinations.

Prepare event data

Consider the following event data. Each table corresponds to one conversion event. Each conversion event has a timestamp of the event, its conversion action, and conversion value.

Each event might have ad identifiers, like gclid, or user identifiers, like email addresses, phone numbers, and address information.

Here's the first event's data:

Event #1
conversion_time 2025-06-10 15:07:01-05:00
conversion_action_id 123456789
transaction_id ABC798654321
conversion_value 1.99
currency USD
gclid GCLID_1
emails
given_name John
family_name Smith-Jones
region_code us
postal_code 94045

Here's the second event's data:

Event #2
conversion_time June 10, 2025 11:42:33PM America/New_York
conversion_action_id 123456789
transaction_id DEF999911111
conversion_value 3.25
currency eur
gclid GCLID_2
emails

zoe@EXAMPLE.COM

cloudy.sanfrancisco@gmail.com
given_name zoë
family_name pérez
region_code PT
postal_code 1229-076

Format the data

Format the fields according as specified in the formatting guide. Here's the first event's data after formatting:

Event #1
conversion_time 2025-06-10 15:07:01-05:00
conversion_action_id 123456789
transaction_id ABC798654321
conversion_value 1.99
currency USD
gclid GCLID_1
emails
given_name john
family_name smith-jones
region_code US
postal_code 94045

Here's the second event's data after formatting:

Event #2
conversion_time 2025-06-10T23:42:33-05:00
conversion_action_id 123456789
transaction_id DEF999911111
conversion_value 3.25
currency EUR
gclid GCLID_2
emails

zoe@example.com

cloudysanfrancisco@gmail.com
given_name zoë
family_name pérez
region_code PT
postal_code 1229-076

Hash and encode the data

In addition, the formatted email addresses, given names, and family names must be hashed using the SHA-256 algorithm and encoded using either hex or Base64 encoding. Here's the first event's data after formatting, hashing, and encoding using hex encoding:

Event #1
conversion_time 2025-06-10 15:07:01-05:00
conversion_action_id 123456789
transaction_id ABC798654321
conversion_value 1.99
currency USD
gclid GCLID_1
emails
given_name 96D9632F363564CC3032521409CF22A852F2032EEC099ED5967C0D000CEC607A
family_name DB98D2607EFFFA28AFF66975868BF54C075ECA7157E35064DCE08E20B85B1081
region_code US
postal_code 94045

Here's the second event's data after formatting, hashing, and encoding using hex encoding:

Event #2
conversion_time 2025-06-10T23:42:33-05:00
conversion_action_id 123456789
transaction_id DEF999911111
conversion_value 3.25
currency EUR
gclid GCLID_2
emails

3E693CF7E5B67880BFF33B2D2626DADB7BF1D4BC737192E47CF8BAA89ACF2250

223EBDA6F6889B1494551BA902D9D381DAF2F642BAE055888E96343D53E9F9C4
given_name 2752B88686847FA5C86F47B94CE652B7B3F22A91C37617D451A4DB9AFA431450
family_name 6654977D57DDDD3C0329CA741B109EF6CD6430BEDD00008AAD213DF25683D77F
region_code PT
postal_code 1229-076

Convert the data to an Event

Convert each event's formatted and hashed data to an Event. Populate the following required fields:

  • event_timestamp: The time the event occurred.
  • transaction_id: The unique identifier for the event.
  • event_source: The source of the event. If specified, this must be WEB.
  • ad_identifiers or user_data: The event must have either an ad identifier or user data. Send both if you have both for the event.

Refer to the Event reference documentation for the complete list of available fields. Populate any field where you have a value for the event.

Here's a sample Event for the formatted, hashed, and encoded data from the second event:

{
   "adIdentifiers": {
      "gclid": "GCLID_2"
   },
   "conversionValue": 3.25,
   "currency": "EUR",
   "eventTimestamp": "2025-06-10T23:42:33-05:00",
   "transactionId": "DEF999911111",
   "eventSource": "WEB",
   "userData": {
      "userIdentifiers": [
         {
            "emailAddress": "3E693CF7E5B67880BFF33B2D2626DADB7BF1D4BC737192E47CF8BAA89ACF2250"
         },
         {
            "emailAddress": "223EBDA6F6889B1494551BA902D9D381DAF2F642BAE055888E96343D53E9F9C4"
         },
         {
            "address": {
              "givenName": "2752B88686847FA5C86F47B94CE652B7B3F22A91C37617D451A4DB9AFA431450",
              "familyName": "6654977D57DDDD3C0329CA741B109EF6CD6430BEDD00008AAD213DF25683D77F",
              "regionCode": "PT",
              "postalCode": "1229-076"
            }
         }
      ]
   }
}

Build the request body

Combine the Destination and Events for the request body:

{
  "destinations": [
    {
      "operatingAccount": {
        "product": "GOOGLE_ADS",
        "accountId": "OPERATING_ACCOUNT_ID"
      },

      "productDestinationId": "CONVERSION_ACTION_1_ID"
    }
  ],
  "encoding": "HEX",
  "events": [
     {
       "adIdentifiers": {
         "gclid": "GCLID_1"
       },
       "conversionValue": 1.99,
       "currency": "USD",
       "eventTimestamp": "2025-06-10T20:07:01Z",
       "transactionId": "ABC798654321",
       "eventSource": "WEB",
       "userData": {
         "userIdentifiers": [
           {
             "address": {
               "givenName": "96D9632F363564CC3032521409CF22A852F2032EEC099ED5967C0D000CEC607A",
               "familyName": "DB98D2607EFFFA28AFF66975868BF54C075ECA7157E35064DCE08E20B85B1081",
               "regionCode": "US",
               "postalCode": "94045"
             }
           }
         ]
       }
     },
     {
       "adIdentifiers": {
         "gclid": "GCLID_2"
       },
       "conversionValue": 3.25,
       "currency": "EUR",
       "eventTimestamp": "2025-06-11T04:42:33Z",
       "transactionId": "DEF999911111",
       "eventSource": "WEB",
       "userData": {
         "userIdentifiers": [
           {
             "emailAddress": "3E693CF7E5B67880BFF33B2D2626DADB7BF1D4BC737192E47CF8BAA89ACF2250"
           },
           {
             "emailAddress": "223EBDA6F6889B1494551BA902D9D381DAF2F642BAE055888E96343D53E9F9C4"
           },
           {
             "address": {
               "givenName": "2752B88686847FA5C86F47B94CE652B7B3F22A91C37617D451A4DB9AFA431450",
               "familyName": "6654977D57DDDD3C0329CA741B109EF6CD6430BEDD00008AAD213DF25683D77F",
               "regionCode": "PT",
               "postalCode": "1229-076"
             }
           }
         ]
       }
     }
  ],
  "validateOnly": true
}
  1. Update the placeholders in the body, such as OPERATING_ACCOUNT_ID and CONVERSION_ACTION_1_ID with the values for your account and destination.
  2. Set validateOnly to true to validate the request without applying the changes. When you're ready to apply the changes, set validateOnly to false.
  3. Note this request doesn't use encryption.

Send the request

  1. Copy the request body using the copy button at the top right of the sample.
  2. Go to the events.ingest page.
  3. Click the API button on the right, then the Try it! button in the expanded section.
  4. Paste the copied request body into the Request body box.
  5. Click the Execute button, complete the authorization prompts, and review the response.

Success responses

A successful request returns a response with an object containing a requestId.

{
  "requestId": "126365e1-16d0-4c81-9de9-f362711e250a"
}

Failure responses

A failed request results in an error response status code such as 400 Bad Request, and a response with error details.

For example, an email_address containing a plain text string instead of a hex encoded value produces the following response:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 400,
    "message": "There was a problem with the request.",
    "status": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
    "details": [
      {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.rpc.ErrorInfo",
        "reason": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
        "domain": "datamanager.googleapis.com"
      },
      {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.rpc.BadRequest",
        "fieldViolations": [
          {
            "field": "events.events[0].user_data.user_identifiers",
            "description": "Email is not hex encoded.",
            "reason": "INVALID_HEX_ENCODING"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

An email_address that isn't hashed and is only hex encoded produces the following response:

{
  "error": {
    "code": 400,
    "message": "There was a problem with the request.",
    "status": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
    "details": [
      {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.rpc.ErrorInfo",
        "reason": "INVALID_ARGUMENT",
        "domain": "datamanager.googleapis.com"
      },
      {
        "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.rpc.BadRequest",
        "fieldViolations": [
          {
            "field": "events.events[0]",
            "reason": "INVALID_SHA256_FORMAT"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Send events for multiple destinations

If your data contains events for different destinations, you can send them in the same request by using destination references.

For example, if you have an event for conversion action ID 123456789 and another event for conversion action ID 777111122, send both events in a single request by setting the reference of each Destination. The reference is user-defined—the only requirement is that each Destination has a unique reference. Here's the modified destinations list for the request:

  "destinations": [
    {
      "operatingAccount": {
        "product": "GOOGLE_ADS",
        "accountId": "OPERATING_ACCOUNT_ID"
      },

      "productDestinationId": "123456789"
      "reference": "conversion_action_1"
    },
    {
      "operatingAccount": {
        "product": "GOOGLE_ADS",
        "accountId": "OPERATING_ACCOUNT_ID"
      },

      "productDestinationId": "777111122"
      "reference": "conversion_action_2"
    }
  ]

Set the destination_references of each Event to send it to one or more specific destinations. For example, here's an Event that's only for the first Destination, so its destination_references list only contains the reference of the first Destination:

{
   "adIdentifiers": {
      "gclid": "GCLID_1"
   },
   "conversionValue": 1.99,
   "currency": "USD",
   "eventTimestamp": "2025-06-10T20:07:01Z",
   "transactionId": "ABC798654321",
   "eventSource": "WEB",
   "destinationReferences": [
      "conversion_action_1"
   ]
}

The destination_references field is a list, so you can specify multiple destinations for an event. If you don't set the destination_references of an Event, the Data Manager API sends the event to all of the destinations in the request.

Next steps