How do I use URL tracking parameters in Google Ads?

Understand how Google Ads handles URL tracking parameters (so you don’t break landing pages)

What “URL tracking parameters” really means in Google Ads

In Google Ads, tracking parameters are extra bits of information added to the link that a user lands on after clicking your ad. They’re used for two main jobs: attribution (understanding which click, campaign, keyword, asset, etc. drove a visit or conversion) and routing (sending the visitor to the right version of a page, like a specific product, location, or language).

The key to doing this correctly is knowing where Google Ads expects each kind of parameter. If you put parameters in the wrong place, you can cause broken URLs, lose analytics data, slow down the click path, or run into “URL mismatch” and crawl issues.

The 4 places tracking can live (and why it matters)

Google Ads gives you a few URL-related fields, each with a different purpose.

Final URL is the actual landing page. Keep it clean and stable. If you use parameters here, they should usually be content-routing parameters (the ones the page needs to function or display the right content).

Final URL suffix is the safest place to put parameters you want your landing page to receive for analytics or internal reporting. It appends parameters onto the landing page URL at serve time and is designed specifically for this “pass-through” tracking use case.

Tracking template is primarily for third-party click tracking (often involving redirects). This is an advanced feature. If you use a tracking template, it must include a “final URL insertion” macro (most commonly {lpurl}), otherwise your landing page URL can break.

Custom parameters are advertiser-defined variables (like your own internal IDs or labels) that you can reference inside your tracking template, final URLs, and suffixes. They’re extremely helpful when you need consistent naming that matches your CRM, BI, or call tracking conventions.

Auto-tagging vs. manual parameters: pick the right foundation

Most advertisers should treat auto-tagging as the baseline because it appends a click identifier that many measurement and attribution workflows rely on (including importing conversions back into Google Ads). Manual parameters (like UTMs) are still useful—especially for non-native analytics tools, multi-channel reporting, or internal dashboards—but they should be layered on without interfering with auto-tagging.

A practical, “won’t-break-your-account” setup (the one I use in most mature accounts)

Step 1: Decide what you’re tracking, and map each item to the right parameter type

Before you touch Google Ads fields, get clear on what questions you want reporting to answer. If you’re trying to answer “Which campaign/ad group/ad drove this lead?” you can use ValueTrack IDs like {campaignid} and {adgroupid}. If you need “Which keyword matched?” you might use {keyword} and {matchtype} (with an important caveat: in some campaign types and matching scenarios, keyword-level values can be blank).

If you’re routing users to a specific page variation (for example, “product=123”), that belongs in the Final URL (or in a page-side routing system). If you’re simply passing attribution info to analytics, that usually belongs in the Final URL suffix.

Step 2: Put “landing-page-visible” tracking in the Final URL suffix (not the tracking template)

Here’s the simplest rule that prevents most tracking chaos: if the parameter needs to arrive on the landing page for analytics or backend processing, use the Final URL suffix. Keep tracking templates for third-party trackers and redirect logic.

A common suffix pattern looks like a standard parameter string (no leading question mark), for example:

utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content={creative}&utm_term={keyword}

That gives your analytics tool consistent fields while still letting Google Ads dynamically fill in click context. If you don’t want numeric IDs in your analytics, you can pair custom parameters with friendlier values, then reference them in your suffix (more on that below).

Step 3: If you use a click tracker, use a Tracking template correctly (especially with parallel tracking)

Parallel tracking is the standard click measurement method across Google Ads, and it changes how clicks behave: users are sent directly to the Final URL while measurement happens in the background. That’s great for speed, but it means you need to be disciplined about what you expect the landing page to receive.

When you do use a tracking template, make sure the template includes a landing-page insertion macro like {lpurl}. Also keep redirects and tracking URLs secure and compatible: the tracking URL and all redirect URLs should be HTTPS, and redirects should be server-side. If you cut corners here, you’ll see mysterious attribution gaps and failed tests.

Step 4: Use ValueTrack parameters for reliable, scalable click context

ValueTrack parameters are Google Ads macros that expand at click time. They cover the essentials most advertisers need for analysis and troubleshooting: campaign ID ({campaignid}), ad group ID ({adgroupid}), ad creative ID ({creative}), device ({device}), network ({network}), match type ({matchtype}), and more.

Two important nuances I see experienced teams miss:

First, {keyword} can return a blank value in situations where the ad matched without a keyword (this can happen in certain automated matching and campaign types). If your downstream reporting depends on a keyword-like identifier, consider capturing {targetid} as a more universal fallback.

Second, if your account uses newer automation that can expand or substitute landing pages (for example, automated final URL expansion), your tracking template needs to keep {lpurl} in a standard, compatible pattern. If the tracking template is built around a static URL (no {lpurl}) or uses the macro in a non-standard way, you can accidentally force traffic to the wrong page or create broken expanded landing pages.

Step 5: Add Custom parameters when you need human-readable labels (or internal IDs)

Custom parameters let you define your own variables, like {_campaign_type} or {_product_line}, and set them at the campaign, ad group, keyword, ad, or asset level (depending on where you need the control). You can create multiple custom parameters per level (with practical limits), and the most specific level wins when names overlap.

This is how I typically use them: I set a small number of stable, human-readable labels at the campaign level (like “brand”, “nonbrand”, “competitor”, or a product category code), then reference those labels in the Final URL suffix so analytics stays readable without constant lookups.

Implementation: where to enter parameters, how precedence works, and how to test safely

Where to add a Final URL suffix (and why account-level is usually best)

You can apply a Final URL suffix at multiple levels (including account, campaign, ad group, ad, keyword, and other targeting layers). In most accounts, I recommend starting at the account level to enforce consistency, then overriding only when a specific campaign truly needs different tagging (for example, a unique attribution partner or a special landing page analytics requirement).

One major operational benefit: when you keep tracking changes at higher levels (account/campaign/ad group), you can usually update tracking without forcing large-scale ad resubmissions and reviews. When you edit tracking at more granular levels (like ad or keyword), you’re more likely to trigger reviews and create maintenance overhead.

Where to add a Tracking template (and how the “most specific wins” rule can surprise you)

Tracking templates can be set at different levels as well, and Google Ads will use the most specific template available. In practice, that means a single leftover keyword-level tracking template from years ago can silently override your clean account-level template and create inconsistent tracking.

In larger audits, one of the first things I do is add a column that shows the tracking template source, then scan for any “rogue” templates at low levels that shouldn’t be there.

Use the built-in “Test” button before you roll out changes

Testing is non-negotiable. Google Ads provides a landing page test that combines your Final URL with your tracking setup and reports common failures. When something breaks, the messages are usually very specific: additional parameters, URL mismatch, final URL mismatch, page not found (like a 404), HTTP URLs in the tracking chain, JavaScript redirects in the tracking chain, and timeouts/unreachable pages.

Two practical gotchas: the test won’t validate every parallel tracking edge case, and it doesn’t support redirect patterns like JavaScript-based redirects. So treat the test as a necessary first gate, then do real click-through QA (using a controlled environment and consistent methodology) if you run third-party tracking.

The most common mistakes (quick checklist)

• Appending landing-page parameters in the tracking template instead of the Final URL suffix, which often leads to missing parameters on the landing page under parallel tracking.
• Forgetting {lpurl} in a tracking template, which can break the landing page URL entirely.
• Using non-secure or incompatible redirect chains (non-HTTPS or non–server-side redirects), which can disrupt measurement.
• Relying on {keyword} everywhere without planning for scenarios where it can be blank; capture a fallback like {targetid} if your reporting requires it.
• Not planning for anchors (URLs containing # or #!), where appending parameters incorrectly can cause tracking to be ignored or misread; in these cases, you often need tracking placed directly in the Final URL (commonly behind an {ignore} tag).
• Not allowing crawler access to the landing page (for example, blocking the ads crawler), which can lead to “page not found” or crawlability-related issues even when the page works in a browser.

A simple rollout plan that protects performance and attribution

If you’re implementing URL tracking for the first time (or cleaning up a messy legacy setup), roll it out in controlled layers. Start by confirming auto-tagging is in place for your measurement strategy, then add a minimal Final URL suffix at the account level. Only after that is stable should you introduce (or refactor) tracking templates for third-party trackers, because template mistakes are the fastest way to create widespread landing page breakage.

Finally, give changes time to propagate. Tracking template updates don’t always reflect instantly in serving, so schedule changes when you can monitor closely and avoid stacking multiple tracking changes on top of each other in the same hour.

In Google Ads, the safest way to use URL tracking parameters is to keep your Final URL clean (just the real landing page), then place your analytics tags in the Final URL suffix so they’re reliably appended to the landing page at serve time; reserve the tracking template for true click-tracking/redirect setups (always including {lpurl}) and use ValueTrack plus a small set of custom parameters to standardize reporting without hard-coding values. Make sure auto-tagging stays enabled as the measurement foundation, and be mindful of parallel tracking (it’s one reason landing-page-visible parameters belong in the suffix, not only in templates). Finally, use Google Ads’ built-in Test feature and do a few real click checks before rolling changes out broadly. If you want help auditing your current setup and spotting “rogue” templates or inconsistent suffixes across campaigns, Blobr plugs into your account and its specialized Google Ads agents can continuously review tracking hygiene alongside performance, so issues are easier to catch and fix before they affect attribution.