CRM sync

How do I connect Google Ads to Salesforce Account Engagement (Pardot), and what does the connector track?

By The Tofu team ·

Add a Google Ads connector under Admin > Connectors in Account Engagement (Plus+ edition or higher), sign in to Google Ads and verify it. In the Lightning app, the page is Account Engagement Settings > Connectors. The connector records paid search clicks on pages with your tracking code and reports them against prospects, opportunities and revenue. LeadsBridge, an integration vendor, describes these steps and says the connector sends nothing back to Google Ads. To send closed deals to Google, use Google's Data Manager connection to Salesforce.

As of October 2026.

Before you start

  • Plus+ or higher. Salesforce's price list includes "Google Ads Integration" in Plus+, Advanced+ and Premium+, not Growth+.
  • Admin access on both sides, plus your Google Ads account number, says LeadsBridge. With a manager account (MCC), it says you need one connector per client account.
  • Account Engagement tracking code on the pages your ads point to, on a validated tracker domain.
  • Auto-tagging turned on in Google Ads.

Step 1: Put tracking code on your ad landing pages

Account Engagement only sees visits to pages that carry its tracking code, and each Account Engagement campaign has its own code.

  1. Open Domain Management (Admin > Domain Management, or Account Engagement Settings > Domain Management in the Lightning app).
  2. Scroll to the Tracking Code Generator and pick your tracker domain.
  3. If you want, override the default campaign.
  4. Copy the code and paste it before the closing </body> tag of each landing page.

Salesforce recommends high-value pages such as landing pages, not your home page. Business units created after February 13, 2023 use first-party tracking by default.

Step 2: Turn on auto-tagging in Google Ads

In Google Ads, click the Admin icon, then Account settings, open Auto-tagging, check Tag the URL that people click through from my ad, and click Save. Google says auto-tagging is on by default for new accounts. It adds a gclid parameter to the landing page URL, and if your site redirects, the gclid has to reach the final landing page.

LeadsBridge says the connector reads the gclid to tie the visit to a campaign, ad group and keyword, so without auto-tagging "your connector won't have anything to work with."

Want UTMs too? Add them in the Final URL suffix (account, campaign, ad group, ad or keyword level). LeadsBridge notes that the gclid and your UTMs both end up on the URL, and the connector uses the gclid for paid search credit. Salesforce Help also has a tracking template article for the connector that LeadsBridge doesn't mention, so read it before you change your ads' URL options. For UTM fields on Salesforce leads, see Why are the UTM fields blank on my Salesforce leads?

Step 3: Add the Google Ads connector

Open Admin > Connectors (or Account Engagement Settings > Connectors in the Lightning app). Then, as LeadsBridge describes the setup:

  1. Create a new connector and choose Google Ads.
  2. Sign in with your Google Ads admin login and allow the permissions Account Engagement asks for.
  3. Enter your Google Ads account number.
  4. Choose a default campaign. This is the Account Engagement campaign that prospects who arrive from a paid ad go into, so a plain name such as "Google Ads" works.
  5. Save, then verify the connector. The status column shows whether it worked.

Step 4: Credit Google Ads campaigns to the right campaign

After you verify, LeadsBridge says Account Engagement imports your Google Ads campaigns, ad groups and ads in the background, and every prospect from a paid click goes to the default campaign. To credit a Google Ads campaign to its own Account Engagement campaign, it says to assign it under Content, then Paid Search.

Step 5: Check that clicks are coming in

Wait for real ad clicks, then open a prospect you know came from an ad and look at its activities. In the Account Engagement API, a paid search click is a visitor activity of type 1 (Click) with the type name "Paid Ad Search", the ad's headline in its details, and a paidSearchAdId. With API access, count those to compare with Google Ads clicks. Expect fewer: visits to pages without tracking code don't show up, and LeadsBridge notes that clicks from visitors who block or delete cookies don't either.

What does the connector track, and what doesn't it?

DataTracked?Who says so
Paid search ad clicks by visitors and prospectsYes, as a "Paid Ad Search" click activity with the ad headlineSalesforce API docs
Campaign, ad group, keyword, match type, device and network of the clickYes, shown on the prospect recordLeadsBridge
Prospects, opportunities and closed-won revenue by campaign, ad group, ad and keywordYes, in the Paid Search report. Opportunity and revenue figures need the Salesforce connector and correct opportunity dataSalesforce ("Calculate Google AdWords ROI at the opportunity level"), LeadsBridge
Credit for later ad clicks by the same prospectNo, the first campaign that brought them gets the creditLeadsBridge
Leads from Google lead form assetsNo, the person never visits your siteLeadsBridge
Ad click details in Salesforce reports and list viewsNo, they stay on the Account Engagement prospect record and don't reach Engagement HistoryLeadsBridge
Click data in automation rules or dynamic listsNoLeadsBridge
Anything sent back to Google AdsNoLeadsBridge

Does the connector send closed deals back to Google Ads?

No. Salesforce describes it as a way to "calculate Google AdWords ROI at the opportunity level," and LeadsBridge says it "will not send Pardot information back to Google." So Google's bidding learns only from conversions you track in Google Ads.

To send deal stages to Google Ads, use Google's Salesforce connection in Data manager (under Tools in Google Ads). Google stopped supporting its legacy Salesforce integration on May 31, 2025. For the Data Manager connection, Google asks for:

  • a custom GCLID field (255 characters, read-only) on both Lead and Opportunity, with the lead field mapped to the opportunity field
  • field history tracking on Lead Status and Opportunity Stage
  • auto-tagging on, and forms that save the gclid in a hidden field, with conversions within 90 days of the click

Then you choose events, such as Stage changing to Closed Won, and can map a value field. With Account Engagement forms, the hidden gclid field is a custom prospect field (Admin > Configure Fields > Prospect Fields) mapped to the Salesforce lead field. See also How do I upload offline conversions to Google Ads? and Should I give MQLs, SQLs and closed deals different conversion values?

Common problems

ProblemWhy it happensFix
Paid search report shows no clicksAuto-tagging is off, the landing page has no tracking code, or a redirect drops the gclidTurn on auto-tagging, add tracking code to the landing page, and pass the gclid through redirects
Leads from Google lead form assets are missingThey never reach your siteUse Google's CSV download (last 30 days), email alerts, webhook, API or Zapier. Google stores these leads for 60 days
Sales can't see ad clicks in Salesforce reportsClick details stay in Account Engagement, according to LeadsBridgeSave the gclid and UTMs in custom fields that sync to Salesforce
A prospect is credited to the wrong campaignNew prospects go to the default campaign, and only the first click counts, per LeadsBridgeMap each Google Ads campaign to its own campaign, and use Salesforce Campaign Influence for multi-touch credit

Sources

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