Right tracking template for Upgraded URLs

[Александр Швец]

Hi Guys,

I have some confusion about using Upgraded URLs.

For example, I want to write {targetid} in utm_term parameter of every URL in my campaign. The best way I see is to use tracking template at the campaign level. Something like "{lpurl}?utm_term={targetid}".

But in the real world I don't know the exact format of every URL. It can be one of the following:

1. Just domain: "https://example.com". I have to use "{lpurl}/?utm_term={targetid}" template.

2. With path:  "https://example.com/section".  I have to use "{lpurl}?utm_term={targetid}" template here.

3. With query parameters: "https://example.com/section?param=1". The third template is "{lpurl}&utm_term={targetid}".

Could you advice the right strategy in this case? Should I set template at the ad level for every ad or should I change URLs to unify their format? Both solution requires modifying (recreating) of ads which destroys all benefits of using new URLs.

Maybe I can use some specific values in tracking template to satisfy all these three formats?

Hope, you have a solution :)

Thanks,

Alexander

[Michael Cloonan (AdWords API Team)]

Hello,

In the short term, during the upgrade, you are correct in that you may lose some statistics as you convert to a more future-proof setup. However, you should be able to set things up in such a way that you don't need to recreate ads again thereafter.

In order to do that, you will need to have some kind of uniform scheme for URLs, or at least those that exist within the same structure and you want inheriting the same tracking template. Your third option is probably easiest for this. You could easily append "?" or "/?" to the end of each URL as you recreate the ads to make sure that they would all react properly to that type of tracking template.

Regards,

Mike, AdWords API Team

[Александр Швец]

Hi Michael!

Thank you for your quick response. I think unifying URLs format is the best strategy for now.

But I hope, there will be new tracking value in the future, like {lpurlq}, that adds '?' or '/?' to URL automatically if necessary.

Thank you,

Alexander 

[Michael Cloonan (AdWords API Team)]

Hello Alexander,

That sounds like a pretty reasonable request to me. I will pass along your suggestion to the engineering team.

Regards,

Mike, AdWords API Team

[Александр Швец]

Hello Michael,

I have rechecked this issue. As I can see, '&' from tracking template is automatically replaced with '?' if needed now.

Am I right? Is this issue resolved? :)


Regards,
Alexander

[Michael Cloonan (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Alexander,

Yes! The engineering team turned out to already be working on this when you brought it up, and does smart replacement to make URLs that make sense.

Thanks again for the report!

Regards,

Mike, AdWords API Team

[Александр Швец]

This is super good news! Thank you very much! Our development team is very happy now :)

Regards,
Alexander