Overview
Sonar Optimize connects Triple Whale to Google Ads and sends eligible website events with first-party customer data. These additional signals can help Google match more conversions to prior ad interactions and give Smart Bidding better conversion data to learn from.
Sonar Optimize sends configured event data to Google Ads. The events displayed in Google Ads may differ from the events Triple Whale sends.
How Sonar Optimize works
The Triple Pixel captures visits, interactions, and conversions on your site. Sonar Optimize enriches eligible events with first-party data from connected sources, then sends the events to Google Ads through the configured Sonar conversion actions.
For standard events such as Purchase, Sonar sends event data according to the shop’s configured event mappings and exclusions.
Using a headless storefront, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce?
Please note that Headless Shopify stores as well as businesses built on BigCommerce or WooCommerce will require developer implementation in order to enable Sonar Optimize. See the relevant documentation:
Setting up Sonar Optimize
Confirm your Google access
Sign in to Google using a user that can authorize the Google Ads account and manage its conversion settings.
Confirm where conversions are managed
Before setup, confirm whether conversion actions are owned by the individual Google Ads account or by a manager account. Connect Sonar to the account that owns the conversion actions you intend to map. If ownership changes later, Sonar may need to be reconnected or remapped.
Keep your existing bidding signal in place
Do not replace your current Primary conversion action during initial setup. Create or map Sonar actions as Secondary until delivery is stable and you have reviewed the incoming conversion volume and value.
Check for another server-side conversion source
If another service already sends the same purchases to Google Ads, identify which conversion actions it uses. You can collect data from separate actions during testing, but do not include two actions representing the same purchase in the same bidding goal unless you intentionally want both counted.
Connecting your account
With that sorted, here’s the full connection flow to link your Google Ads account for the first time:
In Triple Whale, go to Data.
Click Sonar Enrichment.
On the Sonar Overview page, open the Integrations tab.
Scroll to Sonar Optimize, labeled Advertising Platforms.
Find Google.
Click Connect.
In the Connect Google Ads window, wait to be redirected to Google.
Choose the Google account you want to use with Triple Whale.
Click Continue.
On the permissions screen, review the additional access requested by Triple Whale.
Check Select all.
Click Continue.
After returning to Triple Whale, use the Please select google ads account window to choose the Google Ads account you want to connect.
Review Automatically Update Tracking Parameters. When enabled, Triple Whale automatically applies Triple Tracking parameters to your campaigns and ad groups.
Click Save.
Confirm the Google integration now displays Set Up.
Account missing?
Reconnect the Google Ads integration to grant current permissions. If conversion actions are managed by a manager account, confirm that the selected account and conversion owner match before creating new actions.
Setting up your Google Ads configuration
Once your Google Ads account is connected, return to the Sonar Overview page to begin configuring how data flows through the integration.
Two navigation paths to the Sonar Overview page:
Marketing Acquisition → Sonar Optimize: Ad Enrichment
Data → ENRICH → Activate Sonar → Integrations
Once you reach the Sonar Overview page, find Google in the Sonar Optimize section.
What you see depends on where you left off:
If this is your first time configuring Google Ads enrichment, click Set Up to open the Google setup wizard.
If you have already completed the wizard once, the card shows a View button instead. Click it to skip the wizard and go directly to your Google Ads Sonar dashboard for review and edits. In that case, skip ahead to Reviewing and updating your configuration below.
The Google setup wizard has four steps:
Wizard step 1: Connect to Google
Open the Google Ads Destination menu.
Select the Google Ads account you want to use for enrichment.
Confirm Enable Triple Pixel Theme App Embed shows Enabled. This option is required.
Confirm Enable the Triple Pixel Web Pixel Extension shows Enabled. This option is recommended.
If you use a headless Shopify storefront, open the linked instructions and update your Triple Pixel snippet before continuing.
Click Save and Continue.
Wizard step 2: Send events for enrichment
Select which events you want to send to Google and map each event to its Google conversion action. The available options are:
Page View
Add to Cart
Initiate Checkout
Purchase
New Customer Purchase
Return Customer Purchase
Review each selected event.
Confirm the corresponding conversion action in the menu beside it.
Click Save and Continue.
Create a separate Google Ads conversion action for each event you send from Triple Whale. Separate actions make it easier to validate delivery and control which events Google uses for bidding.
Begin with Secondary actions.
Configure every new Sonar conversion action as Secondary while it collects data. When you are ready to use Sonar for account-wide bidding, make one validated Sonar conversion action Primary. Triple Whale recommends using Purchase as the Primary action and keeping the other Sonar actions Secondary.
Wizard step 3: Accept Customer Data Terms and enable Enhanced Conversions for Leads
Sonar requires two settings to be completed in the connected Google Ads account. Both settings are located under Goals → Conversions → Settings:
Accept Customer Data Terms
Enable Enhanced Conversions for Leads
Both settings are required.
Customer Data Terms must be accepted and Enhanced Conversions for Leads must be enabled for the same Google Ads account connected to Triple Whale. If either setting is incomplete when you reach wizard step 3, complete it in Google Ads. Then return to Triple Whale and refresh the wizard. Continue only after the statuses show ACCEPTED and ENABLED.
Under Select Product Identifier, choose the identifier used by your Google product data, such as Product Id.
Review the status beside Accept Customer Data Terms.
Review the status beside Enable Enhanced Conversions for Leads.
If either status is not enabled, click Go to Google Ads Settings.
In Google Ads, go to Goals → Conversions → Settings.
Under Customer data terms, click the setting to open it.
Review the Customer Data Terms.
Check I have read and accept the terms on behalf of my company.
Click Save.
Confirm the Customer Data Terms setting is saved.
Open Enhanced conversions for leads.
Check Turn on enhanced conversions for leads.
Select the method that matches your implementation: Google tag or Google Tag Manager.
Click Save.
Return to Triple Whale.
Confirm both statuses display ACCEPTED and ENABLED.
Click Save and Continue.
The statuses may not update immediately.
After saving your changes in Google Ads, Triple Whale may continue to show NOT ACCEPTED or NOT ENABLED while the settings process. Wait a few minutes, then return to or refresh the wizard. Continue after the statuses show ACCEPTED and ENABLED.
Cannot access Customer data terms?
Your conversions may be managed by a Google Ads manager account. Accept the terms in the account that owns the conversion actions, or ask an administrator of that account to complete the step.
Wizard step 4: Exclude events for enrichment
The wizard labels this page Exclude orders from Google Optimization. Use it to filter orders and conversions that should not be sent.
Triple Whale excludes draft orders, POS orders, returns, Google Shop orders, and Shop app orders from the conversion events it sends to Google. You can add exclusions based on order tags or Shopify sales channels.
If you offer subscriptions, exclude recurring subscription purchases so renewals are not sent as new purchase conversions.
Under Exclude recurring subscription purchases, add the recurring subscription order tag when applicable.
Under Exclude purchases by order tags, add any other order tags you want to exclude.
Under Add channels you want to exclude, review the channels already selected.
Select any additional channels you want to exclude.
To add a custom channel, click + Add Sales Channel.
Click Done.
If you do not know the channel code, see Shopify Sales Channel Names and Codes.
A confirmation window displays: Success! Your Google configuration is now complete. You are then taken to the Google delivery dashboard, where the integration should show Connected and Sonar should be on.
New conversion actions may show errors at first.
New Sonar conversion actions may take up to 6 hours before they can successfully receive events. Initial errors during this period can be expected.
Validate the setup before changing campaign goals
Triple Whale automatically monitors and validates the setup, but you should also validate delivery in Triple Whale and Google Ads before changing campaign goals.
1. Confirm Triple Whale is sending events
Open the Google Ads Delivery Overview in Triple Whale.
Select a date range after configuration was completed.
Confirm the expected event rows are receiving events.
Allow at least 24 hours for initial processing before treating an empty report as a delivery failure.
2. Confirm Google Ads is receiving events
In Google Ads, go to Goals.
Select Conversions.
Open Summary.
Find the conversion actions mapped to Sonar.
Review the action status.
Review the All conversions column while the actions remain Secondary.
Open any Needs attention warning and follow the diagnostic details for that action.
Do not use only the “Active” status as proof.
Validate that events are arriving, the expected values are present, and the volume is plausible compared with eligible store orders after exclusions.
Safely introduce Sonar into bidding
Primary actions can be used by Smart Bidding when their goal is selected. Secondary actions are observation-only in standard goals, but Google can still use Secondary actions included in a custom goal for reporting and bidding.
For more information, see Google’s guide to primary and secondary conversion actions.
Recommended transition
Keep all new Sonar actions set to Secondary.
Validate stable event delivery, conversion values, and exclusions.
Collect data for 30–45 days, or for twice the conversion window that includes most of your Google conversions.
Test the Sonar conversion with a campaign-specific custom goal.
Monitor conversion volume, value, spend, CPA or ROAS, and bidding behavior.
Move gradually rather than changing account-wide goals and bid targets at the same time.
Test Sonar with a campaign-specific custom goal
Start with one campaign so you can evaluate the Sonar conversion before changing the account-wide Primary action. Learn more about campaign-specific conversion goals.
Create the custom goal
In Google Ads, go to Goals.
Open Summary.
Scroll to Custom goals.
Click Add custom goal.
Enter a name for the goal.
Select the Sonar conversion action you want to test.
Save the custom goal.
Apply the custom goal to a campaign
In Google Ads, select Campaigns.
Open the campaign you want to test.
Open the Settings tab.
Open Goals.
Select Use campaign-specific goal settings.
Select the custom goal containing the Sonar conversion action.
Click Save.
Run the campaign and monitor the results. You can test additional campaigns or campaign types before migrating your account-wide goal to Sonar.
Give Smart Bidding time to adjust.
Google’s bidding models need time to adapt after you change conversion goals at the campaign or account level. Adjust CPA and ROAS targets gradually while the model learns from the new conversion data. Large simultaneous changes can cause unwanted fluctuations in spend.
Make Sonar the account-wide conversion source
After testing and collecting enough data, change the selected Sonar conversion action to Primary so campaigns using that goal category can use it for bidding.
In Google Ads, go to Goals.
Select Conversions.
Open Summary.
Select the Sonar conversion action you want to use for bidding.
Click Edit.
Under Action optimization, select Primary action used for bidding optimization.
Click Save.
Move the previous Primary action to Secondary if it represents the same conversion.
Keep the other Sonar actions Secondary unless a campaign-specific custom goal intentionally uses them.
After the Sonar action is Primary, campaigns using that goal category will use Sonar as their main conversion source.
Avoid duplicate bidding signals.
If two Primary actions represent the same purchase, Google may count both in the selected goal. This can inflate the conversion signal and change automated bidding behavior.
Match Item IDs to Your Merchant Center Feed (Only for External Product Feeds)
Google Ads uses the Item ID to link each purchase to a product in your Merchant Center feed. If the Item ID that Sonar sends does not use the same format as the Item ID in your feed, Google cannot match the two. Google Ads can then show warnings on the conversion action.
Item ID matching lets you set the format that Sonar sends. Set it once, and Sonar builds each Item ID in the format of your feed.
Find an Item ID in Merchant Center
In Google Merchant Center, go to Products.
Click All products.
Open an active product.
Copy the Item ID.
Keep this Item ID. You will compare it with the example in Triple Whale. A feed ID looks like this: shopify_US_8712326021379_45817636061443. This example is illustrative. Your IDs can use a different prefix or country code.
Turn on Item ID matching
In Triple Whale, go to Data.
Click Sonar Enrichment.
Open Google.
Click Integration Settings.
Find Item ID matching.
Turn on the Active toggle.
The Product feed format menu appears after you turn the toggle on. Choose the option that matches how your products reach Merchant Center.
Option 1: You use the Shopify Google & YouTube app
Most stores use this option.
In Product feed format, select Shopify Google & YouTube App.
Compare the Example Item ID output with the Item ID you copied from Merchant Center.
Click Save changes.
The example output follows this pattern: shopify_US_<product ID>_<variant ID>. The example uses illustrative data. It is not a live check of your feed.
The prefix and country code must match your actual feed. If your Merchant Center IDs use a different country code, use the Custom option.
Option 2: You use another product feed tool
Use a custom template if another app (Feedonomics or DataFeedWatch etc) or a manual feed sends your products to Merchant Center. You must first look at your Item IDs in Merchant Center to see the structure.
In Merchant Center, open Products, then All products.
Open two or three active products, including one with variants.
Copy the Item ID of each product.
Find which parts of each ID are the Shopify product ID, the variant ID, or the SKU.
In Triple Whale, set Product feed format to Custom.
In Item ID template, enter the pattern of your feed.
Compare the Example Item ID output with your Merchant Center Item ID.
Click Save changes.
Enter the pattern of your feed. Do not enter the literal Item ID of one product. Use these placeholders:
Placeholder | What it inserts |
| The Shopify product ID |
| The Shopify variant ID |
| The product SKU |
Examples (illustrative; build yours from your own Merchant Center IDs):
If your Merchant Center Item ID is built from | Template |
The variant ID only |
|
The SKU only |
|
A fixed prefix, the product ID, and the variant ID |
|
Caution: Saving a template that does not match your feed can cause Google to stop matching your purchases to products. Compare the example output with Merchant Center before you save.
If a product is missing a value
If a product does not have one of the values in your template, Sonar sends the product identifier that you selected in Product feed format.
Check the result in Google Ads
In Google Ads, go to Goals.
Select Conversions, then Summary.
Open the Sonar Purchase conversion action.
Review the diagnostic details for the action.
Expected result: after new purchases arrive, the Item ID mismatch warning no longer shows. Existing warnings can take time to clear. Allow time for new events to process, as in the validation steps earlier in this article.
Troubleshooting
This guide explains how to fix the "Item ID Mismatch" error in Google Ads or Google Merchant Center.
The warning stays after new purchases arrive. Compare the template output with a current Merchant Center Item ID. Check the prefix, the country code, and the separators.
Only some products fail to match. Open one of those products in Merchant Center. It may use a different ID pattern than your other products.
You changed your feed tool or your Merchant Center IDs. Return to Integration Settings and update the template to match the new IDs.
You cannot find the pattern. Contact Triple Whale Support with the shop, the Google Ads account ID, and a screenshot of one Item ID from Merchant Center.
Split Google Ads conversion actions by region when you use a manager (MCC) account
Some brands manage several regional Google Ads accounts, such as the UK, France, Germany and the US, under one manager (MCC) account. In Google Ads, each regional account has a setting called Google Ads conversion account. If this setting is This manager, the account uses conversion actions that belong to the manager account. All accounts with this setting share the same conversion actions.
For Sonar Optimize, this means conversion events from all regions can go into one shared set of conversion actions. You want each region to receive only its own data. For example, UK conversions go to the UK account, and French conversions go to the French account.
To fix this, set each regional account to Client. Each account then uses its own conversion actions. You can still switch between accounts from the manager account to manage your ads.
Before you start
Make sure you have access to the manager account in Google Ads.
Complete these steps before you map conversion actions in Sonar Optimize.
Set each regional account to use its own conversion actions
In Google Ads, open the account switcher and select your manager (MCC) account.
In the left menu, click Accounts.
Click Sub-account settings.
Find the Google Ads conversion account column.
For each regional account that shows This manager, click the cell in that column.
Select Client.
Save the change.
Repeat for each regional account.
Expected result: every regional account shows Client in the Google Ads conversion account column.
Caution: When an account stops using the manager's conversion actions, its campaigns can start to use different default conversion goals. Check the conversion goals and bidding settings of each campaign after the change.
Set your conversion actions in Sonar Optimize
In Triple Whale, go to Data.
Click Sonar Enrichment.
Open Google.
Click Integration Settings.
Set the conversion action for each event you send.
Each conversion action now belongs to that regional ad account. It does not belong to the manager account.
FAQ
Can I still manage all my regional accounts from the manager account?
Yes. The manager account still lets you switch between the regional accounts. The setting only changes which account owns the conversion actions.
Does Google use the manager's conversion actions by default?
No. Google Ads accounts use their own conversion actions unless someone sets the Google Ads conversion account to This manager. Check the column for each regional account, because a setting can differ from account to account.
For more detail, see Google's guide to cross-account conversion tracking.
Review or update your configuration
Return to Sonar Optimize whenever you need to review delivery or edit the integration.
Use Delivery Overview to review sent events by type and date.
Use Integration Settings to review the connection, mapped actions, selected events, and exclusions.
After changing a connected account, conversion owner, mapped action, or event selection, repeat the delivery checks before changing bidding goals.
Troubleshooting
My Google Ads account is not listed
Confirm you are signed in with the intended Google user.
Confirm the user has access to the Google Ads account.
Disconnect the Google Ads integration in Triple Whale.
Reconnect it and approve the current permissions.
If conversions are managed by a manager account, confirm which account owns the actions.
My Sonar action says “Needs attention”
Open the action’s diagnostic details in Google Ads. Confirm Enhanced Conversions for Leads is enabled, Customer data terms are accepted in the conversion-owning account, the action is active, and recent events have had enough time to process.
Triple Whale shows zero Google events
Confirm the configuration is saved and enabled.
Confirm the expected event toggles are on.
Confirm the mapped conversion actions still exist and belong to the connected account.
Review the exclusion settings.
Reconnect Google Ads if the authorization has expired or permissions changed.
If events remain at zero after 24 hours, contact Triple Whale Support with the shop, connected Google Ads account ID, affected action names, date range, and a screenshot of the Delivery Overview.
Conversion actions reappear after reconnecting
Disconnecting and reconnecting the Google integration may not delete the saved Sonar configuration. If the Google conversion owner changed or the existing actions cannot be remapped, contact Triple Whale Support before creating duplicate conversion actions.
Spend or reported conversions changed after switching to Primary
Check whether more than one action representing the same purchase is Primary.
Check whether the campaign uses account-default goals or a campaign-specific custom goal.
Review any bid target changes made at the same time.
Return duplicate purchase actions to Secondary while you validate the intended signal.
FAQ
Does Sonar send every Shopify order to Google Ads?
Sonar can send eligible web orders that remain after your configured exclusions. This does not mean Google automatically attributes every sent order to Google Ads.
Will Google claim conversions from email, direct, or organic traffic?
Google attributes an accepted conversion only when it can connect the event to an eligible Google Ads interaction under the account’s attribution settings. Sending an event alone does not guarantee that Google will report it as a Google Ads conversion.
Which Sonar event should be Primary?
For a standard ecommerce setup, use one validated Sonar Purchase action as the Primary purchase signal. Keep other Sonar actions Secondary unless a specific campaign intentionally uses a custom goal.
Can I reuse my original conversion label?
Do not remap a Sonar event to a label containing historical data from another source unless the migration path has been confirmed. Keeping a new Sonar action separate makes delivery and performance easier to compare.
Can different campaigns optimize for different Sonar events?
Yes. Use campaign-specific custom goals. Remember that actions included in a custom goal can be used for bidding even when the action is marked Secondary.