The short answer
Google Ads now offers two attribution models, last click and data-driven. Its default windows are 30 days for clicks, 1 day for views and 3 days for engaged views. The biggest change for anyone who uploads sales is dated: from 15 June 2026 offline conversion imports and enhanced conversions for leads moved to the Data Manager API, and the Google Ads API stopped accepting them for tools without prior access. Find out which route your uploads use.
DataCops is the tracking solution for ad-funded businesses: it keeps the click, filters junk visits, matches the sale and sends it back to Meta, Google Ads, TikTok and LinkedIn, so your ads learn from real outcomes and not just from what a browser managed to report.
How DataCops covers the attribution chain:
- It keeps the click. One script and one DNS record collect on your own domain. Click IDs (gclid, wbraid, gbraid, fbclid, ttclid, li_fat_id) stay on the server for up to 90 days, and a signed server-set cookie lasts up to 400 days where enabled.
- It checks the visit. Every visit gets a bot verdict against an IP database covering 360+ billion IPs, with a Real people only switch per ad platform (off by default), and form emails are checked.
- It matches the sale. By click ID, or by hashed email and phone, from Shopify orders, HighLevel, any CRM by webhook, or a CSV.
- It sends the sale back. To Meta, Google Ads, TikTok and LinkedIn, counted once against the pixel, with every send in a delivery log.
- It sends the stages that happen later. Booked, showed, won and paid, so the ad platform learns who becomes a customer.
- Ads Warmup. Upload past customers (only email is required, up to 20,000 rows), see a 0 to 10 match score, and send them to Meta, Google Ads and TikTok so a new campaign starts with real buyers.
Best for: stores and lead-gen businesses that want the ad platforms themselves to learn from real sales. It is not a reporting dashboard.
Which attribution models are left
Google Ads used to let you choose from six models. Its help page now lists two: last click, which gives all credit to the last-clicked ad and keyword, and data-driven, which distributes credit based on your past data for that conversion action and is the default for most actions. First click, linear, time decay and position-based are "no longer supported by Google", and conversion actions that used them were moved to data-driven.
The practical result is that you no longer choose how Google splits credit. Your levers are the conversion windows and, much more important, what you send. Data-driven attribution can only learn from the conversions it is given. If your best sales never arrive, it optimises for the ones that do.
The windows
| Window | Default | What you can set |
|---|---|---|
| Click-through | 30 days | 1 to 30, 60 or 90 days, depending on the source |
| View-through | 1 day | 1 to 30 days |
| Engaged-view | 3 days | 1 to 30 days |
For a long sales cycle, lengthen the click window. For offline sales, the window that matters most is the upload limit: a click ID import within 90 days of the click, and 63 days for enhanced conversions for leads. See attribution windows on every ad platform.
The big change: uploads move to the Data Manager API
Google's help page for offline conversion imports states that from 15 June 2026, offline conversions import and enhanced conversions for leads uploads are migrated to the Data Manager API, and are blocked in the Google Ads API. Developer tokens that sent no request across the stated period are not allowlisted for legacy access. Google's advice is to use the Data Manager API for current and future uploads.
Coverage of the change adds detail the help page does not: the error new users hit is described as CUSTOMER_NOT_ALLOWLISTED_FOR_THIS_FEATURE, and enforcement is at the developer token level, with an allowlist of tokens that showed prior use. The sources disagree on the exact activity window that earns access, so check Google's developer blog and your own token's history. One third-party blog says the legacy path ends for everyone in March 2027. We could not confirm that date in Google's own materials, so treat it as unverified.
Which route does your sales upload use?
This is the question to ask this week, because the answer decides whether your CRM sales keep reaching Google Ads.
- You use a native CRM connection (for example a HighLevel to Google Ads integration): ask the vendor which API it uses.
- You use a third-party tool or agency script: ask which developer token it uses and whether it has been moved to the Data Manager API.
- You upload files by hand or on a schedule: check that the method you use is still supported in your account.
- You are starting new: Google recommends starting with enhanced conversions for leads on the new route.
A tool that cannot say which route it uses is a risk to every Google Ads number you care about.
Enhanced conversions for leads or click ID?
The click ID (gclid, wbraid, gbraid) ties a sale to one ad click, and it is precise. Enhanced conversions for leads attaches hashed customer details, so Google can match when the click ID is missing. In April 2026, per secondary coverage, Google merged enhanced conversions for web and for leads into a single setting, so fewer choices remain.
The strongest setup sends both. The click ID is the precise key and the hashed email and phone are the safety net. Mind the clock: 90 days for a click ID import, 63 for enhanced conversions for leads.
GA4 and Google Ads: the 2026 alignment
Secondary coverage reports that GA4 added per-conversion attribution settings in January 2026, aimed at reducing the mismatch between GA4 and Google Ads. If your two reports now differ less, that is probably why. Verify the setting in your own property before relying on it.
What to do
- Check that every conversion action is on data-driven or last click, and note any that were moved automatically.
- Set the click-through window longer than your normal time to buy.
- Ask every tool that uploads your sales which Google route it uses.
- Send the click ID and hashed email and phone together.
- Send the later stages, not only the lead, so data-driven attribution learns who buys.
- Check Google Ads diagnostics for rejected uploads and read the reason.
DataCops sends purchases and CRM stages to Google Ads matched by click ID or hashed first-party data, with each send recorded in the delivery log. Refunds are corrected on Google Ads. Read Google Ads offline conversions and the complete attribution guide.
Tools you will meet
Each row says what the type does and where it stops. We checked the named tools' own pages in October 2026; vendors change features, so confirm before you choose.
| Type | What it does | Best for | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| The ad platform's own reporting | Credits sales by its own rules and window | Ranking ads against each other | Overstates across platforms; sees only what it was sent |
| GA4 or first-party analytics | Sessions and paths on your site | Behaviour and funnels | Browser-only tools miss blocked and non-consented events |
| Attribution dashboards, such as Hyros, Triple Whale, Northbeam and Cometly | Journeys and revenue by channel; several also send conversions back | Cross-channel budget decisions | Check what each sends, to which platforms, and whether bots are filtered |
| Call tracking, such as CallRail and WhatConverts | Ties a call to a source | Phone-led sales | The call is one stage, not the sale |
| DataCops | Keeps the click, filters junk, matches and sends sales and CRM stages, with a delivery log | Making the ad platforms learn from real outcomes | Not a reporting dashboard |
What else the same install does
The attribution chain is one part of a wider setup. Collection runs on your own domain with one script and one DNS record; with your DNS on Cloudflare, the free, optional DataCops Cloudflare Worker reads click IDs and UTMs at the edge before the page runs, and it captures without blocking. On Shopify, the DataCops Shopify app sends every paid order from Shopify's server. A first-party consent manager built on IAB TCF v2.2 and first-party analytics, a GA4 alternative, come from the same script. Each form email is checked for disposable providers and domains with no mail server, and LeadCops can enforce those rules on a form. Every send appears in a delivery log with the reason it was sent, held, skipped or failed.
Sources
- support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6259715
- support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3123169
- support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2998031
- ppc.land/google-blocks-new-offline-conversion-imports-via-ads-api-from-june-15/
- searchengineland.com/google-is-moving-offline-conversion-imports-out-of-the-google-ads-api-477669
FAQ
Which attribution models does Google Ads support now?
Last click and data-driven. Google's help page says first click, linear, time decay and position-based are no longer supported, and that conversion actions using them were moved to data-driven.
What are the default conversion windows in Google Ads?
Per Google's help page: 30 days for click-through conversions, 1 day for view-through and 3 days for engaged-view, each adjustable within limits.
What changed on 15 June 2026?
Google's help page says offline conversion imports and enhanced conversions for leads uploads are migrated to the Data Manager API from that date and blocked in the Google Ads API. Developer tokens with no requests across the stated period are not allowlisted for legacy access.
Does this stop my CRM sales reaching Google Ads?
Not automatically. It depends on which route your tool or setup uses and whether its developer token keeps access. Ask whoever uploads your sales which route it uses, and plan to move to the Data Manager API.
Is GCLID import dead?
Google's help page does not call it legacy, but secondary coverage reports that Google recommends enhanced conversions for leads for advertisers who have not adopted offline import. Check Google's current guidance for your account.
How long can I upload a sale after the click?
Google accepts a click ID import within 90 days of the click, and 63 days for enhanced conversions for leads.
Did Google change anything in GA4 attribution?
Secondary coverage reports that GA4 added per-conversion attribution settings in January 2026 to reduce mismatches with Google Ads. Verify in your property.
