Google Ads Module

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The Google Ads module transforms raw Google Ads Data Transfer tables into a more analysis-ready, efficient format. It joins metrics and dimensions from different raw Google Ads tables (BasicStats, ConversionStats, Lookup tables) and enables simplified reporting across ad entities.

Key Features

• Multiple Customer IDs: Consolidate data from multiple Google Ads accounts (not just under the same MCC account)
• Dimension Lookups: Maintain latest metadata for ad entities (campaigns, ads, ad groups, keywords, gclid)
• GCLID: deduplicated, incremental GCLID table that can be joined to other data sources (such as GA4) in downstream queries
• Conversion Action Handling: Flexible configuration for multiple conversion actions
• Incremental Processing: Process only new data from certain raw Ads tables that can get costly in high volume accounts

Google Ads BigQuery Data Transfer

• Include all relevant tables in your Google Ads BigQuery Data Transfer.
• Set the Refresh window to 30 (which is the maximum)
• If your metrics do not match very closely to the Google Ads UI - try to run a backfill, sometimes the data can get stale (especially if you didn't set the Refresh window). Conversion differences should be below 1-2%, non-conversion metrics should be mostly 1:1.

Limitations

• Only Primary Conversions are supported (for now)
• GCLID join query is not provided (for now)
• Only the latest entity information is stored in the dim_gads_* tables
• gads_paid_organic_search_term_metrics table is only available if Search Console and Google Ads are connected
• Custom reports of the Google Ads Data Transfer are not supported (for now)

Configuration

The module uses a YAML configuration file: includes/custom/modules/google_ads/config.yaml

# set by Superform Labs team to indicate changes
version: 1
# true/false to toggle this feature, default is false
enabled: false
# list of Google Ads Customer IDs to use as sources
# if you use MCC (Manager) accounts - use the customer ID of the topmost account to include all subaccounts
gads_sources:
#    - customer_id: '123456789'
#      gcp_project: 'dataform-package'
#      dataset: 'google_ads'
#    - customer_id: '9876554321'
#      gcp_project: 'ga4dataform-demo'
#      dataset: 'google_ads'
# list the names of conversion actions you need
# these will have their own conversion columns (conversions_* and conversions_value_*)
conversion_action_names:
    - name: 'Purchase'
      renameTo: 'transaction'
    - name: 'Add to Cart'
      renameTo: 'add_cart'
    - name: '30s on page'
      renameTo: 'engagement'

Configuration Options

Essential Settings

Setting	Description	Example
enabled	Enable/disable the module	true or false
version	Configuration version (set by Superform Labs)	1

Data Sources

Define one or more Google Ads accounts to process:

gads_sources:
    - customer_id: '123456789'
      gcp_project: 'ga4dataform-com'
      dataset: 'google_ads'
    - customer_id: '9876554321'
      gcp_project: 'ga4dataform-demo'
      dataset: 'google_ads'

If you use MCC (Manager) accounts - use the customer ID of the topmost account to include all subaccounts.

Field	Required	Description
customer_id	Yes	Google Ads customer ID (10 digits, no dashes)
dataset	Yes	BigQuery dataset containing raw Google Ads tables
gcp_project	No	GCP project name (uses default if omitted)

Conversion Actions

Configure which conversion actions to track as separate columns:

# Simple format
conversion_action_names: ['Purchase', 'Lead', 'Signup']

# With custom column names
conversion_action_names:
  - name: 'Purchase'
    renameTo: 'transaction'  # Creates: conversions_transaction and conversions_value_transaction
  - name: 'Add to Cart'
    renameTo: 'cart_add'      # Creates: conversions_cart_add and conversions_value_cart_add
  - 'Lead Form Submit'         # Creates: conversions_lead_form_submit and conversions_value_lead_form_submit

# Mixed format
conversion_action_names:
  - name: 'Purchase'
    renameTo: 'txn'
  - 'Lead'  # No rename
  - name: 'Signup'

Generated Columns:

• conversions_{name}: Conversion count
• conversions_value_{name}: Conversion value

Column Naming

Use renameTo to create cleaner column names. For example, "Add to Cart" becomes conversions_cart_add instead of conversions_add_to_cart. If you don't use renameTo, the field name is still sanitized (lower case + underscore separator).

Conversion Attribution Time

Conversions in Google Ads Data Transfer are attributed to the click date, not the conversion date. For example, a conversion that occurs on January 15th from a click on January 10th will be attributed to January 10th.

Table Structures

The module follows the following structure:

1. Dimension Tables (dim_gads_*): Latest metadata for campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, accounts. These are materialized in the superform_transformations_* dataset.
2. Metric Tables (gads_*_metrics): Daily performance data with basic stats (impressions, clicks, cost) and conversions at various grains. These are materialized in the superform_outputs_* dataset.
3. GCLID Table (gads_gclid): GCLID is a special output table as it contains click-level information that is joined with dim_ tables.

Dimension Tables

dim_gads_accounts (table)

Granularity: One row per Google Ads account

Latest metadata for each Google Ads customer account.

Column	Description
account_last_updated	Date when this account metadata was last updated
customer_id	Google Ads customer ID
customer_descriptive_name	Account name
customer_currency_code	Account currency (e.g., USD, EUR)
customer_time_zone	Account timezone
customer_auto_tagging_enabled	Whether auto-tagging is enabled
customer_manager	Whether this is a manager account
customer_test_account	Whether this is a test account

Customer = Account in Google Ads

Google Ads calls an "account" a "customer" which can be confusing.

dim_gads_campaigns (table)

Granularity: One row per campaign per account

Latest metadata for each campaign.

Column	Description
campaign_last_updated	Date when this campaign metadata was last updated
campaign_id	Campaign ID
customer_id	Google Ads customer ID
campaign_name	Campaign name
campaign_status	Campaign status (ENABLED, PAUSED, REMOVED)
campaign_advertising_channel_type	Channel type (SEARCH, DISPLAY, VIDEO, etc.)
campaign_advertising_channel_sub_type	Channel sub-type
bidding_strategy_name	Name of bidding strategy
campaign_bidding_strategy	Bidding strategy resource name
campaign_bidding_strategy_type	Type of bidding strategy
campaign_budget_amount	Daily budget amount
campaign_budget_total_amount	Total budget amount (for non-daily budgets)
campaign_budget_explicitly_shared	Whether budget is shared
campaign_budget_has_recommended_budget	Whether recommended budget exists
campaign_budget_period	Budget period (DAILY, CUSTOM)
campaign_start_date	Campaign start date
campaign_end_date	Campaign end date
campaign_experiment_type	Experiment type if campaign is an experiment
campaign_serving_status	Serving status
campaign_tracking_url_template	Tracking template
campaign_url_custom_parameters	Custom URL parameters
campaign_maximize_conversion_value_target_roas	Target ROAS for maximize conversion value
campaign_manual_cpc_enhanced_cpc_enabled	Whether enhanced CPC is enabled
campaign_percent_cpc_enhanced_cpc_enabled	Whether percent CPC enhanced CPC is enabled

dim_gads_ad_groups (incremental)

Granularity: One row per ad group per campaign per account

Latest metadata for each ad group.

Column	Description
ad_group_last_updated	Date when this ad group metadata was last updated
ad_group_id	Ad group ID
campaign_id	Campaign ID
customer_id	Google Ads customer ID
ad_group_name	Ad group name
ad_group_status	Ad group status (ENABLED, PAUSED, REMOVED)
ad_group_type	Ad group type (SEARCH_STANDARD, DISPLAY_STANDARD, etc.)
ad_group_ad_rotation_mode	Ad rotation mode
ad_group_cpc_bid	CPC bid amount
ad_group_cpm_bid	CPM bid amount
ad_group_cpv_bid	CPV bid amount
ad_group_display_custom_bid_dimension	Display custom bid dimension
ad_group_effective_target_cpa	Effective target CPA
ad_group_effective_target_cpa_source	Source of effective target CPA
ad_group_effective_target_roas	Effective target ROAS
ad_group_effective_target_roas_source	Source of effective target ROAS
ad_group_tracking_url_template	Tracking template
ad_group_url_custom_parameters	Custom URL parameters
campaign_bidding_strategy	Campaign bidding strategy
campaign_bidding_strategy_type	Campaign bidding strategy type
campaign_manual_cpc_enhanced_cpc_enabled	Campaign enhanced CPC enabled
campaign_percent_cpc_enhanced_cpc_enabled	Campaign percent CPC enhanced enabled

dim_gads_ads (incremental)

Granularity: One row per ad per ad group per campaign per account

Latest metadata for each ad creative.

Column	Description
ad_last_updated	Date when this ad metadata was last updated
ad_group_ad_ad_id	Ad ID
ad_group_id	Ad group ID
campaign_id	Campaign ID
customer_id	Google Ads customer ID
ad_group_ad_ad_name	Ad name
ad_group_ad_ad_type	Ad type (RESPONSIVE_SEARCH_AD, EXPANDED_TEXT_AD, etc.)
ad_group_ad_status	Ad status (ENABLED, PAUSED, REMOVED)
ad_group_ad_ad_strength	Ad strength (POOR, AVERAGE, GOOD, EXCELLENT)
ad_group_ad_policy_summary_approval_status	Policy approval status
ad_group_ad_ad_final_urls	Final URLs
ad_group_ad_ad_final_mobile_urls	Final mobile URLs
ad_group_ad_ad_tracking_url_template	Tracking template
ad_group_ad_ad_display_url	Display URL
ad_group_ad_ad_device_preference	Device preference
ad_group_ad_ad_added_by_google_ads	Whether ad was added by Google Ads
ad_group_ad_ad_system_managed_resource_source	System managed resource source
Responsive Search Ad fields
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_search_ad_headlines	RSA headlines
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_search_ad_descriptions	RSA descriptions
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_search_ad_path1	RSA path 1
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_search_ad_path2	RSA path 2
Expanded Text Ad fields
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_headline_part1	ETA headline 1
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_headline_part2	ETA headline 2
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_headline_part3	ETA headline 3
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_description	ETA description 1
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_description2	ETA description 2
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_path1	ETA path 1
ad_group_ad_ad_expanded_text_ad_path2	ETA path 2
Responsive Display Ad fields
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_display_ad_headlines	RDA headlines
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_display_ad_descriptions	RDA descriptions
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_display_ad_long_headline	RDA long headline
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_display_ad_business_name	RDA business name
ad_group_ad_ad_responsive_display_ad_call_to_action_text	RDA call to action
App Ad fields
ad_group_ad_ad_app_ad_headlines	App ad headlines
ad_group_ad_ad_app_ad_descriptions	App ad descriptions

dim_gads_keywords (incremental)

Granularity: One row per keyword per ad group per campaign per account

Latest metadata for each keyword.

Column	Description
keyword_last_updated	Date when this keyword metadata was last updated
ad_group_criterion_criterion_id	Keyword criterion ID
ad_group_id	Ad group ID
campaign_id	Campaign ID
customer_id	Google Ads customer ID
ad_group_criterion_keyword_text	Keyword text
ad_group_criterion_keyword_match_type	Match type (EXACT, PHRASE, BROAD)
ad_group_criterion_status	Keyword status
ad_group_criterion_system_serving_status	System serving status
ad_group_criterion_approval_status	Approval status
ad_group_criterion_negative	Whether this is a negative keyword
ad_group_criterion_effective_cpc_bid	Effective CPC bid
ad_group_criterion_effective_cpc_bid_source	Source of effective CPC bid
ad_group_criterion_effective_cpm_bid	Effective CPM bid
Quality Score fields
ad_group_criterion_quality_info_quality_score	Quality score (1-10)
ad_group_criterion_quality_info_creative_quality_score	Creative quality score
ad_group_criterion_quality_info_post_click_quality_score	Post-click quality score
ad_group_criterion_quality_info_search_predicted_ctr	Predicted CTR
Position Estimate fields
ad_group_criterion_first_page_cpc	First page CPC estimate
ad_group_criterion_first_position_cpc	First position CPC estimate
ad_group_criterion_top_of_page_cpc	Top of page CPC estimate
ad_group_criterion_position_estimates_estimated_add_clicks_at_first_position_cpc	Estimated additional clicks
ad_group_criterion_estimated_add_cost_at_first_position	Estimated additional cost
ad_group_criterion_final_urls	Final URLs
ad_group_criterion_final_mobile_urls	Final mobile URLs
ad_group_criterion_tracking_url_template	Tracking template
ad_group_criterion_final_url_suffix	Final URL suffix
campaign_bidding_strategy	Campaign bidding strategy
campaign_bidding_strategy_type	Campaign bidding strategy type
campaign_manual_cpc_enhanced_cpc_enabled	Campaign enhanced CPC enabled
campaign_percent_cpc_enhanced_cpc_enabled	Campaign percent CPC enhanced enabled

Metric Tables

All metric tables include configured conversion columns based on your conversion_action_names configuration.

gads_campaign_metrics (table)

Campaign-level performance data

Grain: segments_date, campaign_id, customer_id, segments_slot, segments_ad_network_type

Metrics:

• impressions, clicks, interactions, cost
• conversions_{action_name}, conversions_value_{action_name} (for each configured conversion)

Dimensions: Join to dim_gads_campaigns and dim_gads_accounts

gads_ad_group_metrics (table)

Ad group-level performance data

Grain: segments_date, campaign_id, ad_group_id, customer_id, segments_device, segments_slot, segments_ad_network_type

Metrics:

• impressions, clicks, interactions, cost
• conversions_{action_name}, conversions_value_{action_name} (for each configured conversion)

Dimensions: Join to dim_gads_ad_groups, dim_gads_campaigns, and dim_gads_accounts

gads_ad_metrics (table)

Ad-level performance data

Grain: segments_date, campaign_id, ad_group_id, ad_group_ad_ad_id, customer_id, segments_device, segments_slot, segments_ad_network_type

Metrics:

• impressions, clicks, interactions, cost, view_through_conversions
• conversions_{action_name}, conversions_value_{action_name} (for each configured conversion)

Dimensions: Join to dim_gads_ads, dim_gads_ad_groups, dim_gads_campaigns, and dim_gads_accounts

gads_keyword_metrics (table)

Keyword-level performance data

Grain: segments_date, campaign_id, ad_group_id, ad_group_criterion_criterion_id, customer_id, segments_device, segments_slot, segments_ad_network_type

Metrics:

• impressions, clicks, interactions, cost, view_through_conversions
• conversions_{action_name}, conversions_value_{action_name} (for each configured conversion)

Dimensions: Join to dim_gads_keywords, dim_gads_ad_groups, dim_gads_campaigns, and dim_gads_accounts

gads_paid_organic_search_term_metrics (table)

Combined paid and organic search performance

Grain: segments_date, campaign_id, ad_group_id, customer_id, paid_organic_search_term_view_search_term, segments_search_engine_results_page_type

Metrics:

• clicks, impressions
• combined_clicks, combined_queries
• organic_clicks, organic_queries, organic_impressions
• average_cpc, ctr
• combined_clicks_per_query, organic_clicks_per_query, organic_impressions_per_query

Dimensions: Join to dim_gads_ad_groups, dim_gads_campaigns, and dim_gads_accounts

GCLID Table

gads_gclid (incremental)

Granularity: One row per GCLID (Google Click ID)

Output table containing Google Click IDs (GCLIDs) and their associated metadata. GCLIDs are unique identifiers assigned to each ad click, enabling cross-platform tracking between Google Ads and other analytics platforms like GA4.

Column	Description
gclid_last_updated	Date when this GCLID metadata was last updated
click_view_gclid	Google Click ID - unique identifier for the ad click
campaign_id	Campaign ID associated with this click
ad_group_id	Ad group ID associated with this click
ad_group_ad_ad_id	Ad ID associated with this click
customer_id	Google Ads customer ID
click_view_ad_group_ad	Ad group ad resource name
click_view_area_of_interest_city	City of interest for the user
click_view_area_of_interest_country	Country of interest for the user
click_view_area_of_interest_metro	Metro area of interest for the user
click_view_area_of_interest_most_specific	Most specific area of interest
click_view_area_of_interest_region	Region of interest for the user
click_view_campaign_location_target	Campaign location target
click_view_keyword	Keyword associated with the click
click_view_keyword_info_match_type	Keyword match type (EXACT, PHRASE, BROAD)
click_view_keyword_info_text	Keyword text
click_view_location_of_presence_city	City where user was present
click_view_location_of_presence_country	Country where user was present
click_view_location_of_presence_metro	Metro area where user was present
click_view_location_of_presence_most_specific	Most specific location of presence
click_view_location_of_presence_region	Region where user was present
click_view_page_number	Page number where ad appeared
click_view_user_list	User list associated with this click
segments_ad_network_type	Network type (SEARCH, DISPLAY, etc.)
segments_click_type	Type of click (HEADLINE, SITELINK, etc.)
segments_date	Date of the click (YYYY-MM-DD format)
segments_device	Device type (MOBILE, DESKTOP, TABLET)
segments_slot	Ad slot position

Dimensions: Join to dim_gads_ad_groups, dim_gads_campaigns, and dim_gads_accounts

Common Use Cases

1. Campaign Performance Dashboards: Track key metrics across all campaigns
2. Keyword Optimization: Identify high-performing keywords and negative keyword opportunities
3. Search Query Mining: Discover new keyword opportunities from actual searches
4. Multi-Account Reporting: Consolidated reporting across multiple Google Ads accounts
5. Budget Pacing: Monitor spend vs. budget allocation
6. Paid vs. Organic: Compare paid and organic search performance

Looker Studio Template

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We do not (yet) have a Looker Studio template for this module.