Google Ads tracking tags - Separate or use a single tag across all markets?

Question:

I am setting up Google Ads tracking tags with the Multifeed Google Shopping Feed App. I have 6 markets to manage. Do I need to set up 6 separate purchase tags for each market, or can I use a single tag across all markets? When should I use market tracking?

Answer:

There are 3 factors that need to be considered when setting up Google Ads tracking tags for a Shopify store:

1. The number of Google Ads accounts you’re running campaigns with across your markets.

Each tag can only connect to a single Google Ads account. Therefore, you’ll need at least one tag per Google Ads account.

2. The relations of product sales performance across markets.

A market tracking tag tracks traffic of specific markets, which only apply when your Shopify store is localized for each market. Localization in Shopify typically involved:

- Dedicated domain /subdomain (uk.mystore.com & us.mystore.com)

- Dedicated currencies (GBP & USD)

You should only consider market tracking when both of the following conditions are met:

- The performance of your products is significantly unrelated across markets (e.g., certain products are culturally specific to a market like French cuisine items such as snails being popular in France but not Germany). Because of this, sales data of one market would not be helpful in other market.

- You have dedicated Google Ads account per markets. If you use a single Google Ads account for all markets, there is no point in setting up market specific tracking tags, as sale data from all the tags would be used in bidding regardless of the market it dedicates for.

3. Item identification in Google Shopping.

Each tag can only carry one identification scheme, so if for some reason you have multiple identification schemes (shopify_UK_{product_id}_{variant_id}, shopify_US_{product_id}_{variant_id}), then you would need to duplicate the tags accordingly. In fact, many merchants adopt the multiple identification schemes while they should only stick to one.

In short, the rule of thumb is to setup a tag set (purchase tag, remarketing tag, etc.) for each of the Google Ads accounts that is used to run campaigns for the store. If each Google Ads account is dedicated for a market, consider market tracking options for the tags only if the product performance is significantly unrelated across markets.