Auto-tagging
The Google Ads account setting that appends the click identifier to your landing page URLs. On by default, and off by exception.
Why it matters
The cheapest thing on this list to check and the one that invalidates everything after it. With it off, there is no identifier to capture, so every downstream fix is pointless.
What goes wrong
It gets turned off during analytics migrations, account restructures, and handovers between agencies, usually by somebody solving a different problem. Nothing in Google Ads flags the consequence, and the symptom is a slow decline in matched conversions that looks like a hundred other things.
How to check it on your own account
Google Ads, Admin, Account settings, Auto-tagging. Then click a live ad and confirm the identifier actually reaches the landing page URL.
Next to this
- GCLIDGoogle AdsThe identifier Google appends to your landing page URL when someone arrives from an ad and auto-tagging is on.
- Match rateGoogle AdsThe share of your leads carrying something Google can join back to an ad click: a click identifier, or a usable email where enhanced conversions for leads is switched on.
The rest of this step
Measure this on your own data
The diagnostic reads a CRM export in your browser and reports your volume, your match rate and the spread between your leads against the thresholds in this glossary. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.