Enhanced conversions are a Google Ads feature that complements the conversion tag by sending Google customer data left on your site, such as an email or phone number, already scrambled with SHA-256 hashing. Google compares that data with signed-in Google accounts and recovers conversions that otherwise would not be tied to the ad. In the Portuguese help center the current name is “conversões otimizadas”, and it is the same feature.
Anyone searching for “enhanced conversions” has almost always seen a notice in their Google Ads account asking them to turn the feature on. This guide explains what it does, what Google requires, how to turn it on through the Google tag or Tag Manager, and where the setup usually fails.
Enhanced conversions or “conversões otimizadas”: is it the same feature?
Yes, it’s the same. The difference is only in translation: the Portuguese term “conversões aprimoradas” circulated for years in blogs and courses, and the Google Ads help center in Portuguese now uses “conversões otimizadas”. The setup section inside the account has that name too.
Anyone who types “enhanced conversions” or “conversões otimizadas google ads” is looking for the same setting, and here I use the names interchangeably.
Google defines the feature like this: it improves the accuracy of conversion measurement and enables better bidding by supplementing your existing conversions with first-party data from your site, sent in a privacy-safe way. It is not a new tag or an extra conversion, but a layer on top of the conversion you already measure.
How enhanced conversions work in practice
When someone converts on your site, the tag captures data the person entered, hashes it in the browser, and sends the result to Google, which matches it against signed-in Google accounts.
The scrambling is called hashing. The help center describes SHA256 as a secure, one-way hashing algorithm, applied to data such as the email before it leaves your site. One-way means the hash can’t be turned back into the original email. It’s only useful for comparing against another hash.
According to the documentation, the full path has four steps:
- The person, signed in to Google, sees or clicks your ad.
- They convert on your site, for example by buying or filling out a form.
- The conversion tag captures the field you defined, such as the email, hashes it and sends it to Google.
- Google compares the hash with Google account information and records the conversion in your account.
What data is used
The setup page for the Google tag says you must provide at least one of these fields:
- email, which Google calls preferred;
- address, with first name, last name, postal code and country required;
- phone number, which can come together with the email or with the full name and address.
The phone number must be in E.164 format, meaning a plus sign and country code, with no dashes, parentheses or spaces. You can send the raw data and let Google normalize and hash it, or send it already hashed. In the second case, the rule is to use hexadecimal SHA256, lowercase text, with no leading or trailing spaces.
For web and for leads: two versions of the same feature
The help center splits the feature into two uses, and choosing the right one depends on where the sale ends.
| For web | For leads | |
|---|---|---|
| When it fits | The sale or event happens on the site | The site generates a contact and the sale closes elsewhere |
| Example | Purchase in an online store | Quote request that becomes a sale by phone or WhatsApp |
| What improves | Measurement of online conversions | Measurement of offline transactions tied to the lead |
| Hashed data | Captured in the tag, at the time of conversion | Captured in the form and repeated in the CRM import |
One detail the help center flags on the setup page: starting in April 2026, enhanced conversions for web and for leads become a single activation setting, which accepts data from the tag, the Data Manager and API connections at the same time. Accounts that already had the feature on are migrated automatically.
What is the difference from offline conversions?
Enhanced conversions help Google tie a conversion to the ad using customer data, while an offline conversion brings Google a sale that happened outside the site, normally tied to the click by the GCLID.
The two meet in the case of leads. The help center’s version for leads is described as an upgrade of offline conversion import: you keep sending the click identifier, the GCLID, and add the hashed data, such as the email from the form. When the lead becomes a customer, the CRM sends that same hashed email and Google attributes the sale back to the campaign.
If your business closes sales by phone, WhatsApp or a salesperson, the next step after this guide is offline conversions in Google Ads, where I explain GCLID, spreadsheets and CRM. And conversion tracking with GA4, GTM and CRM is the service that builds that whole bridge.
What you need before turning it on
Before you touch the account, three things need to be in place.
- A Google Ads conversion already working, with the Google tag or Tag Manager. Enhanced conversions supplement existing measurement, they don’t replace it.
- A field with customer data on the conversion page, usually the confirmation page or the form submit event.
- Acceptance of the customer data terms and compliance with Google Ads customer data policies.
There is a restriction that catches a lot of people: conversions measured through Google Analytics goal imports are not compatible with enhanced conversions. If your account imports conversions from GA4, you will need to create a new conversion action in Google Ads, using the Google tag or Google Tag Manager.
How to turn on enhanced conversions, step by step
The path below comes from Google’s page on setup with the Google tag.
- In Google Ads, open Goals, then Settings, and the enhanced conversions section.
- Check the option to turn the feature on.
- Read and accept the customer data terms. By doing so you confirm that you follow Google’s policies and authorize the processing of the data.
- Choose the setup method from the menu: Google tag, Google Tag Manager or Google Ads API.
- If you chose the Google tag, define how it captures the data: automatic detection, CSS selectors or JavaScript variables, or a code snippet on the page.
- Save and validate the implementation.
The help center gives a warning worth reading twice. If you send the data through a method different from the one chosen in the account, it may not be processed. If you select “Google tag” and then try to send through the API, for example, nothing will arrive.
Google tag, Tag Manager, or API?
Automatic detection in the Google tag scans the page for fields that match the data types you configured and, according to the documentation, works for most advertisers. With CSS selectors or variables, you point to where each field is. With the code snippet, you send the data straight from the page, formatted consistently, and it always takes priority over the other methods.
In Tag Manager, the path is similar, except the data collection setup lives in the container. If you already use GTM for the rest of your tracking, it’s the most natural choice, and it’s worth reading what Google Tag Manager is and how to install it and the step-by-step guide to Google Ads conversion tracking with Tag Manager first.
The Google Ads API is for those who need more control and have a developer to maintain the code.
Customer data terms and privacy
Turning on the feature means, first of all, accepting an agreement. The help center says that by turning it on, you confirm that you comply with Google’s policies and that the Google Ads Data Processing Terms apply to your use of enhanced conversions.
On consent, the documentation includes a technical detail. With the automatic and selector methods, Google uses an ads cookie by default to link the hashed data to the conversion event in the same session. If you’ve implemented consent mode, that cookie is subject to the ad_storage parameter state. In other words, people who decline ad cookies aren’t included in collection through this method.
The pages I checked cover Google’s policies, not Brazilian law. For legal questions, talk to a lawyer.
How to validate and when to expect results
After saving, validate before drawing conclusions. The help center offers an enhanced conversions assistance tool, a Chrome extension that helps check whether data is leaving the page, and the diagnostics report inside the account. According to Google, the common problems are missing data, incorrectly formatted data, and code installed incorrectly on the page.
The effect doesn’t show up the next day. The help center says that about 30 days after implementation you can see the impact in the conversion actions table.
Common setup mistakes
The most likely slip-ups come from warnings in the help center itself.
- Two methods at the same time. The account asks for the Google tag and the data goes out through Tag Manager, or the other way around. The data arrives and isn’t processed.
- Conversion imported from GA4. Goal import isn’t supported, as seen above.
- Field that doesn’t exist on the conversion page. The tag looks for the email on the thank-you page, but it was only in the form on the previous page.
When enhanced conversions are worth it
They’re worth it when the account already measures conversions and you want Google to see more of them, or when the lead closes outside the website. But the gain depends on basic measurement being right: a conversion counted twice or a duplicate tag can’t be fixed with hashing. If you still have doubts about the tracking foundation, start with how to set up GA4 and check the tag in Google Tag Assistant.
Frequently asked questions
Are enhanced conversions and optimized conversions the same thing? Yes. The Google Ads help center in Portuguese now uses “conversões otimizadas,” and the English name is enhanced conversions. “Conversões aprimoradas” is the translation that became popular earlier.
Does Google read my customers’ email addresses? Not the email in plain text. The data leaves the site hashed with SHA256, a one-way algorithm, and Google compares one hash with another.
How long does it take to see results? About 30 days after implementation, according to Google, for the impact to show up in the conversion actions table.
Does it work with conversions imported from Google Analytics? No. The help center says that importing Google Analytics goals isn’t supported, so you need to create a Google Ads conversion action using the Google tag or Tag Manager.
Want to know if your account is measuring correctly?
If you turned the feature on and don’t know if it’s working, or if the warning in your account is still pending, I do this in the free account review: the check looks at the tag, conversions, and diagnostics before any adjustment. Request it through the free Google Ads audit.