Enhanced conversions is a Google Ads feature that supplements the conversion tag with hashed customer data collected on your site, such as an email address or phone number. Google matches that hashed data to signed-in Google accounts to attribute conversions that cookies alone would miss. There are two versions: enhanced conversions for web, for conversions that happen on your site, and enhanced conversions for leads, for conversions that happen later in your CRM.
How it works
When a conversion fires, the tag collects the customer data you configure, normalizes it and hashes it with SHA-256 before sending. Google says it uses the hashed data only for matching and measurement. The data can be passed through the Google tag, Google Tag Manager or the Google Ads API.
- For web: hashed data is sent at the moment of conversion, alongside the normal tag.
- For leads: hashed data is captured at form submission, then you upload later CRM stages using the same identifiers, without needing a click ID.
Why SaaS teams use it
Browser privacy features, ad blockers and consent choices reduce what cookie-based tags can see. Enhanced conversions recovers some of that signal, which matters for bidding in low-volume B2B accounts where every conversion counts. Enhanced conversions for leads also simplifies offline imports, because matching no longer relies solely on capturing the gclid.
Privacy and consent
You need to state in your privacy policy that you share data with Google for ad measurement, and you need a lawful basis and consent where regional law requires it. Hashing is not anonymization under laws such as the GDPR, so treat the data as personal data.
Example
Recovering lost demos
Hypothetical company Halberdine sees fewer demo conversions in Google Ads than in its CRM. It enables enhanced conversions for leads through Google Tag Manager, reading the email field from its demo form, and connects CRM uploads keyed on the same hashed email.
Common mistakes
Hashing badly
Data must be normalized (trimmed, lowercased for email) before hashing, or it will not match. Let Google’s tag handle hashing unless you are sure of the format.
Questions
They solve a similar problem with hashed first-party data, but they are separate products with their own setup and rules.
