How Can I Track the Sale Amount in Google Ads

To track conversion values and allow Google Ads to see the actual dollar amount of each sale, you'll need to use Google Tag Manager and configure your variables to read from Thinkific's data layer.

Applies to:

• Plans: Start / Pro, Grow / Pro+Growth, Expand / Premier, Plus
• Role: Site Owner, Site Admin

If you're using Google Analytics 4 to track and collect data to better understand the customer journey and want to see the sale amount in Google, note that the standard GA4 purchase events will not pass the sale amount. To track conversion values and allow Google Ads to see the actual dollar amount of each sale, you'll need to use Google Tag Manager and configure your variables to read from Thinkific's data layer.

Set Up Tracking

Step 1: Install Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4

Ensure that Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4 are installed on your site before continuing by following these instructions:

•  Installing Google Tag Manager
• Installing Google Analytics 4

Step 2: Track the Right Variables

Note that Thinkific pushes purchase data into the data layer nested inside an eventModel object. For the add_to_cart GA4 event, the payload will look like this:

{
  event: "add_to_cart",
  gtm: {uniqueEventId: 6, start: 1775499400716},
  eventModel: {
    currency: "czk",
    value: 0,
    items: [
      {
        item_id: "XXXvXXXjdFByaWNlXXXMDE1MjM=",
        item_name: "5 Courses ",
        price: 0,
        quantity: 1
      }
    ],
    send_to: "G-1X1XXX11X1"
  }
}

If you want to pass purchase value and transaction ID to Google Ads using Google Tag Manager, you would need to reference the following variables:

• Purchase value/revenue: eventModel.value
• Transaction ID: eventModel.transaction_id

You can reference other values as well, using the above format.

Many third-party GTM guides reference total_price and transaction_id as top-level variables. These will return undefined in a Thinkific setup and cause Google Ads to record $0 for every conversion.

Step 3: Set Up the Right Trigger

Use a Custom Event trigger set to fire on the purchase event. This ensures eventModel.value is available when the tag fires.

Do not use a page-view trigger on the order confirmation page to fire your Google Ads conversion tag. Thinkific's order tracking script runs after the page loads, meaning the data layer won't be populated yet when a page-view trigger fires. 

Step 4: Verify the Setup

To verify that your GTM Preview mode is working, complete a test purchase and check the Events panel. Confirm that eventModel.value is populated (not undefined) at the moment the purchase event fires: that's the event you want your trigger bound to.

Important Considerations

• Ensure that Google Tag Manager is installed on your site before following these steps: Installing Google Tag Manager.
• Do not use total_price and transaction_id as top-level variables, as these will return undefined.
• Do not use a page-view trigger on the order confirmation page.
• If you do not need to pass sale information to Google Ads, you can track purchase events using Google Analytics 4 out of the box, with no additional setup required for standard GA4 reporting.

Related

• Prerequisite: Installing Google Tag Manager
• Alternative: Installing Google Analytics 4