Parallel tracking goes live for Google Ads display campaigns May 1

Stay tuned for the launch date of parallel tracking for video campaigns.

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After launching for search ads last year, parallel tracking is coming to Google display campaigns this week. The move for video campaigns has been postponed.

What you need to know for display. Google is enabling parallel tracking for display campaigns running through Google Ads starting May 1. It first announced the launch date in February.

It will be mandatory for all advertisers that append tracking parameters to their display ad URLs in Google Ads on July 31.

Video campaign update. Google initially planned to launch parallel tracking for video campaigns at the same time as display, but said Friday that it is delaying the roll out for video.

“We’re postponing parallel tracking for Video campaigns until later this year to give you more time to prepare. We’ll provide an update once we’ve finalized a new date,” the company said.

Why we should care. Parallel tracking is designed to enable landing pages to load faster after users click your ads if you’re using third-party click measurement. It does this by separating the processing of tracking parameters appended to an ad URL from the landing page. This way, the user is directed straight to the landing page while the tracking functionality loads separately.

If you use third-party click measurement, reach out to your vendor to be sure they’re ready for the change.

This story first appeared on Marketing Land. For more on digital marketing, click here.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Ginny Marvin
Contributor
Ginny Marvin was Third Door Media’s former Editor-in-Chief (October 2018 to December 2020), running the day-to-day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin wrote about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, MarTech and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.

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