Tracking template

Recommended Google Ads tracking template and final URL suffix, landing-page macros, nesting inside other trackers and per-campaign variations.

Updated 2026-09-02

Recommended template#

Tracking template

https://go.yourbrand.com/c/brand-search?url={escapedlpurl}&force_transparent=true&gclid={gclid}&campaignid={campaignid}&adgroupid={adgroupid}&creative={creative}&keyword={keyword}&matchtype={matchtype}&network={network}&device={device}&targetid={targetid}&loc_physical_ms={loc_physical_ms}

Final URL suffix

utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&gclid={gclid}

Set the template at the account level so every campaign inherits it; override at campaign or ad-group level only to change the slug. The dashboard and the MCP tool build_tracking_template generate both strings for any domain + slug.

Anatomy#

Part	Why
`https://go.yourbrand.com/c/brand-search`	Your verified tracking domain and the link slug.
`url={escapedlpurl}`	The landing page, escaped once so it survives as one query value. This is the visible next hop Google requires.
`force_transparent=true`	Tells the server it must follow `url`.
`gclid={gclid}&campaignid={campaignid}&…`	ValueTrack capture. Add or remove keys freely; see the ValueTrack reference.

Landing-page macros#

Macro	Escaping	Use when
`{escapedlpurl}`	Always escapes `:` `/` `?` `=` `%`	Default. WhichClick is the only tracker.
`{lpurl}`	Escaped only when not at the start of the template	Legacy templates that begin with the landing page. Not recommended here.
`{lpurl+2}`	Escaped twice	WhichClick is nested inside another certified tracker.
`{lpurl+3}`	Escaped three times	Two levels of nesting.
`{unescapedlpurl}`	None	Never inside `url=`.

Nested inside another tracker

https://go.yourbrand.com/c/brand-search?url={lpurl+2}&force_transparent=true&gclid={gclid}&campaignid={campaignid}&adgroupid={adgroupid}&creative={creative}&keyword={keyword}&matchtype={matchtype}&network={network}&device={device}&targetid={targetid}&loc_physical_ms={loc_physical_ms}

Warning

A third-party click tracker may never be the final URL. The final URL must remain your landing page; the tracker lives only in the tracking template.

Final URL suffix#

The suffix is appended by Google to the final URL, so gclid and your utm_* values arrive on the landing page directly — independent of the tracker. This keeps analytics intact under parallel tracking and gives WhichClick a second key (gclid) for matching conversions.

Per-campaign variations#

Performance Max / DSA: {keyword} is blank; keep {assetgroupid} or {targetid} instead.
Shopping: add merchant_id={merchant_id}&product_id={product_id}.
YouTube / Display: add placement={placement}.
Microsoft Ads: the same template works with msclkid={msclkid} instead of gclid; the click id is stored in gclid-equivalent columns.

Validating a template#

Replace macros with test values and open the URL in a browser or with curl -I.
Confirm the Location equals the unescaped url plus wc_click_id.
Open Compliance in the dashboard: the self-test runs the same request set Google's reviewers use (transparent, forced, encoded ×2 / ×3, missing url, foreign-param injection).