Google Ads ROI

Overview

Google Ads ROI shows how your paid search spend performs relative to leads, paid invoices, job costs, and profit tracked in BlueClerk. After you connect Google Ads, BlueClerk imports daily campaign metrics (impressions, clicks, conversions, conversion value and cost) and attributes ad activity to leads and completed work so you can see cost-per-lead, cost-per-acquisition, and true ROI.

Use the Sync Google Ads button on the Marketing ROI page for an immediate refresh; BlueClerk also imports the latest Google Ads data automatically once per day.

What data is imported and how spend is scoped

• Daily campaign-level metrics: impressions, clicks, conversions, conversion value, and cost.
• Metrics are stored as daily rows per Google Ads customer + campaign and upserted so re-syncs update existing rows.
• Ad spend and metrics shown in the Marketing ROI report are limited to the single Google Ads customer (Ads account) you choose in the integration UI. If your manager/administrator Google login can access multiple child accounts, you must select which Ads customer to use — spend and campaign metrics will be scoped to that selected account only.
• Integration health fields tracked: connected account, currency, lastSyncedAt, and lastError.

Why this matters: if you manage multiple Ads customer accounts under one manager, BlueClerk will only include spend from the Ads customer you select for the report. To analyze a different Ads account, pick that account from the account options and re-sync.

Reconnecting & disconnect behavior (updated)

• When you reconnect Google Ads (complete the OAuth flow again), BlueClerk now preserves your previous account selection and other reporting settings if the newly-granted Google access still includes that same Ads customer. This means you won't lose your selected Ads customer, manager account, currency, or tracking start date when you reauthorize—so long as Google grants access to the same Ads customer IDs.
• If the newly-granted access no longer includes the Ads customer you previously selected (for example the user who reauthorized cannot access that child account), BlueClerk will clear the selection to avoid showing invalid spend. In that case you'll be prompted to select an available Ads customer again in the integration UI.
• Disconnecting Google Ads removes the stored credential (the refresh token) but intentionally preserves reporting preferences and historical account data. An empty refresh token explicitly represents a disconnected integration; your prior spend history, selected customer (if still valid), and other reporting settings are not deleted automatically so you can reconnect without losing report configuration.
• If a reconnect fails or Google does not return an offline refresh token during authorization, BlueClerk will surface an error and will not overwrite your existing refresh token unless a new one is provided.

Historical spend & tracking start date (new)

• The Marketing ROI report now detects when your selected report dates include activity from before your Google Ads tracking started (the "tracking start date" recorded in the integration settings).
• If your chosen date range includes pre-tracking activity, the report will include historical ad spend for those older dates but will show a prominent banner: "Historical spend — attribution incomplete". This informs you that older leads, clicks, or payments may not have been captured or attributed because tracking was enabled later.
• You can view the exact tracking start date in the integration status or on the Marketing ROI page. If you have admin access, you can set the tracking start date (to indicate when you started reliably tracking clicks/leads) to help the report indicate which days are fully tracked vs historical.
• When historical spend is included, some attribution metrics (like return from linked records) may be unavailable or incomplete — the banner and report notes explain why.

Syncing & troubleshooting

• Use the "Sync Google Ads" button on the Marketing ROI page to trigger an immediate data refresh. The background cron also syncs recent metrics daily.
• If a sync fails for a company, BlueClerk records a short lastError message on the integration status. Reconnect or reauthorize as needed — see the reconnect behavior above to understand whether your prior selection will be preserved.
• If you disconnect intentionally, the stored refresh token is cleared (set to empty) and the integration is considered disconnected. Historical metric rows already imported remain in your account for reporting and auditing.

How to use Google Ads ROI

1. Connect Google Ads from Settings → Integrations and authorize with a Google account that has access to your Ads manager or customer.
2. Select the Ads customer (account) you want BlueClerk to import spend for.
3. On the Marketing ROI page pick a date range and review summary cards and the campaign-level table.
4. If you need the freshest data, click Sync Google Ads to run an immediate import and attribution pass.
5. If the selected range includes dates before your trackingStartDate, read the banner explaining historical spend and consider adjusting the tracking start date if appropriate.

Tips

• Reconnect with the same Google user that originally granted access when possible to avoid losing account access to a previously selected Ads customer.
• If you change which Ads customer is selected, re-run a sync so historical rows are scoped correctly to the chosen account.
• The tracking start date is used to identify which reporting days are fully tracked versus historical; set it to the date you enabled reliable click/lead tracking.

Questions

Q: I reconnected Google Ads but my previously selected Ads customer disappeared — what happened?
A: BlueClerk preserves your prior customer selection only if the new OAuth grant still provides access to that Ads customer. If the newly-authorized Google account cannot access that child Ads customer, BlueClerk clears the selection to avoid showing invalid data. Reauthorize with a Google user who has access to the desired Ads customer or select an available customer from the account options.

Q: If I disconnect Google Ads, will my historical spend be deleted?
A: No — disconnecting clears the stored credential (refresh token) but preserves previously imported metric rows and most reporting settings. An empty refresh token marks the integration as disconnected so you can reconnect later without losing your historical data or configuration.