Connecting Google Ads

Connecting Google Ads requires Starter or higher. Free-tier stores see organic + pixel attribution but no paid-ad spend or performance. If your store moves to a plan without Google Ads while it’s connected, the connection keeps syncing so your Google Ads reports are complete again the moment you upgrade; disconnect it (see Disconnecting below) to stop syncing.

Google Ads is how you pull Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, Demand Gen, and Performance Max campaign spend + performance into Ordinary alongside your other paid channels.

Before you start

• You’re on Starter or higher.
• The Google account you’ll sign in with has access to the Google Ads account you want to connect. (If you have several Google accounts, use the one with access.)

Step 1 — start the OAuth flow

1. Open Settings → Google.
2. On the Google Ads card, click Connect with Google Ads.
3. You’ll be redirected to Google to sign in and approve.

Ordinary uses this access read-only, for reporting. It never creates, edits, pauses or deletes anything in your Google Ads account: no ads, campaigns, budgets, bids, targeting, conversions, audiences or billing. The connected card shows Access scope: Read-only.

Step 2 — pick an account

After approving, you’ll see a list of every Google Ads account your Google user can reach. Select the one that runs ads for your Shopify store and click Confirm and connect.

If your account is under a manager (MCC) account, the list groups accounts under their manager — pick the account that owns the campaigns you want reported on.

Step 3 — wait for first sync

Ordinary immediately starts the first sync, covering the last 365 days:

• Campaigns and ads — daily spend and performance.
• Breakdowns by network, device, and geographic location, plus conversion actions.
• Performance Max detail — asset groups, search categories, placements and products.
• Ad content — headlines, descriptions, images and videos.
• Campaign settings — current budget, status and bid strategy.

You can keep using the app while it runs. Settings → Sync Status shows progress, and reports start filling in within a few minutes.

After it’s connected

• Channels → Google Ads — see spend, revenue, ROAS, conversions, CTR and clicks per campaign, with ads and breakdowns inside each campaign. Conversion figures count purchase conversion actions only — micro-conversion goals (page views, add-to-cart) appear under conversion actions in a campaign’s Breakdowns tab instead of inflating the headline. See Channels — Google ads.
• Marketing Mix — Google Ads spend sits alongside Meta, Amazon Ads, and organic channels.
• Storefront-attributed orders — orders that arrive at your storefront with a Google click identifier (gclid) are joined to your Google Ads campaigns so you can compare what Google reports against what your store actually recorded.

Refresh cadence

• Every hour, Ordinary re-pulls the last 7 days, so today’s numbers stay current and Google’s late conversion adjustments land.
• Daily, campaign settings, ad content and breakdowns refresh.

There’s no manual refresh button; syncs run on their own. Settings → Sync Status shows when Google Ads last synced.

Switching to a different Google Ads account

On Settings → Google, click Change account on the connected card and pick the new account. When the newly picked account differs from the one your existing data came from, Ordinary removes the previous account’s imported ad data and re-imports history from the new account — the two accounts’ numbers are never blended in reports. Reconnecting the same account (for example after a “Reconnect required” prompt) keeps all existing data.

Disconnecting

Settings → Google → Disconnect on the Google Ads card, then confirm.

This stops future syncs and removes the stored connection. If Google Ads is your only connected Google integration, Ordinary’s sign-in access at Google is revoked too. If other Google integrations (Analytics, Search Console, Sheets) are still connected, they share one Google sign-in, so that sign-in stays active for them until the last one is disconnected — you can fully remove Ordinary’s access at any time from myaccount.google.com/connections. Previously imported ad data stays in the app, so your past reports remain visible.

To have the imported Google Ads data removed entirely, contact support. Connecting a different Google Ads account also removes it automatically (see “Switching to a different Google Ads account” above).

Troubleshooting

• “Reconnect required” — Google revoked Ordinary’s access and syncing is paused. Click Reconnect Google Ads.
• Account missing from picker — your Google user doesn’t have access to that account, or it’s under a manager account you can’t see. Ask the account owner to grant your Google user access in Google Ads.
• Zero spend for yesterday — usually a sync timing issue. Google sometimes finalizes a day’s reporting a few hours after it ends. The next hourly sync picks it up.
• Numbers don’t match Google Ads UI — expected. See Channels — Google ads § Why Google’s numbers don’t match.

Related articles

• Channels — Google ads
• Attribution models explained
• Multi-touch vs. single-touch attribution