BoothBook sends tracking events to Google Tag Manager (GTM) automatically when customers use your booking forms, sign contracts and make payments. You can use these events to record Google Ads and GA4 conversions. You don’t need a separate thank-you page.

This guide covers:

  1. Connecting Google Tag Manager to BoothBook

  2. The events BoothBook sends

  3. Setting up a Google Ads conversion in GTM

  4. Setting up cross-domain tracking (important)

  5. Testing and troubleshooting

1. Connect Google Tag Manager to BoothBook

  1. In BoothBook, go to Settings > Connected Accounts > Analytics.

  2. Select Google Tag Manager and enter your container ID (for example GTM-XXXXXXX).

  3. Save.

Your GTM container then loads automatically on your customer-facing BoothBook pages: booking forms (hosted and embedded), checkout and payment pages, contracts and the client portal. It does not load in your BoothBook admin area.

Tip: Even if GTM is already installed on your own website, you still need to add it in BoothBook. Your booking pages run on a separate domain (a BoothBook domain, or your own connected custom domain), so your website’s GTM code doesn’t reach them.

2. The events BoothBook sends

BoothBook pushes the following events to the GTM data layer. The names start with bb_.

Event name: bb_form_submitted
When it fires: A customer successfully submits a booking or enquiry form (after BoothBook has saved it)
Data included: form_id, quote_total, currency

Event name: bb_contract_signed
When it fires: A customer successfully signs a contract
Data included: booking_id

Event name: bb_payment
When it fires: A customer completes a payment at checkout
Data included: value, currency, transaction_id

Event name: conversion
When it fires: A customer completes checkout
Data included: value, currency, transaction_id

Notes:

  • Each event fires once per booking or payment, so refreshing the page won’t count it again.

  • bb_payment only fires when money is actually collected. It doesn’t fire for “pay later” bookings.

Which event should I use?

  • To count every new booking or enquiry, use bb_form_submitted.

  • To count only paid bookings, use bb_payment. Its value is the amount paid, so you can report revenue in Google Ads.

3. Set up a Google Ads conversion in GTM

Step 1: Create the trigger

  1. In GTM, go to Triggers > New.

  2. Choose Custom Event.

  3. Set Event name to bb_form_submitted (or bb_payment, see above).

  4. Leave This trigger fires on set to All Custom Events.

  5. Name it, for example “BoothBook - Booking Submitted”, and save.

Step 2 (optional): Pass the booking value

  1. Go to Variables > User-Defined Variables > New > Data Layer Variable.

  2. Set Data Layer Variable Name to quote_total (for bb_form_submitted) or value (for bb_payment).

  3. Create another Data Layer Variable for currency.

Step 3: Create the Google Ads conversion tag

  1. Go to Tags > New > Google Ads Conversion Tracking.

  2. Enter the Conversion ID and Conversion Label from your Google Ads conversion action.

  3. Optional: set Conversion Value and Currency Code to the variables from Step 2.

  4. Under Triggering, choose the trigger from Step 1.

  5. Save.

Step 4: Make sure you have a Conversion Linker

Add a Conversion Linker tag that fires on All Pages, if you don’t have one already. It keeps the Google Ads click information so the conversion can be linked back to your ad.

Common mistake: Don’t set up a booking conversion tag on a Page View trigger that waits for a “thank you” or “confirmation” URL. BoothBook confirms bookings on the same page without loading a new one, so a Page View trigger won’t fire. Use the custom event trigger instead.

Using GA4 instead

If you track conversions in GA4 and import them into Google Ads:

  1. Create a Google Analytics: GA4 Event tag on the same trigger, and use your GA4 measurement ID.

  2. In GA4, mark the event as a key event.

  3. In Google Ads, import it under Goals > Conversions.

If you use both the GA4 import and a direct Google Ads conversion tag for the same action, set one as Primary and the other as Secondary in Google Ads. Otherwise each booking is counted twice.

4. Set up cross-domain tracking (important)

This is the most common reason Google Ads shows fewer conversions than GA4.

Customers usually click your ad, land on your website (for example yourbusiness.co.uk), then move to your BoothBook booking form. Depending on your setup, that form may be on a BoothBook domain or on your own connected custom domain or subdomain (for example book.yourbusiness.co.uk), and conversions can fire on either. If GA4 doesn’t know the two domains belong together, the session restarts when they switch. The Google Ads click is lost, and the booking can’t be linked back to your ad.

To fix this:

  1. In GA4, go to Admin > Data streams and select your web stream.

  2. Click Configure tag settings > Configure your domains.

  3. Add every domain and subdomain your customers pass through:

    • your main website domain (for example yourbusiness.co.uk)

    • any subdomains you use (for example www. or book.yourbusiness.co.uk)

    • any custom domain you’ve connected to BoothBook

    • the BoothBook domain(s) your forms, checkout and portal use (check the address bar on each page)

    If in doubt, add it. Missing any one domain can break attribution for conversions that fire there.

  4. Save.

To check it’s working: go to your website, then click through to your booking form. The booking form URL should now include a _gl= parameter.

Good to know: Google Ads only counts conversions it can link to an ad click. Bookings that came from organic search, direct visits or social media will show in GA4 but not in Google Ads, so the two numbers won’t match exactly, even when everything is set up correctly.

5. Test and troubleshoot

Test your setup

  1. In GTM, click Preview and enter your website URL.

  2. Click through to your BoothBook booking form and submit a test booking.

  3. In the Tag Assistant panel, check that:

    • the bb_form_submitted event appears, and

    • your Google Ads conversion tag shows under Tags Fired.

  4. Once it’s working, click Submit in GTM to publish your container.

Conversions still not showing?

Problem: No bb_ events in GTM Preview
What to check: Make sure your GTM container ID is saved in BoothBook under Settings > Connected Accounts > Analytics, not just on your website.

Problem: Event fires but the Google Ads tag doesn’t
What to check: Make sure the tag uses the Custom Event trigger, not a Page View trigger.

Problem: GA4 shows conversions but Google Ads shows few or none
What to check: Set up cross-domain tracking (section 4), and check you have a Conversion Linker tag.

Problem: Bookings counted twice
What to check: Check that GA4-imported and direct Google Ads conversions aren’t both set to Primary, and that no Custom HTML tag in your container is pushing the same event again.

Problem: Just made changes
What to check: Google Ads can take 24 to 48 hours (sometimes longer for GA4 imports) to show new conversions.

Still stuck? Contact our support team with your GTM container ID and a screenshot of your Tags list, and we’ll take a look.