Context

When running Google Ads campaigns, capturing the Google Click ID (GCLID) in HubSpot is essential for setting up offline conversion tracking. In some cases, GCLIDs may not be consistently populated on form submissions — even when UTM parameters are present — which breaks the offline conversion upload process.

Answer

The GCLID is sent to HubSpot via the field hs_google_click_id as part of the form submission payload. If this field is missing or inconsistently populated, there are a few things to check:

1. Verify the hidden field exists on your form. Your HubSpot form must include a hidden field mapped to hs_google_click_id. If this field is absent or was removed, GCLIDs will not be captured.

2. Check cookie consent settings. UTM parameters and GCLIDs can be stripped when a user declines cookies. This means that for users who opt out of tracking, neither UTMs nor GCLIDs will be passed through to HubSpot.

3. Review recent form or site changes. If GCLID capture was working previously and then stopped, look for any changes made to the form, website scripts, or tag manager configuration around the time the issue began.

4. Confirm the data is being sent in the payload. You can verify whether the GCLID is being included in the form submission payload by reviewing the data sent to HubSpot. An example of a correctly populated payload looks like this:

   utm_source: adwords
   utm_medium: ppc
   hs_google_click_id: EAIaIQobChMI...

If GCLIDs were missing for a period of time but are now capturing correctly again, a backfill of the missing click IDs may be possible if the data was stored externally. Please reach out to our support team to discuss a backfill process — we'll want to review the affected records carefully before proceeding to avoid any duplicate entries.