Google Tools 101: Starting Guide

Quick Links

Before You Get Started
How to Onboard
Where to Find Google in BuyerBridge
Where to Find the Google Dashboard
- Breaking Down the Google Dashboard
Breaking Down the Vehicle Advertising Report (Automotive-View Only)
- How to Use the “Influenced” Sales Toggle
- How BuyerBridge Measure "Influenced" Sales
How to Find Google in Campaign Management
- How to Send Google Ad Previews
How to Find Reporting and Available Reports

🚧 Before You Get Started

➡️ Before you connect Google to BuyerBridge, make sure you have one master Google login that has access to the client’s:

Google Ads account
GA4 (Google Analytics) property
Google Search Console property

‼️ Tip: Double-check you’re connecting the correct client/property. Most “missing data” issues come from selecting the wrong GA4 or Search Console setup.

How to Onboard (VLAs at this time)

To unlock VIN-level reporting and campaign management for your Google Vehicle Listing Ads, or VLAs, you’ll need to complete a one-time onboarding process for each client.

How it works:
You’ll connect your client’s Google Ads account (and, if needed, their Google Merchant Center) inside BuyerBridge. This setup ensures data flows cleanly, ads deliver correctly, and you get access to all available reporting and optimization features.

Ready to get started?
Follow our step-by-step onboarding guide to 👉 How to Onboard Google VLAs in BuyerBridge (Step-by-Step Setup)

Once your Google VLA onboarding is complete, you’ll see inventory, performance, and influenced sales data appear in your BuyerBridge dashboard.

Where to Find Google in BuyerBridge

To access Google tools in BuyerBridge:

Log in to BuyerBridge
In the left navigation, go to Channels
Expand the Google section

Where to Find The Google Dashboard (Your Home Base)

To access Google tools in BuyerBridge:

In the left navigation, go to Channels
Click Google
Choose the Dashboard

Breaking Down The Google Dashboard

The Google Dashboard in BuyerBridge gives you a real-time view of performance across your connected Google properties so you can spot changes fast, explain results clearly, and take action without bouncing between platforms.

🔋 Reporting insights are powered by your integrations with Google Ads, GA4 (Google Analytics), and Google Search Console.

Google Metric Funnel – A full-funnel snapshot of impressions, clicks, leads, and cost metrics in one view.
Performance Trend by Metric – Track one KPI at a time (like leads) and see how it moves over your selected date range.
Period Comparisons – Quick benchmark tiles for Previous Period, Last Month, and 90-Day Average so you can answer “what changed?” instantly.
Google Ads Overview KPIs – At-a-glance totals for spend, CPM, clicks, CPC, leads, and CPL—perfect for quick updates.
Compare Google Metrics – Side-by-side charts (like clicks vs spend) to spot relationships, pacing issues, and performance shifts faster.

🔗 For a detailed walkthrough, see Google Dashboard Overview in BuyerBridge

Breaking Down the Vehicle Advertising Report

The Vehicle Advertising report gives you a vehicle-by-vehicle view of performance, so you can quickly see what inventory is getting attention (and what’s not).

Vehicle Advertising Summary – Quick totals at the top, including Avg Cost per VDP View, Total VDP Views, Total Leads, Total Spend, Daily VDP View Range, and Avg Impressions.
Make / Model Stats – Fast links to see top-performing models by impressions, VDP views, and leads (great for quick “what’s working?” checks).
Inventory Details Table – A full list of vehicles with performance metrics like Spend, Impressions, Clicks, CPC, CTR, Leads, and CPA—so you can spot winners and underperformers fast.
Days in Lot + Days in BuyerBridge – Helpful context columns so you can see how long a unit has been sitting and how long it’s been tracked.
Status Tracking (like SOLD) – Vehicle status is visible in the table, making it easier to review performance with real inventory outcomes in mind.

How to Use the “Influenced” Toggle in the Google Vehicle Advertising Report

The Influenced toggle in BuyerBridge makes it easy to prove your ads are driving real results, not just leads or clicks. Here’s how to use it, and what’s happening behind the scenes:

How to Toggle “Influenced” On and Off

Go to the Vehicle Advertising report in BuyerBridge.
Find the Influenced toggle at the top of the report.
Switch it ON to highlight vehicles where your Google ads influenced a sale.
Switch it OFF to view standard performance for all inventory.

How BuyerBridge Measures “Influenced” Sales

A sale is considered influenced if:

The vehicle (VIN) had Google ad spend,
It received at least one click engagement,
And it was later marked as sold.

If all three are true, BuyerBridge credits your Google ads with influencing that sale.

This is especially useful for dealers who don’t upload full “sold” reports, and as platforms like Facebook make offline attribution more challenging.

Why this matters:
The Influenced feature shows clients the true impact of your ads—even if you don’t have full matchback data from the dealership.

Pro tip: Use the Influenced view in client meetings to quickly spotlight which vehicles were moved with help from your campaigns.

🔗 For a detailed walkthrough, see the Google Vehicle Advertising Report

How to Locate Google Campaign Management

Campaign Management is your “single screen” view for checking Google performance (and comparing it to other channels) without tab switching.

Compare Google to other channels side-by-side so you can spot changes faster
Scan key Google KPIs quickly like spend, clicks, CPC, leads, and totals
Catch Google pacing issues early when performance dips or budget shifts

💡 Tip: Use Google Campaign Management as your weekly “health check” before building Google reports or hopping on client calls.

🔗 For a detailed walkthrough, see Unpacking Google Campaign Management.

Google Ad Previews in Campaign Management

BuyerBridge lets you generate a Secure Preview URL from Google Campaign Management so clients can review ads in a clean view.

Create one shareable Google Ads preview link for client review
Reduce “which Google ad is this?” confusion and email back-and-forth
Speed up approvals so Google campaigns can launch sooner

🔗 For a detailed walkthrough, see How to Generate Ad Previews in BuyerBridge.

How to Find Reporting in BuyerBridge

Google reporting in BuyerBridge is designed to be fast and repeatable so you’re not rebuilding the same report every week.

Available Google Reports in BuyerBridge

Pre-Built Google Reports:
Quickly access ready-made Google advertising reports for instant, consistent performance updates across all accounts.
Custom Google Reports:
Build reports with specific KPIs and time frames when clients or campaigns require more granular insights.
Google Budgeting Tool:
Monitor and manage Google Ads budgets at scale. Track spend by account, set monthly goals, review projected spend, and adjust daily budgets with just a few clicks. Suggested daily budget and daily adjustment columns help teams stay on track and prevent overspend.
VIN-Level & Vehicle Advertising Reports (Automotive):
For automotive clients, get inventory-level visibility into performance. See spend, impressions, clicks, leads, and sales broken out by VIN. Use the Influenced Sales toggle to understand which ads contributed directly to a sale.

Where the Data Comes From

Google reporting insights are powered by integrations with:

Google Ads
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google Search Console

Connect these properties in BuyerBridge to unlock robust cross-channel and funnel-level reporting.

💡 Tip: Start with a pre-built report first. Once you know what the client cares about most, customize from there.