Linking Criteo with GA4 and GO! campaigns: what can they do and when do they make sense?

Linking Criteo to GA4: Why and how?

Connecting Criteo to Google Analytics 4 enables:

• View conversions and sales from GA4 directly in Criteo
• Optimize campaigns based on GA4 data
• Get consistent reporting across channels

Thanks to the connection, you no longer need to evaluate campaigns separately in GA4 – you can see all the important data directly in the system and manage campaigns based on it.

How to connect GA4 with Criteo?

1. V nastavení účtu v Criteu zvolíte možnost propojení s GA4.
2. Enter the Google Property ID from your GA4 account.
3. Add Criteo’s email as an access user to GA4.

And you’re done. The connection is a matter of minutes.

How do GO! campaigns work?

• You select a part of the funnel

• You enter the budget
• Select an ad from the Creative Library
• Run campaigns

Campaigns use a combination of feed, pixel and AI prediction data to automatically deliver ads where they have the highest chance of conversion. Targeting, bidding and optimization are completely controlled by the algorithm.
GO! campaigns are therefore ideal for a quick launch without the need for detailed setup. If you have a linked Criteo account with Meta (Facebook + Instagram), we recommend creating a social creative before you launch – this will help both reach and performance (see our article on Meta campaigns in Criteo).

What can and cannot you influence?

GO! campaigns are built for simplicity – and that comes with limits.

Options:

• Funnel phase selection
• Selection of creativity from the library
• Setting a daily budget

Restrictions:

• Nelze upravovat cílení – AI rozhoduje, kde a komu se reklamy zobrazí
• Nelze přidat další kreativy ani vytvořit více sestav – každá kampaň má jen jednu ad group a jednu reklamu
• Remarketingové kampaně mohou cílit mimo hlavní trh – pokud máte například český web, ale návštěvníci jsou i z jiných zemí, kampaně mohou běžet i tam, pokud AI detekuje šanci na konverzi. Akviziční kampaně však cílí na zemi, podle nastavení účtu.

At first glance, this may seem like a major limitation, but from a performance campaign management perspective, it can be an advantage.

With a single creative and ad group, campaign results are not split into multiple reports and it’s easier to read the data. Moreover, this eliminates internal competition and budget fragmentation.

Tips from practice

• When testing GO! campaigns, we recommend that you always choose only one funnel phase. The combination of multiple phases (e.g. consideration + acquisition) can dilute performance.
• If you want to test different goals or strategies, set up multiple separate GO! campaigns.
• Campaigns optimize targeting based on pixel and feed data. If you want to maximize performance, we recommend connecting as many signals as possible – GA4, Meta, quality product feed.

Results from testing GO! campaigns

We tested GO! campaigns across multiple accounts – different segments, different targets. Here are our findings:

What works great:

• No-cap acquisition campaigns – here GO! campaigns managed to outperform all classic alternatives, whether it was lead gen or e-commerce.
• Reach and effectiveness with a brand new audience that wasn’t on remarketing lists or previous interactions.
• In some cases, higher efficiency than standard acquisition campaigns in Criteo or other systems (GA4 showed the best results with the GO! campaign).

What is (so far) lame:

• Remarketing – GO! campaigns often fall short of the performance of traditional remarketing campaigns, mainly due to overly broad targeting outside of core markets.
• Limited control and optimization – for more advanced management and work with specific segments, classic campaigns are more flexible.

Although we saw higher performance on traditional campaigns for most clients, the exception was the GO! no-cap acquisition campaign, which repeatedly outperformed all alternatives – both for the e-commerce and lead generation clients.

Conclusion

Linking GA4 with Criteo brings a new level of campaign management – a data-driven approach without the need to switch between systems. If you want to make decisions based on real data from the web and don’t have the space to monitor multiple dashboards, connecting GA4 is a complete no-brainer.

GO! campaigns are a great tool for simple and fast acquisition with the help of AI. They function as a plug & play solution that can scale the intervention effectively. For remarketing, on the other hand, we recommend sticking with classic campaigns that give you more control and targeting.

With this move, Criteo is opening up another layer of automation and performance marketing – and we’ll continue to follow their progress.