Conversion tracking case study · Chicago Loop
When your ads count the wrong conversions, every decision built on them is wrong too
Fatback is a sandwich shop, butcher counter and market in Chicago's Loop, opened in March 2026 by chef Charlie McKenna and The Fifty/50 Group. Catering is a big part of the plan. To grow it with ads, Fatback needed to know which ads were actually bringing in catering orders. When we looked, the tracking couldn't tell them.
Where they started
The Fifty/50 Group runs several restaurants and bars, and like a lot of hospitality groups, they share one website and one Google Ads account across brands. That setup saves time, but it's easy for tracking to blur between them. Fatback joined that setup when it opened, and it hadn't yet been given a lane of its own.
Our audit found exactly that:
- Fatback's tracking tag wasn't firing. The tag that should have reported Fatback's website activity wasn't active.
- Fatback's own conversions weren't recording. The conversion actions built for Fatback's catering form and online ordering weren't picking anything up.
- The ads were counting conversions anyway. The Search campaign reported conversions and was bidding toward them. With Fatback's own actions recording nothing, those conversions were most likely coming from other brands in the shared account.
So the campaign was optimizing toward leads that weren't Fatback's, and the cost-per-conversion numbers everyone was looking at didn't describe Fatback at all.
None of that is unusual. When a new brand joins a shared website and a shared ad account, nobody is handed the job of giving it its own lane, and the tracking keeps doing what it did before.
What we did
Audited everything that tracks. Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, the Meta Pixel and the Google Ads conversion setup, across the live site.
Rebuilt the plugins and tags on the group's site, so each brand's activity is reported as that brand's, not pooled.
Gave Fatback its own conversions. Catering inquiries and online orders tracked as separate actions, so catering, the goal, can be measured on its own.
Scoped each campaign to its own brand's conversions. Fatback's campaigns now count and bid toward Fatback's results only.
The results
Catering inquiries are now tracked on Fatback's own domain for the first time, arriving in line with Tripleseat's historical rate.
Consent repairs restored first-party measurement, and removing a duplicated data stream showed that a large share of the earlier "traffic" was the same visits being counted more than once.
The clean data also exposed a key event that had been firing again and again for the same visitor from a looping trigger, inflating the conversion count. It has been retired as a bidding signal.
Why it matters
Ads that run on automated bidding learn from whatever you tell them is a conversion. If that's the wrong thing, they get very good at buying the wrong thing. Fixing tracking doesn't sound exciting, but every ad dollar after it is spent on better information.
Not sure your conversions are real? Book a tracking audit ›
Who did the work
5for5 is run by two people who used to work inside the ad platforms: Ken Waks, the first Operations Analyst on Google's Local Services Ads team and a former account executive at Yelp, and Alice Trellakis, a former Account Strategist at Google and Account Manager at Meta. We've seen these accounts from the inside, which is why tracking is the first thing we check. Our clients rate us 5.0 stars on Google.
What we check in every tracking audit:
- Every tag and pixel is installed and firing on every page that matters
- Each conversion action is verified and records real results
- Each campaign counts only its own brand's conversions
- Calls, forms, online orders and catering requests are tracked as separate actions
- Everything is tested again after any website or plugin change
Common questions about conversion tracking
Why isn't my Google Ads conversion tracking working?
The usual causes are a tag that isn't installed or firing, a conversion action that was never verified, a website change or plugin update that broke it, or an ordering or booking system on another domain that the tag can't see.
Why don't my Google Ads conversions match my real orders or leads?
You may be counting the wrong things, counting things twice, or counting another brand's conversions in a shared account. Check which conversion actions each campaign is set to use, not just the account default.
Do I need Google Tag Manager?
Not always, but it makes tracking much easier to manage and check, especially with several tags, ad platforms or brands on one site.
Why isn't my Meta Pixel firing?
Common causes are a pixel that was never installed on every page, a plugin or theme update that removed it, a consent banner blocking it, or events set up on a page your customers never reach.
How do I track catering inquiries and online orders separately?
Create a separate conversion action for each, tied to its own form submission or confirmation page, and pass order values where your ordering system allows it.
How should a restaurant group track conversions across several brands?
Give every brand its own conversion actions, and set each campaign to count only its own brand's conversions. Otherwise automated bidding will happily optimize one restaurant's ads toward another restaurant's leads.
Can a website plugin break my conversion tracking?
Yes. Plugin and theme updates are one of the most common reasons tracking quietly stops. Check your tracking after any website change.
What is a conversion tracking audit?
A check of every tag, pixel and conversion action on your site and ad accounts, to confirm what's recording correctly, what isn't, and what's missing, before you spend another dollar optimizing toward it.
Why are my ads getting clicks but no tracked conversions?
Either people aren't converting, or they are and your tracking isn't seeing it. Test it yourself: submit a form, place a test order, then check whether the conversion shows up. If it doesn't, the problem is tracking, not your ads.
Who can fix my Google Ads and Meta conversion tracking?
Look for someone who will audit what's actually firing before changing your campaigns. 5for5 is run by former Google, Meta and Yelp employees, rebuilt the tracking for Fatback on The Fifty/50 Group's site, and holds a 5.0-star rating on Google. Book a tracking audit.