Google Tag Assistant is a free Chrome extension built by Google. It lets you inspect Google tags firing on any page in real time — right in your browser's developer panel. If you work with Google Ads, GA4, or Google Tag Manager, you've almost certainly used it. It's the first tool most marketers reach for when something looks off with their conversion tracking.
ConversionOK takes a different approach. Instead of debugging tags from inside your own browser, it verifies conversion tracking by simulating a real ad-click journey from the outside — clicking through an actual ad, completing a conversion, and confirming that the platform records it correctly.
Both tools help you answer the question "is my tracking working?" — but they answer it from very different angles, and in very different situations.
At a glance
| Google Tag Assistant | ConversionOK | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Browser-based tag inspector — shows which tags fire and what data they send | End-to-end verification — simulates a real ad click and checks the platform actually records the conversion |
| Platforms supported | Google tags only (Google Ads, GA4, GTM, Floodlight) | Google Ads, Meta (Pixel + CAPI), TikTok, GA4 |
| Setup required | Install Chrome extension | Connect your ad accounts; no browser extension needed |
| Consent testing | Manual — you must change consent state yourself and re-check | Tests with consent granted and denied automatically to verify consent mode behavior |
| Value/currency check | Shows the value passed in the tag payload | Confirms the value and currency reach the ad platform's reporting |
| Duplicate detection | Not built in — you inspect individual page loads | Flags duplicate conversion events automatically |
| Pricing | Free | Paid (subscription) |
| Best for | Debugging tag implementation during development | Ongoing verification that conversions are recorded correctly in production |
Where Tag Assistant shines
Tag Assistant deserves its popularity. Here's what it does well:
It's free and instantly available. No signup, no billing, no approval process. Install the extension, open a page, and you're debugging. For teams with zero budget for tooling, that matters.
Real-time, granular debugging. Tag Assistant shows you exactly which tags fired, in what order, with what parameters. If a Google Ads conversion tag is sending the wrong conversion ID or missing a value parameter, you'll see it immediately. For diagnosing why a tag isn't working — a misconfigured trigger in GTM, a script loading out of order, a consent wall blocking execution — it's hard to beat.
Deep integration with Google's ecosystem. Because Google built it, Tag Assistant understands Google tags natively. It can link directly to your GA4 DebugView, show you GTM container details, and surface Google-specific warnings that a generic network inspector wouldn't catch.
If your issue is "my Google Ads tag isn't firing on this page and I need to figure out why," Tag Assistant is the right starting point.
Where ConversionOK fills the gap
Tag Assistant is a debugging tool — it tells you what's happening in your browser, on the page you're looking at, right now. That's powerful for development, but it leaves real gaps in production verification.
It runs from outside your browser — no self-click risk. To test a conversion with Tag Assistant, you typically need to visit your own site through an ad click to get the right URL parameters. That means clicking your own Google ad, which violates Google's policies and risks your account. ConversionOK simulates the ad-click path externally, so your account stays clean and the test reflects what a real visitor experiences.
It verifies what the ad platform actually records, not just what the browser sends. Tag Assistant confirms that a tag fires and sends data. But a tag can fire correctly in the browser and still not result in a recorded conversion — because of server-side filtering, consent mode adjustments, deduplication logic, or network failures between the browser and the platform's servers. ConversionOK checks the other end: did the platform actually count the conversion? That's what matters for your campaign optimization and reporting.
It covers platforms beyond Google. If you run ads on Meta or TikTok alongside Google, Tag Assistant can't help with those. ConversionOK verifies tracking across platforms — including Meta Pixel and Conversions API and TikTok Pixel — from one place. When you're running a conversion tracking verification checklist across your full ad stack, a single tool that covers all of them saves real time.
Who should choose which
Use Tag Assistant when you're actively building or debugging a Google tag implementation. It's the right tool during development, when you need to see exactly what a tag is sending and why it isn't working. It's also the right first step if you suspect a specific tag is misconfigured — you can inspect the problem in real time without waiting for data to propagate.
Use ConversionOK when you need to confirm that your tracking is actually working in production — that conversions from real ad clicks are being recorded by the platforms you're paying. This is especially valuable:
- After launching a new campaign or landing page
- After making changes to your consent management setup
- When Google Ads and GA4 show different conversion counts and you need to know which is right
- When you want to verify tracking across Google, Meta, and TikTok without clicking your own ads
- As a recurring check to catch tracking breakages before they waste budget
For many teams, the answer is both. Tag Assistant for development and troubleshooting; ConversionOK for production verification and ongoing monitoring.
FAQ
Can I use Tag Assistant to verify Meta or TikTok conversion tracking?
No. Tag Assistant only inspects Google tags — Google Ads, GA4, GTM, and Floodlight. For Meta Pixel, Conversions API, or TikTok Pixel verification, you need a different tool. ConversionOK covers all seven platforms (GA4, Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, LINE, LinkedIn & X) from a single dashboard.
Does Tag Assistant show whether Google Ads actually recorded my conversion?
Not exactly. Tag Assistant shows that the conversion tag fired in your browser and what data it sent. But it doesn't confirm that Google Ads received, accepted, and counted the conversion in its reporting. There are several points between "tag fires in browser" and "conversion appears in Google Ads" where things can go wrong — including consent mode filtering, network issues, and server-side deduplication. ConversionOK verifies the end result: whether the conversion actually shows up in the ad platform.
Is it safe to test conversions by clicking my own ads with Tag Assistant open?
Clicking your own Google ads is against Google's policies, regardless of whether Tag Assistant is open. Google's invalid click detection looks at patterns over time, and deliberately clicking your own ads risks your account — even once. ConversionOK avoids this entirely by running the test externally without requiring you to click your own ad.
The bottom line
Google Tag Assistant is an excellent free tool for what it does: real-time, in-browser debugging of Google tags. If you're building a tag implementation or diagnosing a specific firing issue, start there.
But browser-based debugging has inherent limits. It can't tell you what the ad platform actually recorded. It can't test consent scenarios automatically. It can't verify Meta or TikTok tracking. And it requires you to be the one browsing the site — which, for ad-click testing, means risking your account.
ConversionOK picks up where Tag Assistant leaves off: verifying that your conversion tracking works end-to-end, across platforms, in production, without you having to click your own ads. If your question has moved past "is my tag firing?" to "are my conversions actually being counted?" — that's the gap it fills.