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Tracking and reporting

Conversion value

Google Ads conversion value / static conversion value / dynamic conversion value

In short

Conversion value is the dollar figure a Google Ads account records for each conversion, either one fixed amount per action or a separate amount passed with each sale or lead. Value-based bid strategies such as Target ROAS chase the conversions carrying the highest figures, so those numbers steer where the budget goes.

Google Ads offers two ways to set a conversion value. A static value records the same amount every time an action happens. It is easier to set up, and Google warns it may miss the varying value of each transaction. A dynamic value passes a separate amount with each conversion through the tracking code. If that code is missing, Google uses the default value entered for every conversion.

Static values suit a lead business that tracks several actions, such as phone calls and form sign-ups. Google's example values calls at $5 and sign-ups at $20, which tells the account a sign-up counts four times as much as a call. Its best practices ask for at least 2 unique values across at least 2 different actions, with neither set to zero.

The values then drive bidding. Automated bid strategies use them to set bids, and Maximize conversion value aims for the highest total value within the daily budget. The ratio between a call value and a form value tells the bidding which lead to pursue, whether or not that ratio matches what the leads earn.

Conversion value rules adjust values without changing the tracking code. A rule can raise values by audience, location or device, for example by 20% for users in New York. Google's own example multiplies all conversions from California by 2. Adjusted values appear in the conversion value column and feed Smart Bidding in real time. Google notes that Smart Bidding already uses location and device signals, and some rule conditions may be unavailable to advertisers in housing, employment or credit.

In practice

A roofing company runs Maximize conversion value. At setup, form fills were valued at $100 and calls at $10, so the bidding treats a form as ten times a call. The company's records show 1 in 4 calls becomes a job, against 1 in 20 forms, and jobs average $5,000. That puts a call near $1,250 and a form near $250, so calls deserve five times the value of forms. The figures are a worked example.

Not the same as

Return on ad spend
Return on ad spend divides conversion value by ad cost. Conversion value is the figure on top of that division, recorded for each conversion before any return can be reported.

Why it matters to you

A number typed into a settings screen becomes the goal the bidding pursues and the top half of the return on ad spend in reports. Google suggests bidding on a single stage of the lead-to-sale funnel with a short conversion delay and at least 15 monthly conversions. It also suggests enhanced conversions for leads to share offline conversion data, such as which leads later became sales.

What to ask or check

  1. 01What value does each of your conversion actions carry, and who chose those numbers?
  2. 02Are the call and form values based on the business's own close rates and job sizes?
  3. 03Does any conversion value rule change values by audience, location or device, and why?
  4. 04Which funnel stage does your bidding optimize to, and does it reach at least 15 conversions a month?

What people get wrong

That Google measures conversion value from real sales. Google records the figure the account supplies, and when no dynamic value is passed by the tracking code, it uses the default value entered for every conversion.

Red flags

  • Every conversion action set to the same value, or any action valued at zero.
  • Call and form values that nobody at the business can explain or trace to sales records.

Keep reading

Return on ad spend

Return on ad spend compares what the advertising produced against what it cost. Google reports it as conversion value divided by cost and shows a percentage. Microsoft divides revenue by spend and shows a ratio. Neither is net of your own costs, so it is not profit.

Smart Bidding

Smart Bidding sets a bid for every individual auction rather than per keyword. Google calls this auction-time bidding and says some of its signals are exclusive to it. Microsoft is blunt about the trade: with auto-bidding you can only set a bid at campaign level, and the model computes the rest.

Conversion

A conversion is an action you told the ad platform to count as a result, like a form or a call. The number is not a headcount. Google's One conversion setting counts one per ad click, not per person, and Microsoft calls the same two settings All and Unique.

Primary and secondary conversion actions

Primary and secondary conversion actions decide which conversions count where. Google reports primary actions in the Conversions column and uses them for bidding, while secondary actions are observation only and appear in All conversions. Microsoft draws the same line with a property called ExcludeFromBidding.

Offline conversion import

An offline conversion import tells the ad platform that a click became a sale somewhere it could not see. You store the click ID with the lead and hand it back when the deal closes. Microsoft states that anything uploaded more than 90 days after the click is not imported.

Phone call conversion

A phone call conversion is a call that Google Ads counts as a conversion, usually one that lasts at least a minimum length the advertiser sets. Two of Google's five tracking methods count taps or estimates instead of calls, so a report can show call conversions for calls that never happened.

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