Primary and secondary conversion actions
primary conversion / secondary conversion / observation only / ExcludeFromBidding
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.
This is the setting that decides what every conversion number you are shown actually contains, and most people never see it. Google defines primary actions as the ones reported in the Conversions column and used for bidding, as long as the standard goal they belong to is being used for bidding. Secondary actions it describes as observation only: reported in the All conversions column, but not used for bidding, even when the goal they sit in is.
There is one exception and it matters, because it reverses the rule. Google says a secondary action that is part of a custom goal is used for bidding after all. Its own page on campaign goals puts it plainly: every conversion action inside a custom goal is used for reporting and bidding regardless of whether it is marked primary or secondary. So the label on the action is not the final word. Where it sits is.
Google adds one more qualification worth knowing. Primary conversion actions that are not used for optimization may still be used to enhance predictions. Not counted toward bidding, not entirely ignored either.
Microsoft built the same thing and called it something else. Rather than primary and secondary, each conversion goal carries an ExcludeFromBidding property. Data is excluded from the Conversions report column for any goal with that property set to true, and the All conversions column includes every goal regardless of the setting. One architecture, two vocabularies, which is why a comparison across platforms usually needs translating before it means anything.
In practice
An account shows 40 in Conversions and 180 in All conversions, and everyone assumes tracking is broken. Nothing is broken. One hundred and forty of those are being watched rather than optimized toward. The useful question is not why the numbers differ, it is whether the right forty are in the smaller column.
Not the same as
- The All conversions column
- That reports everything recorded. The Conversions column reports what the account is being steered by.
- Turning tracking off
- A secondary action is still tracked and still reported. It just does not influence bidding.
Why it matters to you
Whatever is marked primary is what the bidding optimises toward, so this setting quietly directs where budget goes. Mark a newsletter signup primary alongside a sale and the system will happily buy more of the cheaper one. It is also the setting underneath any cost per acquisition figure, because that number divides by whatever the Conversions column contains. Change this and the reported cost moves without anything changing in the business.
What to ask or check
- 01Which actions are primary right now, and when was that last changed?
- 02Are any secondary actions sitting inside a custom goal, which makes them count for bidding anyway?
- 03Is the number quoted to us from Conversions or from All conversions?
What people get wrong
That secondary means less important. Google defines it as observation only, and the exception runs the other way: a secondary action inside a custom goal is used for bidding regardless of the label.
Red flags
- A report quoting the All conversions figure while calling it conversions.
- A light action such as a newsletter signup marked primary alongside a sale.
- The primary and secondary setting changed mid-period, with month on month comparisons presented as like for like.
Where you will see it
In the Goals section of Google Ads, and in the gap between the Conversions and All conversions columns on any report.