ReferenceTracking error
Unverified
Unverified means Google has not confirmed that the conversion tag works on the site. Tag inactive gets the same steps. Open Tag Assistant, connect it to the site, complete a real conversion on the live page, then close it and refresh the conversions page. Verified actions update in the account after about 30 minutes.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- The tracking status column of the conversion actions table.
- What stops
- Nothing stops. The count may be missing conversions the tag never reported.
- How serious
- No policy risk. The cost is decisions made on a count that may be wrong.
- How long
- Google says verified actions appear in the account after about 30 minutes.
What it means
Google's page lists Unverified with Tag inactive and Needs attention as the statuses to troubleshoot with Tag Assistant. Unverified means the action has not yet been confirmed on the website, so the tag's firing is not confirmed at all.
Tag inactive sits in the same group and gets the same steps. The page does not separate the two, so treat them as one check: does the tag fire on the live site when someone completes the conversion?
What actually triggers it
The tag is not on the page where the conversion happens
A conversion tag placed on the wrong page, or a thank-you page that was never set up, will never verify. Google's troubleshooting section says to confirm the tag is on every page, including new domains and thank-you pages.
A Tag Manager change that was never published
Not on Google's help page
Edits in a Tag Manager workspace do nothing on the live site until a version is published. The tag can look right in the workspace and still be absent from what visitors run.
A form the tag cannot hear
A booking widget or form served from another domain can keep the tag from catching the submission. Google's lead form guidance asks for the tag to capture submissions on the website's forms.
Fix it in this order
- Identify the conversion's page or event: the thank-you page address, or the form submission.
- Open Tag Assistant from the conversion action and connect it to the website, as the page's steps describe.
- Trigger the conversion on the live site: submit the real form or make a real booking while Tag Assistant is connected.
- Close Tag Assistant and refresh the conversions page. If the status has not changed, check the tag and its trigger on the page where the conversion starts.
- If the tag lives in Tag Manager, publish the container with the fix, then repeat the test.
Once the page receives conversions, the status changes to Recording, per Google's page. A verified action with no conversions in the period shows No recent conversions instead, which is a traffic or timing question, not a tag one.
Often confused with
No recent conversions
A verified action with no conversions in the period. The tag is confirmed, so the question is traffic or timing rather than the tag.
Needs attention
The action is recording and has items to fix. Unverified means the action has not been confirmed on the site at all.