[GA4] Import conversions into Google Ads

Once you've set up conversions in Google Analytics, you can import the conversions into Google Ads and use them for reporting and bidding.

Benefits

Importing your conversions to Google Ads offers a few benefits:

• Access your Analytics conversions and data related to your Google Ads clicks
• See Analytics conversion data in Google Ads
• Give Google Ads Smart Bidding access to data that helps optimize bids

Before you begin

To import your Analytics conversions into Google Ads, you must:

• Link Analytics and Google Ads
• Enable auto-tagging in your Google Ads account

Note: If you use a Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 property on the same website, avoid duplicate conversions by either removing your existing UA conversions or marking them as "secondary" conversions in Google Ads before importing GA4 conversions. Learn how to migrate UA goals

Import conversions

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. In the top right, click Tools and Settings .
3. Go to Measurement > Conversions.
4. In the top left, click + New conversion action.
5. Click Import, select Google Analytics 4 properties, then click Continue.
6. Select each conversion event you want to import, then click Import and continue.
7. Click Done.

Migrate conversions to Google Analytics 4

As of October 3, 2022, if you recently imported Google Analytics 4 conversion actions, and Google Ads detects that you already have a Universal Analytics conversion action in your account, the GA4 conversion actions will be set as "secondary" conversion actions by default.

Google Analytics 4 conversion actions are set to "secondary" conversion actions to prevent counting the same event twice for bidding. You must set the Google Analytics 4 conversion action as your "primary" source before Universal Analytics goes away. However, you can decide yourself when you move away from Universal Analytics goals or ecommerce transactions.

Set as "primary" conversions in Google Ads

To start bidding on your GA4 conversions, you need to change them to "primary" as follows:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. In the top right of Google Ads, click Tools and Settings .
3. Go to Measurement > Conversions.
4. Find the goal that includes the conversion action you'd like to edit.
5. Click Edit goal.
6. Next to the conversion action that you'd like to update, click the drop-down.
7. Select Primary action.
8. Click Save changes.

Results

If you've never imported Universal Analytics goals, then the default setting for your imported Google Analytics 4 conversions is "primary", and you don't need to take further action to start bidding.

Google Ads imports the data from Analytics starting from the day you click Import. Historical data from before this date is not added in Google Ads.

Google Ads uses your chosen conversion window(s) (7-90 days, default: 30 days) to determine which conversion events to import from Analytics. For example, if you use the 30-day default window for a conversion event named Registrations, Google Ads only imports conversions that occurred within 30 days of the click.

Frequently asked questions

How are conversion credits imported to Google Ads from Google Analytics 4?

Web conversions: Google Ads imports Google Analytics 4 web conversions on a paid and organic scope, using the attribution model selected for that conversion in Google Ads.

When conversions are imported on a paid and organic scope, fractional credits may be imported for non-last click attribution models. For example, if data-driven attribution is selected for a conversion action in Google Ads, then the conversions imported will be fractional, data-driven attribution credits from Google Analytics 4.

App conversions: When app conversions are imported from Google Analytics 4 to Google Ads, they are imported on an Google paid channels last click basis. Learn more about importing app conversions to Google Ads

Why don't I see view-through conversions or cross-device conversions in Google Ads?

To see cross-device conversions in Google Ads, you need to turn on Google signals for your Google Analytics 4 property. Learn more

You won't see view-through conversions if you are importing conversions from Analytics because native Google Ads conversion tracking is required for this feature.

Why is my imported conversion data in Google Ads different from the data in Analytics?

You may be trying to compare conversions from ALL traffic sources, rather than those from google/cpc. Additionally, the Analytics Conversions metric is calculated differently from the conversion tracking metrics in Google Ads.

If you see data for this metric in your Analytics account that differs from your conversion metrics in your Google Ads account, it doesn't necessarily mean that your measurement implementation is wrong; it could simply be a result of the different measurement methods. Learn more about why you may see some discrepancies.

Why did Google Ads mark my Analytics conversions as "secondary" conversion actions?

Google Ads marks an Analytics conversion as "secondary" when your Ads account already has goals from a Universal Analytics property. Google Analytics 4 conversion actions are set to "secondary" conversion actions to prevent counting the same event twice for bidding.

What's next

To learn more about how Google Ads conversion tracking works with Analytics and why you may see some discrepancies in the conversion statistics between Google Ads conversion tracking and Analytics, visit the Google Ads help center.