Search campaign performance fluctuations: Conversion tracking setup & conversion delay

When using conversion-based bidding, such as Smart Bidding or automated bidding, sudden drops or increase in conversions or conversion value may result in performance fluctuations as Google Ads optimizes towards your set conversion action.

If you’re looking at conversion-related metrics like cost/conversion over recent date ranges, be sure to consider conversion lag (also known as "conversion delay").

Example

If you’re comparing performance to a previous period, your most recent performance might not look as strong because some of the people who clicked your ad haven’t converted yet as conversions can be reported up to 90 days after the click. Since you're missing these conversions that may be reported at a later date, but your spend is fully reported, it may appear that you have fewer conversions, a higher cost per conversion.

What you can do

If there are unexpected increases or decreases in conversion, check your conversion tracking setup using the conversion tracking status troubleshooter.

If available, use Explanations to understand if conversion delay is a root cause in scenarios where it detects a high degree of lag based on historical conversion data given the selected date range.

Use the conversion lag report to understand conversion delay information on key metrics, such as cost-per-acquisition (CPA) or return-on-ad-spend (ROAS). These are used to predict how actual CPA or ROAS values may change once adjusted for conversion lag.

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Need something else?

Check other common reasons why your campaign performance is fluctuating.