Import Google Analytics conversions into Google Ads

Note: The Conversion export and bidding optimization feature was deprecated for all the traffic inside the EEA (European Economic Area) in March 2024. Learn more about Deprecated Universal Analytics features and corresponding Google Analytics 4 features.

When it comes to analyzing customer activity on your website, you can import your Google Analytics conversions into Google Ads and use Google Ads conversion tracking to measure the conversions. You can use any combination of these 2 at the same time. Expand the section below for a quick comparison.

Compare Google Analytics conversions and Google Ads conversion tracking

Google Analytics 4 properties conversion tracking

Ideal if you're interested in measurement and conversions across your app or website. Learn more about Google Analytics 4 properties.
Can include conversions from non-Google Ads sources, so it's recommended for tracking all customer traffic on your website.

Google Ads conversion tracking

Ideal if you're interested only in conversions.
Measure conversions only from Google Ads sources.

Benefits

Importing your Google Analytics conversions into Google Ads offers a few benefits:

Access your Google Analytics conversions and data related to your Google Ads clicks.
See Google Analytics conversion data in Google Ads.
Give Smart Bidding access to data that helps optimize bids, potentially increasing conversions and lowering costs.

Before you begin

To start importing data, you'll need to link your Google Ads account to a Google Analytics account and turn on auto-tagging in your Google Ads account.

Instructions

From your Google Ads account, click the Goals icon .
Click the Conversions drop down in the section menu, then click Summary.
Select + New conversion action.
Select Import and then click Google Analytics (GA4).
Click Continue.
On the next page, select the features that you’d like to import, then click Import and continue.
Click Done.

Google Ads will begin importing the data from your Analytics property. Historical data from before the import won't be included.

Keep in mind

It can take up to 24 hours before conversion data is available in Google Ads. When it is available, your imported conversions data will appear alongside your existing conversion data on the Conversions page, and you'll be able to customize columns on the Campaigns tab to include this data. Reports based on your imported conversions data may include modeled conversions as estimates in cases where Google can’t observe all conversions.

After Analytics data (for example, goals) has been imported to Google Ads, it is subject to the Google Ads terms of service.

Edit conversion settings for imported conversions

After you've imported your Analytics conversions, you can edit them in the same way that you edit conversion actions created in Google Ads.

From your Google Ads account, click the Goals icon .
Click the Conversions drop down in the section menu, then click Summary.
Click the name of the imported conversion that you want to edit.
In the bottom right corner, click Edit Settings.
Make any changes and click the Save button.

Data discrepancies

You might see discrepancies in the conversion statistics between Google Analytics and Google Ads conversion tracking.

Learn how to fix your conversion discrepancies. If you've double-checked that your setup is correct, here are some possible reasons for why you might see this:

Date of transaction

Google Ads reports conversions from the date and time of the click that led to the successful action, not from the date of the successful action itself.

For example, let's say someone saw your ad and clicked it on July 19, but did not make a purchase on your site until the next day, July 20. In Google Ads, the conversion would be attributed to July 19, the day of the click. In Google Analytics, however, the conversion is attributed to July 20, the day the conversion actually occurred.

Counting method

In Google Ads, you can choose to count either all or unique conversions by setting the counting method for each conversion action, including Analytics goals and transactions imported into Google Ads. The "Conversions" column in Google Ads will display conversions that happened within your chosen conversion window, according to your selected counting method.

Example

In your GA4 property, you've defined a goal for filling out a lead form. Someone fills out 2 lead forms (in different sessions) after an ad click, and Analytics shows them as 2 goal completions. You import this goal in Google Ads and set your counting method to "Unique," so you only see one conversion.

Invalid clicks

Some goals or conversion events that are reported in Analytics might be filtered out when they're imported into your Google Ads account because of our invalid clicks technology, which doesn't record what seems like suspicious or invalid click activity.

Cookie expiration dates

Google Ads cookies expire 90 days after a customer's click, while Analytics uses a cookie that lasts for up to 2 years. Google Ads conversions can have a conversion window between 1 and 90 days. That means if a customer completed a conversion after the specified conversion window, the conversion wouldn't be recorded in Google Ads but it would still be recorded in Analytics if it occurred within 2 years of the click date.

Imported Analytics conversion delays

Analytics conversions data is imported into conversion tracking up to 9 hours after the conversions have occurred.

GA4 Event or Property name changes in GA4 properties

If you change the name of a GA4 event or property containing your imported Analytics goals, these new names will be reflected in Google Ads after the goal was completed by a customer. The changes can take up to 24 hours to be reflected in your Google Ads account.

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