Measure app conversions from Google Analytics 4 properties

After you’ve linked your Google Ads account and Google Analytics 4 properties (formerly known as App + Web properties), you can import conversions from your Google Analytics 4 properties (including those collected via the Firebase SDK) to see how your campaigns drive app installs and in-app actions for your Android or iOS apps.

In this article, you’ll learn how to import and set up app conversion events from Google Analytics 4 properties in Google Ads.

For help with web conversions, see Measure web conversions from Google Analytics 4 properties.

Before you begin

Before you can import your app conversions, a variety of different items are required to set up measurement.

If you're using a Google Analytics 4 property

A Google Analytics 4 property: Set up the property in Google Analytics before linking it to Google Ads. You need to have “Edit” permissions in your Google Analytics account before you can set up the property. Learn more about setting up a property in Google Analytics.
An app data stream for a Google Analytics 4 property: An app data stream allows you to measure data from your app. Learn more about adding an app data stream.
Conversion events set up in a Google Analytics 4 property: First opens and in-app purchase events are automatically enabled as conversion events. Learn more about conversion events.

If you're using a Firebase project

A Firebase project: The Google Account you use for Google Ads needs to be an owner on a Firebase project. Learn more about getting started with Firebase.
Firebase SDK installed in your apps: Learn how to use the Firebase SDK with your apps.
Link a Firebase project to Google Ads: You’ll need at least one Firebase project linked to your Google Ads account.
Conversion events set up in Firebase: You can import any event set up as a conversion event in Firebase. First opens, in-app purchase, and ecommerce events are automatically enabled as conversion events. To track other events as conversions, you’ll need to enable these events as conversions in Firebase. You can have a maximum of 15 conversion events per app in Firebase.
An app store ID entered for iOS apps in Firebase: If you haven’t entered the Apple app store ID for your iOS projects, you won’t see conversion events for those projects in Google Ads. To add an app store ID, open Firebase, find your iOS app in the “Overview” screen, and select “Manage” from the 3-dot menu.

If you use cross-account conversion tracking to measure conversions in a manager account, you’ll need to link the Google Analytics 4 property or Firebase project with the manager account and then import the conversions in the manager account.

Instructions

Sign into your Google Ads account.
Click the tools icon in the upper right corner of your account.
Under “Measurement”, click Conversions.
Click the plus button .
Select App from the list of conversion types.

You can also import app conversions by selecting Import from the list of conversion types, then selecting Google Analytics (GA4) > App.
Click the button for Google Analytics (GA4), then click Continue.
Check the box next to an app conversion event, then click Import and continue.
Click Done.

You’ll now see your app conversion event in the "Conversion actions" table. Click on the name of the event to see more details and to edit conversion action settings.

You can also report on app conversions by going to the “Campaigns” table, then clicking the the segment icon

> “Conversion source.” App conversions will appear in the “Firebase” row when you add the “Conversion source” segment.

Settings for first opens

Name: Enter a name for the conversion action you'd like to measure. This will help you recognize this conversion action later in conversion reports.
Value: Enter a value for each install, or select "Don't assign a value" if you'd prefer not to measure one. These values can affect tROAS campaigns. Learn more about conversion values.
Include in "Conversions":
- For App campaigns: All App campaigns ignore this setting and will always use the first open specified for each campaign. You can view this in the settings page of your campaign.
- For web campaigns: Uncheck this setting (selected by default for iOS, not selected by default for Android) if you don’t want to include data for this conversion action in your "Conversions" reporting column (or automated bid strategies that use that column). You can uncheck this setting if you use an automated bid strategy to optimize for conversions, and want to choose which conversion actions to include in that bid strategy. You should only include one conversion action per event per app, to avoid counting duplicate conversions.
- Learn more about "Include in 'Conversions'".

Settings for in-app purchases

Name: Enter a name for the conversion action you'd like to measure. This will help you recognize this conversion action later in conversion reports.
Count: Select whether to count every or one conversion per ad click. Learn more about counting conversions.
Conversion window: Select how long to measure conversions after someone clicks an ad. Learn more about conversion windows.
Include in “Conversions”: Uncheck this setting (selected by default) if you don’t want to include data for this conversion action in your "Conversions" reporting column. You might want to uncheck this setting if you use an automated bid strategy to optimize for conversions, and you don't want to include this particular conversion action in your bid strategy. Learn more about "Include in 'Conversions'".

Automatically measured in-app purchases are measured by default in Google Analytics 4 properties. All other conversion actions can be measured according to your settings, but this requires manual implementation.

Settings for all other conversion actions (including ecommerce events)

Name: Enter a name for the conversion action you'd like to measure. This will help you recognize this conversion action later in conversion reports.
Value: The value of each conversion event is measured in a Google Analytics 4 property and will be automatically imported into Google Ads. You can also set a default value in Google Ads. Keep in mind that you need to send the value as a number to report conversions in Google Ads. Learn more about conversion values.
Count: Select whether to count every or one conversion per ad click. "Every" is best for sales; "One" is best for leads. Learn more about counting conversions.
Conversion window: Select how long to measure conversions after someone clicks an ad. Learn more about conversion windows.
Category: Select the category that best describes your conversion. You can use this category to segment your conversion reports. Note: Hotel campaigns require the "Purchase" category to be used for bidding.
Include in “Conversions”: Uncheck this setting (selected by default) if you don’t want to include data for this conversion action in your "Conversions" reporting column. You might want to uncheck this setting if you use an automated bid strategy to optimize for conversions, and you don't want to include this particular conversion action in your bid strategy. Learn more about "Include in 'Conversions'".

About duplicate conversions

For App campaigns: All App campaigns will ignore the “Include in ‘Conversions’” setting and will always use the first open specified for each campaign. You can view this in the settings page of your campaign. As long as there is only 1 first open selected for an App campaign, the campaign will not count duplicate conversions.
For web campaigns: If you have multiple app conversion actions that appear to be measuring app installs for the same app, then you’ll see a warning in the “Include in ‘Conversions’” setting for your conversion actions. If these are measuring the same version of your app, it’s recommended that you uncheck “Include in ‘Conversions’” for all but one of the conversion actions. That way, Google Ads will only count one conversion per app install in the “Conversions” column. This is especially important if you use an automated bid strategy to optimize for conversions: it will help you avoid bidding for 2 conversions for the same app install.

If the code for the 2 conversion actions is installed in different versions of your app, you don’t need to remove one from the “Conversions” column. If you’re transitioning from using the Google Ads SDK to Firebase, see the note below.

Due to limited visibility, you won’t see conversions reported in Google Ads for iOS Search campaigns.

Transition from the Google Ads SDK to Firebase

If you’re currently using the Google Ads SDK, it’s recommended that you switch to using Firebase, because this is Google's recommended solution for conversion tracking. Here’s how to go about installing the new conversion code:

As we mention above, add the Firebase SDK and remove the Google Ads SDK from a new version of your app. You can include both the Firebase and the Google Ads SDK conversion actions in the “Conversions” column. Your older conversion action will continue to count conversions for the previous version of your app, while the Firebase conversion action will count conversions for the new version of your app.

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