Primary vs Secondary Conversions in Google Ads

Every conversion action in your account is either primary or secondary, and that single setting decides what your bidding learns from. Understanding primary vs secondary conversions Google Ads helps you avoid a quiet mistake: telling automation to chase the wrong outcome. This guide explains the difference, how each type shows in reports and how to set them.

What Primary and Secondary Mean

Google groups conversion actions into conversion goals. Within a goal, each action is marked as primary or secondary. Google’s help page on primary and secondary conversion actions describes primary actions as the ones you select for bidding optimization and reporting.

Secondary actions are observation only. They are not used directly to optimize bidding, but you still see their results. Most actions can be set either way, though some cannot be changed.

Primary vs Secondary Conversions Google Ads Reports Show

The two types land in different columns, which is where many reporting confusions start.

Conversions column. Counts primary actions only.
All conversions column. Counts primary and secondary actions together.

If your Conversions number looks lower than expected, a secondary action may be the reason. Check the All conversions column before you assume tracking is broken. Our guide to tracking conversions in Google Ads covers how to confirm that each action fires correctly.

How Bidding Uses Each Type

A primary action is used for bidding when its goal is used for bidding. Google also notes that primary actions not used for optimization may still help improve predictions.

A secondary action is never used for bidding, even if its goal is. There is one exception. A secondary action inside a custom goal is used for bidding, because actions in a custom goal count for both reporting and bidding whether they are primary or secondary.

This matters most for Smart Bidding. Strategies such as target CPA or target ROAS learn from the conversions you mark as primary. If a weak action is primary, the system will find more of it. If your real sale is secondary, it will be ignored.

A Hypothetical Example

Imagine a lead generation account with two actions: a newsletter signup and a booked consultation. Both are set to primary. The signup happens far more often, so Smart Bidding learns to find signups. Lead quality falls. Setting the signup to secondary keeps it visible in All conversions while bidding focuses on booked consultations. The numbers here are hypothetical and only show the logic.

Which Actions Should Be Primary

Primary should hold the actions that match real business value. Secondary suits steps that help you understand behaviour but should not steer spend.

Good Candidates for Primary

Completed purchases or paid orders.
Qualified leads, such as a booked call or a submitted quote form.
Phone calls that last long enough to count as a real enquiry.

Good Candidates for Secondary

Page views, scroll depth and video plays.
Add to cart events when purchase is already primary.
Newsletter signups and other early steps.
Google Analytics conversions you want to watch without bidding on.

Google notes that conversions imported from Google Analytics are secondary by default. They can be changed to primary only inside Google Ads, and the option may not be available for every property.

How to Change the Setting

Open the Goals menu in Google Ads and go to Summary under Conversions.
Find the goal and choose Edit goal.
Under conversion action optimization, pick Primary or Secondary (observe only).
Save the change.

Edits made in the Google Analytics interface appear in Google Ads only as entries in the change history, so make the real change in Google Ads.

Common Setup Mistakes

Most problems fall into a short list. Review your account against it once a quarter.

Marking every action as primary because more conversions looks better. This blends high and low value actions into one number.
Leaving a duplicate action in place, such as a purchase counted by both a Google tag and an imported Analytics event.
Forgetting that a secondary action does not feed bidding, then wondering why a campaign ignores it.
Changing settings during a busy sales period without noting the date.

Keep a simple record of what is primary, why and when you last changed it. It makes later troubleshooting far faster.

Protect Your Learning Period

Smart Bidding needs a learning phase after major changes. Google warns that frequent edits to budgets, targets or conversion goals during that time can reset learning and delay results. Change your primary actions once, with a plan, then leave the campaign alone long enough to judge it.

If your actions carry different worth, you can also tell bidding which ones matter more. Our guide to conversion value rules shows how to adjust values by audience, location or device.

To make sure your conversions are measured as accurately as possible, read our guide to Google Ads enhanced conversions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change a primary action to secondary at any time?

Yes, in most cases. Plan the change, though, because it alters what bidding optimizes toward and may start a new learning period.

Do secondary actions cost me anything?

No. They are only counted. They appear in All conversions so you can still see their results.

Which setting should a phone call use?

Use primary when the calls are real sales enquiries and secondary when they include short or irrelevant calls that you do not want bidding to chase.

Final Thoughts

The difference between primary vs secondary conversions Google Ads accounts rely on comes down to one question: should bidding chase this action? Mark your real business outcomes as primary, keep early steps as secondary and review the setting whenever your goals change.

Want expert help with your account? See our Google Ads management service.