Why are my Google Ads conversions not tracking?

Part 1: Confirm it’s actually a tracking problem (not a reporting or settings issue)

Start with conversion status and timing expectations

Before you touch any tags, confirm whether the issue is “nothing is firing” or “data isn’t showing where you expect it.” In the Conversions area, each conversion action can show an overview status like Active (working), Needs attention (action items), Inactive (not working as intended), No recent conversions (no recorded conversions in the last 7 days), or Other (miscellaneous states). “No recent conversions” is frequently misread as “broken,” but it can simply mean the tag was detected and verified, yet the account hasn’t recorded a conversion recently.

Next, factor in reporting delays. Most core stats (including conversions) are commonly delayed by a few hours, while conversions attributed with models other than last-click can take longer to finalize. If your conversions come from imported analytics events, it can take longer still before you see the data inside Google Ads. And even when everything is set up perfectly, conversions can be reported well after the click depending on your conversion window—so very recent performance can look “under-tracked” simply because users haven’t completed the conversion yet.

Make sure you’re looking at the right column: “Conversions” vs “All conversions”

A big source of confusion is that “Conversions” only includes the conversion actions that are eligible for optimization/reporting based on your goal setup and whether the conversion action is considered primary for that campaign’s goal. If your conversion is secondary, or the campaign isn’t using the goal that contains the conversion, you may still see activity in “All conversions,” while “Conversions” shows zero.

This becomes even more common if you’re importing conversions from analytics: imported conversion actions are often set up in a way that’s visible for reporting but not automatically used for bidding. The end result looks like “tracking is broken,” when it’s really “tracking is fine, but you’re not surfacing it in the Conversions column.”

Part 2: The most common technical reasons conversions don’t record

Your tag is installed, but it’s not firing at the right time (or at all)

Conversion tracking typically fails when the conversion event never actually triggers on the final confirmation step. This often happens when the trigger is attached to the wrong page, the wrong click selector, a button that doesn’t complete successfully, or a form that submits via AJAX without a true “thank-you” pageview.

Another classic issue is tags firing from inside an iframe (common with embedded scheduling tools, payment portals, or third-party form providers). Iframes can block or weaken measurement because the conversion may happen on a different context or domain than the one that captured the ad click information.

Also watch for “pixel-only” implementations (only the image tag). In modern browsers and privacy contexts, relying on pixel-only approaches can contribute to missing conversions. In practice, you want a full implementation that can reliably execute and pass the right parameters.

Click IDs aren’t being captured or persisted (auto-tagging, cookies, redirects)

Even if your conversion tag fires perfectly, Google Ads still needs to connect that conversion to an ad interaction. That connection typically relies on click identifiers (like GCLID) and first-party storage. If auto-tagging is off, if your website strips URL parameters, if a redirect chain drops parameters, or if your site/app aggressively removes cookies/local storage, the conversion can fire but won’t attribute properly—so it appears as “not tracking.”

One subtle version of this problem: some websites error out when unknown URL parameters are present. If clicking your ad leads to a broken page (or a soft redirect that drops parameters), attribution can fail even though traffic is coming in.

Cross-domain journeys (checkout, booking engines, third-party domains) aren’t linked

If the ad click lands on one domain but the conversion happens on another (for example, a separate checkout domain), you need cross-domain measurement configured so the session and click data can be carried across domains. In practice, that means your links/forms between domains must append a linker parameter and your destination domain must be able to read it.

If the final conversion happens on a third-party domain you don’t control, measurement is fragile long-term unless that third party cooperates with sitewide tagging and proper cross-domain setup.

Google Tag Manager setups missing conversion linking (or misconfigured linking)

In Tag Manager-based setups, conversion linking is what stores and makes click data available at conversion time. The conversion linker function detects ad click information in landing page URLs and stores it in first-party cookies and browser local storage so your conversion tags can attribute properly. If that layer isn’t present (or is inconsistently firing), conversions can fail to record or show as “inactive” even when you see a tag fire in preview mode.

One important nuance for GTM users: if your container loads a Google tag on every page, you typically don’t need a separate conversion linker tag. Also, GTM behavior has evolved—containers with Google Ads and Floodlight tags automatically loading a Google tag before sending events became an explicit platform behavior change starting April 10, 2025. If your implementation is older or heavily customized, it’s worth validating that click data is actually being stored and read as expected rather than assuming “GTM is handling it.”

Consent and privacy signals are preventing conversions from being recorded

In 2026, consent is a first-class cause of “my conversions disappeared.” If ads storage consent is denied, tags may not store cookies and your observable conversions will drop. With consent mode, you may still see modeled conversions (depending on setup and volume), but it won’t look the same as fully observed tracking.

Also, if you’re using an IAB TCF consent banner, conversions can fail entirely if required measurement purposes aren’t present. And if the consent platform is slow to respond, tags can proceed in a restricted mode, which can reduce or prevent measurement and remarketing behavior. If you’ve enabled features that prevent diagnostic data transmission until consent is granted, you can make troubleshooting harder because the platform has less signal to report what’s failing.

Part 3: A practical troubleshooting workflow (what I do in real accounts)

Run this checklist in order (it prevents circular debugging)

• Identify the conversion source. Confirm whether the conversion action is measured via a Google tag, Tag Manager, imported analytics event, call conversion, app conversion, or offline import. Each has different failure modes and different “normal” delays.
• Check the conversion action status and open diagnostics. Use the conversion’s status details and diagnostics area to see whether the platform has detected the tag recently, whether it’s inactive, or whether it’s recording but not receiving volume.
• Use Tag Assistant to verify “real firing,” not just “preview firing.” Launch Tag Assistant from the conversion action when it’s unverified or tag inactive, complete a test conversion end-to-end, then refresh the conversions page after you finish. A successful debug session often moves actions into a verified/no-recent-conversions type state before live traffic turns them into Recording.
• Validate the network request on the conversion step. On the actual conversion page/event, confirm a request is sent for the conversion (not just a generic pageview). If you’re using enhanced conversions, confirm the enhanced conversions parameter is present and populated (not empty).
• Confirm click ID capture. Click an ad (or use a controlled test), confirm the landing URL contains the click identifier, and confirm it’s stored in first-party storage through the journey to conversion. If it disappears between landing and conversion, fix redirects, URL cleaning rules, or cookie/local storage constraints.
• Audit cross-domain behavior. If the journey crosses domains, confirm the linker parameter appears when navigating between domains and that the destination domain loads correctly (no server errors, blocked downloads, or broken routing caused by appended parameters).
• Remove duplicates and legacy tags. Check for multiple Google tags, multiple GTM containers, or legacy conversion snippets firing alongside new ones. Duplicates can cause double counting, misfires, or confusing “it fired but didn’t record” behavior.
• Verify goal + reporting settings. If you see conversions in “All conversions” but not “Conversions,” confirm the conversion action is primary (if it should be), and confirm the campaign is using the goal that contains that action. This is one of the fastest “fixes” that isn’t a tagging change.
• Check conversion settings that can make tracking look broken. Confirm counting (One vs Every), conversion window length (too short can exclude real conversions), and attribution expectations. A 7-day conversion window, for example, will drop conversions that happen later and can look like “tracking stopped.”
• Account for import and processing delays. If you just linked/imported analytics events, allow the platform time to begin importing data. Also remember: imported conversions don’t bring in historical data from before the import.
• Review consent mode/TCF behavior. If you recently rolled out or changed consent, expect a shift in observed vs modeled conversions. Confirm whether conversion modeling is active (when applicable), and confirm your consent banner/platform is providing timely, consistent signals.
• If you use cross-account conversion tracking, verify ownership and linking. Ensure the tags on the site match the account (or manager account) that owns the conversion actions. When advertisers switch from account-specific conversions to manager-level conversions (or the reverse), it’s common to see “inactive” statuses until the site tags align with the new conversion owner.

What to do once you find the failure point

If Tag Assistant shows the conversion never fires, the fix is on-page: correct the trigger, ensure the conversion event occurs only on success, and avoid iframes where possible. If the conversion fires but doesn’t attribute, the fix is usually click ID persistence: auto-tagging, redirects, cookie/local storage retention, and cross-domain linking. If conversions are recording but not visible in the Conversions column, the fix is goal configuration and primary/secondary alignment, not tags.

The fastest way to avoid repeat issues is to treat conversion tracking as a system rather than a snippet: you need a reliable event trigger, reliable click ID capture, reliable storage across the user journey, and reporting settings that reflect what you actually want to optimize. Once those four pieces are aligned, conversion tracking becomes boring—in the best possible way.

If your Google Ads conversions aren’t tracking, it’s usually because something in the measurement chain is off: the conversion action may simply be delayed or marked “No recent conversions,” the action might be Secondary (so it shows in “All conversions” but not “Conversions”), the tag fires on the wrong step (common with single-page apps, AJAX forms, or iframe checkouts), click IDs like GCLID get stripped or can’t be stored due to redirects or missing auto-tagging, cross-domain journeys aren’t linked properly, the conversion linker in GTM isn’t set up to persist identifiers, or consent settings limit attribution. If you want an easier way to stay on top of these kinds of issues while you manage campaigns, Blobr connects to your Google Ads account and uses specialized AI agents to continuously analyze what changed, spot tracking-related anomalies and performance drops, and turn best practices into clear, prioritized actions you can review and apply on your own terms.