If your Google Ads reports look great and the business does not, or if Google Ads is not converting and you cannot see why, check the count before you touch the campaign. Your conversion numbers are probably wrong, and they are usually wrong in your favor. We have found three patterns in real accounts that make results look better than they were: one phone call counted twice, a revenue figure pulled from the wrong column, and spam form fills recorded as leads. Each takes about ten minutes to check.
The short answer
- A conversion number is only as honest as the setup behind it. Duplicates, the wrong column and bot traffic all push it up.
- In Google Ads, check Goals, Conversions, Summary for primary versus secondary actions, then compare the "Conversions" and "All conv." columns.
- In GA4, compare key events with engaged sessions and users by country. Fix the count first, then judge the campaign.
How a conversion number gets inflated
Google Ads tracks conversion actions: a purchase, a form submission, a phone call. It groups them into goals, and each action is set to either primary or secondary. The difference matters more than anything else on this page.
- Primary actions are reported in the "Conversions" column and used for bidding.
- Secondary actions are for observation. They appear in "All conversions" ("All conv.") and are not used for bidding. Custom goals are the one exception.
"All conv." is the broader column. It covers primary and secondary actions together, plus store visits, certain phone calls and view-through conversions. So there are two ways to overcount. Two actions can both be primary and record the same event. Or a report can read from "All conv." and call it results. Primary actions also steer bidding, so a bad count does more than flatter a report.
| Pattern | What the report showed | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Double-counted calls | About twice the call leads, with a CPA that looked better than it was | Two call actions, both primary, counted the same call |
| Inflated value | A ROAS number about twice the real revenue | A reporting tool defaulted to the "All conv. value" column |
| Bot form spam | More form key events than sessions from several countries | About half of all sessions were crawler noise |
All three come from accounts we have worked on, with names, industries and figures left out on purpose.
Pattern 1: one phone call, counted twice
In one account, two call conversion actions were both set to primary. Both counted the same phone call from an ad. One caller who tapped and connected was counted twice. The account reported about twice the call leads it actually got, and a cost per acquisition that looked better than it was.
Google's Help pages describe one version of this trap. If you import call conversions and also keep a "Calls from ads" action for the same calls, including both counts two conversions for every call.
How to check. Go to Goals, then Conversions, then Summary. List every action that sounds like a call. Look at the Action optimization column. If two of them are primary and could both fire for one call, you have your suspect.
The fix. In our case it was making one of them secondary. Open the goal with Edit goal, expand Conversion action optimization, and choose Secondary (observe only) for the extra action. Keep the one that reflects a call you would count as a lead. Expect the reported numbers to fall.
Pattern 2: a ROAS number from the wrong column
In another account, three conversion actions all recorded the same online purchase. There were also small micro-events valued at about $1 each. The account settings were correct: the duplicates were set to secondary. But a reporting tool defaulted to the "All conv. value" column, which ran about twice the real revenue.
Nothing was broken in Google Ads. The report was reading the wrong column.
How to check. Open your campaigns table, click the columns icon, choose Modify columns, and expand the Conversions category. Add "Conversions", "Conv. value", "Cost / conv.", "All conv." and "All conv. value". Now compare. A gap is normal when you have secondary actions. The question is which column your dashboard, agency report or spreadsheet uses for ROAS.
The fix. Divide "Conv. value" by cost for ROAS, and say so in the report. Keep one primary action per real-world event. In our experience, small values on minor actions muddy the number more than they help.
Pattern 3: spam form fills recorded as leads
On one site, contact form submissions recorded as key events outnumbered the sessions from several countries. About half of all sessions on that site were crawler noise. Bots were filling in the form, and every submission counted as a lead.
Google does exclude known bots from GA4 automatically. It also says you cannot turn that off or see how much traffic was excluded. Bots that are not on the list still get through, and a form that anyone can submit will collect them.
How to check. In GA4, go to Reports, then User attributes, then Demographic details, and choose Country as the dimension. Compare the "Key events" column with "Engaged sessions" and "Active users". A country with more form submissions than visitors is not a customer base. If you import that key event into Google Ads as a conversion, the spam goes with it.
The fix. Three steps, in this order:
- Block the bots at the form. Add a CAPTCHA or a honeypot field, a hidden field that real people leave empty and bots fill in.
- Clean up the measurement. In GA4, Admin, Data filters lets you create a web hostname traffic filter. "Include only" processes just the hostnames you list. Run it in Testing first, because an Active filter makes permanent changes to incoming data and does not rewrite history.
- Re-baseline. Your numbers will drop. Write down the date the fix went live and judge the campaign against what comes after, not against the inflated past.
Google Ads not converting? Check the count first
The same habit helps when the problem runs the other way. If your account shows few conversions or none, do not assume the ads failed. Google Ads conversion tracking has to be wired to the right action before the numbers mean anything.
- Is the action primary? A conversion created from Google Analytics is secondary by default, and has to be changed to primary in Google Ads before it counts toward bidding.
- Is the counting setting right? Website actions default to counting every conversion after a click. For leads, Google says "One" suits cases where you care whether a lead was generated.
If the tracking is right and the leads are still thin, that is a campaign problem, and our Google Ads audit checklist is where we start.
The ten minute check
Run this once, then once a quarter
- Minutes 1 to 3: Goals, Conversions, Summary. List each action, primary or secondary. Circle any two that could record the same event.
- Minutes 4 to 6: in the campaigns table, add "Conversions", "Conv. value", "All conv." and "All conv. value". Note which column each report uses.
- Minutes 7 to 10: in GA4, Demographic details by Country: compare "Key events" with "Engaged sessions" and "Active users".
Then ask whoever produces your report which column each number comes from. If they cannot say quickly, treat it as unverified.
Where to start this week
- Today: open Goals, Conversions, Summary and count the primary actions. If two record the same real-world event, make one secondary.
- This week: find out which column your ROAS and cost-per-lead reports use. Switch them to the primary columns.
- This month: add a CAPTCHA or honeypot to your forms, test a hostname filter in GA4, and write down the date as your new baseline.
Google Ads management
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Common questions
Why is my Google Ads not converting?
Sometimes it is not, and sometimes it is converting but the tracking does not show it. Before you change the campaign, open Goals, Conversions, Summary and confirm the action exists and is set to primary. A conversion that arrives from Google Analytics is secondary by default, so it shows in "All conv." and not in "Conversions".
What is the difference between Conversions and All conversions in Google Ads?
"Conversions" counts your primary conversion actions. "All conversions" ("All conv.") covers primary and secondary actions, plus things like store visits, certain phone calls and view-through conversions. "Conv. value" and "All conv. value" follow the same split for money.
What is a primary versus a secondary conversion action?
Primary actions are reported in "Conversions" and used for bidding. Secondary actions are for observation: they appear in "All conversions" and are not used for bidding. You switch an action in the Action optimization column on the Conversions Summary page.
Does Google Ads conversion tracking count the same call twice?
It can. Google's Help pages warn that if you import call conversions and also keep a "Calls from ads" action for the same calls, including both counts two conversions for every call. Keep one of them in the "Conversions" column.
How do I stop spam form submissions from showing up as leads?
Put a CAPTCHA or a honeypot field on the form. Then, in GA4, create a web hostname data filter that processes only your own hostnames, and test it before you set it to active. Note the date: your numbers will drop, and you need a fresh baseline.
Sources
- Google Ads Help: About primary and secondary conversion actions, About "All conversions", Understand your conversion tracking data, Manage conversion goals from the conversions summary, About conversion goals and About conversion counting options
- Google Ads Help, call conversions: Import phone call conversions and Measure phone number clicks on a mobile website
- Google Analytics Help: About key events, Demographic details report, Events report, Known bot-traffic exclusion and Filter web hostname traffic
- AI Visibility Audit price: surfridermedia.com/ai-audit, checked October 25, 2026
