GA4 conversions not importing into Google Ads

Symptom and cause

Symptom

GA4 records sales from Google Ads clicks, but Google Ads shows no GA4 conversions, or the GA4 conversion action sits at zero.

Cause

A link in the chain is broken or never made: no link or a link to the wrong Ads account, auto-tagging off or the gclid stripped, no key event, no conversion action created from it, or an import left secondary, so it shows in All conv. only and nothing bids on it.

Where it's caught

Google Ads Goals with no Google Analytics source; GA4 Product links pointing at another customer ID; google / cpc sales with the campaign (not set).

Why GA4 conversions don't reach Google Ads: five links

A GA4 sale reaches Google Ads through five links. Each is set separately. Any one of them missing gives the same symptom: GA4 has the sale, Google Ads does not. This page covers web data streams. App conversions are imported on different terms (always on Google paid channels) and are not filed here.

The account link. GA4 and Google Ads have to be linked, and linked to the Ads account that runs the campaigns. A link to an old account, or to a manager account that does not hold them, looks fine and sends nothing useful. Clicks from an unlinked account still arrive in GA4 as google / cpc, but the Google Ads dimensions, such as campaign, read (not set). The exhibit below is this link on record: linked, to an account that no longer runs the ads.

Auto-tagging. Google Ads adds a click id, the gclid, to every ad URL, and GA4 uses it to credit the visit to the ad. Google lists auto-tagging as a requirement for the import, and the gclid has to survive every redirect to the final landing page. Strip it and the visit becomes organic or direct in GA4. That sale is never credited to Google Ads, so there is nothing to import.

The key event. Only key events, the GA4 events marked as the outcomes that matter, become Google Ads conversion actions. If the purchase or lead was never marked, the Google Ads import has nothing to offer. GA4's own import route marks a plain event for you when you pick it.

The conversion action. Linking imports nothing on its own. Someone has to create the conversion action from the key event. Google says data can take up to 24 hours to appear after that. Nothing from before that date comes across.

The status. Actions created from GA4 key events are secondary by default, so Google never counts the same sale twice for bidding. Secondary actions report in the All conv. column, not in Conversions, and by default Smart Bidding (Google's automated bidding) does not use them. The import works and nothing bids on it. If a Google Ads tag already records the same sale, the tag and the import are two counts of one order, and only one of them should be primary. Which one is F-104.

Don't confuse any of this with the normal gap. Google Ads only receives the sales GA4 credits to Google Ads clicks, so the imported number sits below GA4's purchases. Lower is expected. Zero, or a flatline from a known date while the ads spend, is F-403.

Check	Reads	Verdict
GA4 · Product links → Google Ads links	1 link · 412-…-7781	linked
Google Ads account running the campaigns	318-…-2046	not the linked one
GA4 · purchases, google / cpc	214 · campaign (not set)	sales are there
Ads 318-…-2046 · Goals → Conversions	no Google Analytics source	nothing imported

linked, but to the wrong Ads account

How to catch it

1. Start in Google Ads: Goals → Conversions → Summary. Look for a conversion action whose source is Google Analytics (GA4). None at all means the import was never made: check the link next. One is there: note whether it is Primary or Secondary, then add the All conv. column to the campaign view. Numbers in All conv. and none in Conversions is the status problem: the import works, and it is set to secondary. No Ads access yourself? Ask whoever runs the account for a screenshot of that screen.
2. Check the link points at the right account. In GA4, Admin → Product links → Google Ads links shows the customer ID on each link; in Google Ads, Tools → Data manager lists the linked GA4 properties. Compare the ID with the one at the top of the account that runs the campaigns. A link to an old account, or to a manager account that does not hold these campaigns, is the fault.
3. Check GA4 for the giveaway. Open Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition, filter to google / cpc and add session campaign as a secondary dimension. Purchases there with the campaign as (not set) point at a link to the wrong account, or none. Ad clicks landing under organic or direct point at a lost gclid instead.
4. Check auto-tagging and the gclid. In Google Ads, Admin → Account settings → Auto-tagging should be ticked. Then open your landing page with ?gclid=test added to the URL and follow every redirect. If the parameter is gone on the final page, a redirect or the site is stripping it, and GA4 cannot credit that visit to Google Ads (the lost click id is filed as F-204).
5. Check the key event. In GA4, Admin → Data display → Events: the purchase or lead should show Mark as key event switched on. An event GA4 has not collected yet can be marked in advance under Admin → Data display → Key events → New key event, using the exact event name.
6. Rule out timing before calling it. Google says up to 24 hours after the action is created, and nothing from before that date comes across. Zero in Google Ads while GA4 shows google / cpc purchases over the same two days is not a delay (the two days are a rule of thumb, not Google's figure).

What putting it right involves

1. (GA4 Editor plus Ads admin) Link the account that runs the ads. In GA4, Admin → Product links → Google Ads links → Link, choose the account (or request access), leave auto-tagging on, submit. Or from Google Ads: Tools → Data manager → + Connect Product → Google Analytics (GA4) & Firebase. If several accounts run ads, link each one.
2. (Ads admin) Turn auto-tagging on and keep the gclid alive. Admin → Account settings → Auto-tagging. Then fix any redirect or plugin that drops query parameters, so ?gclid= arrives on the final landing page. Test with the parameter added by hand, not by clicking your own ad.
3. (GA4 Marketer or above) Mark the outcome as a key event: the purchase, or the qualified lead. Mark as key event on the Events list, or Key events → New key event for an event not yet collected.
4. (GA4 Marketer or above plus Ads admin) Create the conversion action. In Google Ads, Goals → Summary → Create conversion action, then pick the GA4 property and the key event. If your property has it, GA4's Advertising → Tools → Conversion management does the same from the other side. One action per business outcome. Note the date, because nothing before it comes across.
5. (Ads admin) Decide whether it bids. The new action is secondary by default and reports in All conv. only. If it should drive Smart Bidding, make it primary, and in the same sitting set any Google Ads tag action for the same sale to secondary. Two primary actions on one sale mean Google Ads sees twice the sales and bids on a number that is not real (F-104).
6. (GA4 Marketer or above) Set the attribution channel on purpose. Admin → Data display → Events → Attribution settings → Channels that can receive credit. Google paid channels is the default for Google Ads. Paid and organic channels (web only) moves the counting method and conversion window into GA4, so later changes are made there, not in Ads.
7. (Anyone) Verify after 48 hours of normal ad spend. The action should be non-zero in All conv., and in Conversions if you made it primary, and in the same range as GA4's google / cpc purchases over the period. A day-by-day match is not expected: the two tools can date the same sale differently. If GA4 still shows google / cpc sales with the campaign (not set) after linking, or ?gclid= disappears before the landing page, the cause is in the site or the account structure, not the settings.