Google Ads conversion value is the number in reais you assign to each conversion so Google bids based on the money it brings in, not just the count. Almost every account sends order revenue, and that makes the campaign chase large sales with thin margins. In lead generation, a fixed value treats the curious and the buyer as equals. The fix is to send margin or the value of each funnel stage, using dynamic value in the tag, a value rule or a CRM import.
What conversion value is in Google Ads
It’s the field that says how much each recorded conversion is worth. Google uses this number to calculate return and to decide how much to bid in each auction when the strategy is value-based.
Google’s help page on conversion values shows two options in the conversion action. Use the same value for each conversion, which is a fixed number, and use different values for each conversion, which reads the value of each transaction from the tag. Without a dynamic value in the tag, Google applies the default value to everything.
Two bid strategies depend directly on this. Target ROAS, which bids to reach a return on ad spend, and Maximize conversion value, which tries to add up the highest possible value within the budget. With the wrong value, both work perfectly in the wrong direction.
Why revenue is not the right value for bidding
Revenue measures sale size, not profit. When it goes in as the value, the algorithm learns that the expensive product is the best product.
Here’s a simple example, with illustrative numbers. A store sells one item for R$300 with a 10% margin and another for R$150 with a 50% margin. By revenue, the first is worth twice as much. By gross profit, the first leaves R$30 and the second leaves R$75. With Target ROAS based on revenue, bidding will push the R$300 item.
The same goes for shipping and taxes. If the value sent includes shipping charged to the customer, the account looks more profitable than it is.
Then there are returns. Fashion, footwear and electronics stores see part of their sales come back weeks later, and the tag doesn’t know that. The returned order still counts as value in Google Ads, and bidding keeps rewarding the product that gets returned most. If your return rate is high, you need a later adjustment, through an import or a margin that already discounts the category’s average return rate.
How to send margin instead of revenue
There are three paths, from simplest to most complete.
The first is to calculate margin on the site. The store platform or the server puts the order’s gross profit in the data layer, and the conversion tag reads that field instead of revenue. It requires development work, but the data arrives in real time. The data layer is explained in Data Layer.
The second is to use an average margin per category. Instead of each order’s profit, the tag multiplies revenue by a category percentage. You lose precision and gain simplicity.
The third is to import the value later, from the order system or the CRM, when profit is only known after shipping cost, returns or cancellations. It’s the same logic as offline conversions.
With any of the three, keep revenue in a separate conversion action, set as secondary, so you can still see revenue in reports. Secondary actions show up in All conversions and don’t affect bidding.
Leads: value the qualified lead, not the form
In services and B2B, the conversion is a form or a WhatsApp message. If each one is worth R$1, Google learns to bring in more forms, including from people who would never buy.
The fix is to assign value by funnel stage, using numbers from your sales history.
- Find out how many leads became opportunities and how many opportunities became sales in recent months.
- Calculate the average ticket or the average margin of a sale.
- Give the lead the sale value multiplied by the close rate. Illustrative example: a R$10,000 sale with a 5% close rate becomes R$500 per lead.
- Import the later stages from the CRM, opportunity and sale, with their own values.
- Once the CRM stages have enough volume, have the campaign optimize for them.
The technical path depends on the CRM. If you use RD Station, the step-by-step is in RD Station and Google Ads. To improve the match between lead and click, enhanced conversions use hashed email and phone number.
| Business type | What to send as value | How the value reaches Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Store with varied margins by product | Order gross profit | Dynamic value in the tag, read from the data layer |
| Store with similar margins | Revenue without shipping, or revenue times average margin | Dynamic value in the tag |
| Service with form and WhatsApp | Expected lead value | Fixed value in the action, then adjusted by stage |
| B2B with a long sales cycle | Opportunity and sale value | CRM import |
| Subscription | Estimated customer value over time | Value rule or import |
Value rules: when the same lead is worth different amounts
A value rule is an adjustment Google applies to the conversion value by location, device or audience, without touching the tag. The official value rules page gives the example of leads worth R$5 in general and R$10 in São Paulo, solved with a rule that multiplies São Paulo conversions by 2.
You can choose from conditions like audience (your own customer lists, for example), geographic location and device. This rule works for Search, Shopping and Display campaigns, plus Performance Max, and you’ll see the adjusted value in reports and in value-based bidding. Google’s own page also warns that some conditions may not be available for housing and employment ads.
Use a value rule only when the data proves the difference. Google itself notes that smart bidding already considers location, device and lists, so the rule needs to reflect business value the algorithm can’t see, like margin by city or repeat customers.
Step by step to review Google Ads conversion value
- Under Goals, open each primary conversion action and check which value option is selected.
- Make a test purchase or test lead and check in Tag Assistant the value the tag sent. The Google Tag Assistant guide shows where to read it.
- Compare ten real store orders with the value recorded in Google Ads, on the same day.
- Decide what bidding should pursue: margin, revenue without shipping or lead stage value.
- Change one action at a time and note the date. Bidding relearns, and without a date you can’t separate effect from noise.
- Keep the revenue action as secondary for reporting.
Mistakes found in almost every account
- Zero or empty value in an action set as primary with Target ROAS.
- Value sent in cents, which multiplies the return by 100.
- Wrong currency in the tag, with dollars where it should be reais.
- The same purchase counted twice, by a site tag and a platform import.
- Shipping and tax added to the value.
- Leads with a fixed value of R$1 for years, never reviewed.
How much people search for this
Few people search for it, and those who do are already setting it up. In the Google Ads Keyword Planner, in October 2026, “valor de conversão google ads” and “valor da conversão google ads” added up to 20 searches per month in Brazil, 10 of them for the second spelling, and neither had an estimated top of page bid. Google Suggest adds “maximizar valor de conversão” (maximize conversion value), the bid strategy that depends most on this number.
How Ciclicko handles conversion value
A conversion value rule is part of Ciclicko’s custom tracking package. We start with what is already in the account, checking value by value against the store or the CRM, and only then propose margin, funnel stage or a value rule. We also measure cost per lead by stage, because it shows whether the value given to the lead makes sense.
Is your bid chasing the wrong number?
The Google Ads conversion tracking with CRM service links the order value, margin or closed sale value to the campaign. The conversion then tells you how much business each click brought, and bidding learns from it.
Frequently asked questions
What is conversion value in Google Ads? It is the value in reais assigned to each conversion. Google uses this number in the return report and in the Target ROAS and Maximize conversion value bid strategies.
When should you use Maximize conversion value? When conversions have different values and the value you send is reliable. With the same fixed value for everything, it behaves like bidding for volume.
Should the purchase conversion value include shipping? For bidding, no. Shipping and tax inflate the return. Keep full revenue in a secondary action if you want to see it in the report.
How do you calculate ROAS in Google Ads? ROAS is conversion value divided by cost. That is why it only makes sense when the value you send is margin or net revenue, not an inflated number.
What value should you set for a lead conversion? Your average sale value multiplied by the close rate from your history. Then import the CRM stages with their own values.