A conversion window is the period of time after an ad interaction (such as an ad click or video view) during which a conversion, such as a purchase, is recorded in Google Ads.
In Google Ads, you can edit the conversion window setting for any of the webpage, imported, in-app action, or phone call conversions you're tracking. Learn more about Optimizing conversion windows for App campaigns.
Benefits
The conversion window setting is ideal for businesses that want more control when measuring their conversions, particularly businesses that sell products with a buying cycle that doesn't fit the default 30-day conversion window. If you set a longer conversion window, you'll also be able to find keywords early in the path to a conversion in Attribution reports.
Example
Let's say you're advertising a weeklong promotion, and your customer needs to use the promotion within a week of clicking on an ad. You'd like to measure conversions for this promotion, so you adjust your conversion window to 7 days. By doing this, you have a better sense of your advertising's value within that shorter time frame.
Keep in mind: If you set your conversion window to 7 days, any conversion that happens more than 7 days after the ad interaction won't be recorded. This means it won't appear in your reports. The time lag report in attribution reports will also be capped at 7 days, so you won't find how many conversions helped by Google Ads happened during the next 7 days.
How it works
You can set different conversion windows for each of your conversion actions, when you first create the conversion during setup or anytime after.
You also can change the conversion window as often as you'd like. Just remember that any changes apply to all conversions going forward. So, if you're using a 30-day conversion window and you change it to 10 days, the 10-day window will only apply to conversions recorded from that day forward.
Example
Here's an example of how a conversion window would work if someone interacted with your ad on March 1:
- March 1: Your conversion window is set to 30 days. Conversions between now and March 30 will be counted for this interaction.
- March 7: You change your conversion window to 10 days. Conversions before March 10 will be counted for the March 1 interaction.
- March 16: You change the conversion window again to 20 days. A March 13 conversion from this interaction, which wasn't counted within the last window, won't be retroactively counted. But future conversions before March 20 will be counted for the March 1 interaction.
Choose your window
Not sure what conversion window to choose? Check out the time lag report in your attribution reports. This shows you how the time between people's ad interactions and conversions varies. Knowing this, you'll have a better idea of how long your conversion window should be.
Example
If 75% of conversions happen between the 25th and 30th day after an ad interaction, you'll want to make sure you set a window for at least this long, or you might miss recording conversions.
Keep in mind that the Attribution time lag report reflects the time lag only for ad interactions on google.com that lead to conversions. It doesn't show time lag for conversions attributed to ad interactions on Google Display Network or other search partners.
Effect on Attribution reports
Attribution reports will show the path to conversions within any window you choose. Here's how Attribution reports will show last-click conversions and assisted conversions:
- Only last-click conversions that are within the conversion window you choose will be shown.
- Assisted conversions will be shown for 30-, 60-, and 90-day conversion windows, regardless of your conversion window setting. But the click that converted needs to be within the conversion window for these kinds of clicks to be shown.
You can also select a different window for view-through conversions. This lets you choose how long to track conversions after an impression of an ad.
If you don’t customize the view-through conversion window when you create a new conversion, the default window is 1 day.
Instructions
You'll be given the opportunity to choose a conversion window whenever you create a new conversion. If you'd like to edit an existing conversion, follow these steps:
Keep in mind
- You can set the conversion window anywhere from 1 to 90 days, depending on the source of conversions.
- For Search and Display campaigns, if you don't customize the conversion window, a 30-day default window will be applied to your conversions.
- Smart Bidding strategies, like Target CPA, ECPC, and Target ROAS will count and optimize conversions for any window you choose.
- In the Attribution settings:
- When you select Google paid channels, the “Key event lookback window” setting will only affect Google Analytics key events and not Google Analytics conversions. If an option is selected, you must go to the Google Ads conversions summary page by navigating to Goals > Conversions > Summary through Click-through conversion window or Engaged-view conversion window to change the conversion window settings for Google Analytics conversions.
- When you select Paid and organic channels, the “Key event lookback window” setting will affect both Google Analytics key events and Google Analytics conversions.
- In your Google Ads account, click the Goals icon
.
- Click the Conversions drop down in the section menu.
- Click Summary.
- Find the conversion action you'd like to edit.
- Click Edit settings.
- Click on Click-through conversion window. Select how long it takes to track conversions after an ad interaction from the drop-down. You can set it anywhere from 1 to 30, 60, or 90 days for Search and Display campaigns depending on the conversion source. Note that windows of at least 7 days are recommended, because they provide a richer set of conversion data.
- For view-through conversions, click Settings from the Conversions drop down in the section menu.
- click View-through conversion window and select an option from the drop-down.
- Click Save.
- Click Done.
