Since the launch of Google Ads, conversions have always been reported by the date the ad was clicked. So, if a person clicked on your ad on Monday but didn’t purchase from your site until Tuesday, both the ad click and the conversion would be reported in Google Ad’s as occurring on Monday. This has also been one of the main reasons for discrepancies between Google Ads and Google Analytics conversions, since Analytics records conversions on the day the conversion occurred.
Last week, Google Ads launched new “by conversion time” columns that let you report conversions at the time they happened instead of when the ad was clicked. Standard click and conversion columns will still count the click and conversion at the time of the click. (Note that the data for these new columns is available going back to March 2019).
By Conversion Time Metrics
There are six new “by conversion time” columns available in the interface:
- Conversions (by conv. time)
- Conv. value (by conv. time)
- Value / Conv. (by conv. time)
- All conv. (by conv. time)
- All conv. value (by conv. time)
- Value / all conv. (by conv. time)
These columns can make it easier to compare data across platforms, not just with Google Analytics but with other third-party reporting platforms your company may be using.
By Conversion Time Columns
Let’s take a look at these columns. You can add these columns to your report by selecting them under the “Conversions” section when modifying your columns.
You can add these columns to your report to get a general idea of the time between clicks and conversions. The larger the discrepancy you see between conversion and conversion by time data, the longer lag time you likely have between click and conversion.
I still prefer to use conversions tied to the time of the click for most reporting as that is when the money was spent. I want to know what return we had on ad spend, even if the conversion happened days or weeks later, but having this option available in the interface can definitely be helpful.
What are your thoughts? Will be you using these “by conversion time” columns regularly in your analyses? Let us know in the comments below!
