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Conversions Overreported in Google Ads, Another Bug to Blame – Google on a Fix

[ Back to News Page ] Dated: 25-Nov-2019

Users and marketers may have seen variable conversions in Google Ads data. Affect took place between November 11 and November 20. Yet another bug in Google’s algorithms caused this. Google is working on a fix to get reports back to their normal value.

It is easy to get excited and think your business to be doing better than normal when you see higher conversion rates in Google Ads reports. However, between November 11 and November 20, the sudden improvement in conversions you see might be nothing more than a bug. Google reported this bug that caused them to report false conversions for certain businesses that run advertisement on Google Ads.

Where It Lies Currently?

Google has reported on their own behalf accepting that the issue is caused by a bug. It is definitely affecting many Google Ads campaigns making their conversions appear higher than they actually are. Google also said that they are working on the fix for this unwanted bug and are also developing a strategy to correct this conversion data that will show all the right information for the affected period as well.

Where Did the Bug Come from?

Till now, Google has not provided much detail about where the bug came from. However, it affected Google Ads Search and Google Shopping Campaign conversions for many businesses showing higher value for them. Other than giving business managers and digital marketers some false hope, this higher show conversion didn’t do much at all.

When Did It Happen?

Unlike most bugs or changes, this one can be tracked down to its accurate timeframe. Conversions started observing affects of this bug for the timeframe between November 11 at 12:01 AM and November 20, 11:59 AM PST. The exact time of the bug was November 20 at 9:00 PM EST approx.

Who Did This Bug Affect?

Funny enough, there is some respite for marketers using last click, or so it seems. This latest bug that showed higher conversions seemed to affect marketers deploying the non-last click attribution model according to Google.

All Google Ads interfaces got impacted in their reporting systems. However, it is important to note that this impact is only on the level of reporting and not the actual working of Ads. Reports downloaded using AdWords API, Google Ads Scripts and Google Ads API all got affected in their reporting showing higher conversions.

One area that didn’t get affected according to Google was Smart Bidding Strategies. If some business or marketers deemed their Google Ads strategies to be more useful than they were before, their conception is based merely on a false rise in conversions.

Which Fields in Particular Did It Affect?

According to Google, Google Ads Scrips used for referencing fields and also any custom fields based on them may have gotten affected. This in non-technical terms means that all Google Ads reports along with Google Shopping Campaigns reports may have seen the affects of the bug. Here is an image that shows reports from AdWords (or Google Ads) being affected according to the nature of their fields:

This Has Significance

The main thing to note here is the fact that overrated conversions tend to make marketers and business owners think of their business in a way that is not entirely true. The tendency to think of better conversions can lead to reduced effort or change in strategy. Budget allocations for businesses can be affected along with bidding decisions and much more. Till now, we don’t know by what extent did conversions showed higher values. However, the best approach can be to benchmark against your previous 10 days or 20 or so performance to get better figures in your mind. The ongoing and also fiercely competitive holiday season makes it worse to have this bug at this time. However, to know that Google is working on a fix and will correct the affected values for conversions as well, you should get peace of mind.