Google Organic Conversion Tracking in Google Ads
Has anyone been able to create a conversion action in Google Ads specific to Google Organic Search/Shopping Purchases?
I thought maybe it might be possible if we created an event or goal in Google Analytics and then synced it Google Ads so it shows up as a conversion action? I want to use it as another conversion action to have Google Ads optimize bidding for.
Why would I want to do that? You won’t or rarely will get Google Organic Shopping conversions if you don’t advertise. The more you advertise, the more you products are shown in the regular organic listings.
The short answer is:
Yes, it is possible and highly recommended to import your Google Organic Search and Shopping Purchase conversions from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) into Google Ads to use them for bidding optimization, particularly to inform Smart Bidding algorithms.
The core technical solution relies on the native account linking between Google Ads and your GA4 property.
You must first ensure the purchase event is correctly configured and marked as a Key Event (conversion) in GA4.
Once linked, you can select this specific GA4 Key Event to be imported into Google Ads as a conversion action.
Crucially, within GA4’s attribution settings, you can choose whether the conversion credit shared with Google Ads should be limited to “Google Paid Channels” or include “Paid and organic channels.”
By selecting the latter, you ensure the organic conversions are available for reporting and, indirectly, for broader modeling that helps improve auction-time bidding even when the final conversion path involves organic touchpoints, making your advertising ecosystem more robust and cost-effective.
The long answer is:
The ability to use Google Organic Purchase conversions to enhance Google Ads bidding is achieved not through direct API calls for conversion upload, but primarily through the seamless, out-of-the-box integration between Google Ads and Google Analytics 4, a powerful form of system-to-system data synchronization that leverages Google’s internal APIs.
The first step in this process is to ensure your purchase event is accurately tracked on your website and registered as a Key Event (the equivalent of a goal) within your GA4 property.
This tracking should capture the transaction ID, value, and currency, which is foundational for accurate reporting and optimization.
Once the GA4 Key Event is established, you must have a proper link set up between your Google Ads account and the GA4 property.
This linking is a form of API-driven data connector managed within the Admin settings of both platforms, enabling a continuous, secure flow of eligible data.
After the link is active, you navigate to the Conversions section in Google Ads and choose to import a conversion action from the linked GA4 property, selecting your purchase Key Event.
This action makes the conversion data visible in Google Ads reporting and, crucially, available for use in bidding strategies.
The key to including organic conversions is found in the Attribution Settings within the GA4 Admin panel, under Data Display.
By setting the reporting attribution model to include “Paid and organic channels” for your conversion credit, you permit GA4 to share a more holistic view of the customer journey with Google Ads.
While Google Ads Smart Bidding (like Target ROAS or Maximize Conversions) primarily optimizes for conversions that are attributed to a paid click, incorporating the full funnel data, including organic touchpoints, provides the bidding algorithm with a richer dataset for lookalike modeling and propensity scoring, ultimately leading to more informed and efficient auction-time decisions.
This holistic, data-driven approach is highly cost-effective because it improves the quality of your bid optimizations without requiring custom code or the continuous operation of an external system like Google Cloud Platform or a custom script utilizing the Google Ads API’s conversion upload functions, which would typically be reserved for advanced server-side or offline conversion tracking scenarios.
Additionally, consider integrating BigQuery with GA4 to analyze the full customer journey, including organic paths leading to purchase, which can then inform non-bidding aspects of your Google Ads strategy.
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