How do I mark a conversion as secondary?

You can change this setting at any time, but doing so will immediately change how Google’s Smart Bidding treats that specific data point.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Open Goals: Click the Goals icon (bullseye) in the left-hand navigation menu.
Go to Summary: Under the Conversions dropdown, select Summary.

Locate the Goal: Find the conversion goal category (e.g., “Purchases” or “Contact”) and click on the specific Conversion Action name you want to edit.
Edit Goal: Click Edit settings in the bottom right corner of the window.
Change Optimization: Look for the section labeled “Conversion action optimization.”

Select Secondary action (observation only) to stop the AI from bidding on it.
Select Primary action (used for bidding) if you want it to be a main goal.

Save: Click Save and then click Done.

Strategy: When to Use Secondary Actions

Use Case	Recommended Setting	Why?
Final Purchase	Primary	You want the AI to find as many actual buyers as possible.
Add to Cart	Secondary	You want to see how many people almost bought, but you don’t want Google to waste money on “window shoppers.”
GA4 Imports	Secondary	If you already have a native Google Ads tag for the same action, mark the GA4 version as secondary to avoid double-counting.
Newsletter Signup	Secondary	Useful for brand building, but usually not worth high-CPA bidding in a PMax campaign.

The “All Conversions” vs. “Conversions” Columns

“Conversions” Column: Only shows Primary actions. This is the data used to calculate your CPA and ROAS in the main dashboard.
“All Conversions” Column: Shows both Primary AND Secondary actions.Use this column when you want to see the full “customer journey” and every micro-interaction that happened.

Warning: If you have zero Primary conversions in a campaign, the AI will stop spending or “thrash” because it has no target. Always ensure every campaign has at least one Primary conversion action active.

Last Updated 2nd February 2026.

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