Google Ads clicks but no conversions
Short answer: If Google Ads shows clicks and 0 conversions, the usual reason is that nothing on the site sends a conversion hit. The Google tag loading is not enough: a conversion needs an event with your conversion labe
Short answer: If Google Ads shows clicks and 0 conversions, the usual reason is that nothing on the site sends a conversion hit. The Google tag loading is not enough: a conversion needs an event with your conversion label. In our study of 1,727 sites scanned on 5 Nov 2026, 1,094 load the Google Ads tag and 208 of them (19.0%) show no readable Ads conversion tag. On a 9 Nov re-read of those 208, about 134 had a remarketing tag or Ads config only, 60 ran GA4 with no Ads config we could see, and 4 had nothing else readable.
Why does the Google tag load but no conversion count?
Google Ads counts a click when someone clicks the ad. It counts a conversion only when your site sends a hit for that action. Google describes the setup as two parts: the Google tag on every page and an event snippet on the conversion (Google Ads Help). The event snippet carries send_to: 'AW-123456789/AbC-dEf'. The part after the slash is the conversion label.
The Google tag alone builds remarketing lists and sets the click cookie. It sends no conversion. A site with the tag and no event snippet gives you exactly this: clicks, spend, 0 conversions.
Imports are the other route. A conversion can come from a GA4 key event (create conversions from GA4 events) or an offline upload. Then the site sends nothing labelled for Ads, and the gap is in the link or the import.
What do the 208 sites have instead?
On 9 Nov 2026 we fetched the public GTM containers and gtag scripts of the 208 sites again and sorted each one by what it still had. This is a re-read of the 5 Nov list, not a new scan, so 10 sites had changed.
The 208 sites that load the Google Ads tag with no readable conversion tag, public containers re-read 9 Nov 2026.
| What we saw | Sites | Share of 208 |
|---|---|---|
| Ads remarketing tag or Ads config, no conversion tag | 134 | 64.4% |
| GA4 runs, no Ads config in the containers | 60 | 28.8% |
| Nothing else readable | 4 | 1.9% |
| A conversion tag is there now, or the container didn't load | 10 | 4.8% |
By segment on 5 Nov: 119 B2B SaaS sites, 59 shops and 30 agencies. 163 of the 208 run GA4, so some of them likely import GA4 key events into Ads. From outside that looks the same as no tracking.
Which of the 4 causes is mine?
| Cause | What you see on the site | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Remarketing only | Hits to Google Ads with your AW- ID and no conversion label | Add a Google Ads Conversion Tracking tag in GTM on the success event, with the ID and label from Goals, Conversions. |
| 2. Conversion only on a thank-you page that never loads | A conversion tag exists, but the form now shows an inline message and the URL in the trigger is never reached | Fire on the form's success event instead. See HubSpot, Webflow and page-view rules. |
| 3. GA4 import | GA4 events, no Ads conversion hit | In GA4, mark the event as a key event. Check the GA4 and Ads link, then the imported action in Ads. |
| 4. Nothing at all | No Ads hit, or no Google tag on the page the ad lands on | Install the Google tag and one conversion on the real success step. |
Cause 3 has a trap of its own: a GA4 key event that fires on every page or on a click fills Ads with junk once the import works. Read GA4 key events vs Google Ads conversions before you switch it on.
How do I check it in DevTools?
Open your landing page in a private window, accept cookies, and open DevTools, Network.
Filter on your Ads ID number (the digits after
AW-). If nothing shows, you have cause 4, or consent is blocking the tag.Send a real test lead. Watch for a new request with your conversion label in it. No label: cause 1.
Note the URL after the form is sent. If it stays the same and your GTM trigger waits for a thank-you URL, that is cause 2.
Filter on
collect?v=2and look for your key event name. GA4 fires but Ads doesn't: look in Ads, Goals, Conversions, Summary at the action's source. If it says Google Analytics, it is cause 3.In Google Ads, open the action and read its status. It shows Active only after the first conversion or a test event, so Unverified or Inactive on an old action means no hit is arriving (about conversion measurement). After a fix the status can take up to 48 hours to change (how Ads tracks conversions).
Or run the free scan. It lists every Google Ads conversion label your public containers send, and says when there is none.
What can't we see from outside?
Imports. A GA4 or CRM import looks the same as no tracking from outside. So the 208 is a ceiling for "nothing tracked", not a count of broken accounts.
Pages we don't read. We read the public containers and 4 pages per site. A gtag call on a checkout or booking page we didn't open would not show.
Primary or secondary. That is set in the Ads account. A working conversion set to secondary also shows as 0 in the Conversions column.
Consent. If the tag waits for consent, visitors who decline send no full hit. Ads then models some conversions and may show fewer.
Published 10 Nov 2026. Data: 1,727 sites scanned 5 Nov 2026, and a re-read of the 208 sites' public gtm.js and gtag scripts on 9 Nov 2026. Base: 1,094 of 1,727 readable sites that load the Google Ads tag. Method.
FAQ
Why does Google Ads show clicks but 0 conversions?
Most often the site loads the Google tag but no event with a conversion label fires, or the conversion waits for a thank-you page the form no longer opens. If you import from GA4, check the key event and the account link.
How long before a new Google Ads conversion shows?
Check the hit in DevTools right after a test lead. Google says the tag status can take up to 48 hours to update after a fix, so don't judge the setup by the status on day one.
Originally published on fireshift.ai. We built Fireshift, a free scan that reads what a site sends to Google Ads and GA4 from the outside.
Originally published by Dev.to WebDev. Aggregated on AIWithGhost for educational purposes — full credit and traffic to the original publisher.