Mark one action Primary and keep the rest Secondary

Primary actions land in the Conversions column; Secondary actions land only in All conversions

Google defines a conversion action as “a specific customer action that you've defined as valuable,” and gives an online purchase or a phone call as its examples. Google doesn't decide which of your tracked actions counts as a result. You do, with one setting on each action inside a goal: Primary or Secondary.

Mark an action Primary and it is reported in the Conversions column. Mark it Secondary and it isn't: Google calls a Secondary action observation only and puts it in All conversions, the broader view carrying the actions left out of Conversions. That view lets you report on an action without putting it in the bidding column.

Open Goals to see the setting on any conversion action, marked Primary or Secondary within its goal. The Conversions column shows conversions received across primary conversion actions, and Google says it is generally used for bidding optimization. The column you report from is the column the bidding system reads.

A Primary action moves bidding only when its goal is the one the campaign uses

Primary

Used for bidding if the campaign is optimizing toward the goal that contains it

Secondary

Observation only; not used for bidding unless placed inside a custom goal

Google sets two conditions and both have to hold. The action must be Primary, and the campaign must use the goal that contains it. Miss either one and the action changes nothing about how the campaign bids: a Primary action sitting in a goal your campaign never optimizes toward only reports.

Google says a Secondary action isn't used for bidding unless you place it inside a custom goal. Mark an action Secondary when you want it visible in your numbers and out of the bidding column.

Google says Smart Bidding “uses Google AI to optimize for conversions or conversion value in each and every auction,” so whatever you mark Primary inside the campaign's goal is what the system learns to chase. Mark a homepage visit Primary and the system bids toward homepage visits. A separate article covers the budget settings that hold an Ad Grants account's delivery back.

Google for Nonprofits says that when your account uses Maximize conversions, Target CPA or Target ROAS, the system may bid over the program-level $2.00 USD max bid if account performance merits it. Those strategies work from the conversions your Primary actions produce, so the actions you promote are the evidence behind those bids.

Open the campaign's goal settings and confirm which goal it optimizes toward before you assume a Primary action is doing anything. If that goal doesn't contain the action you promoted, Google's two conditions aren't met and your bidding hasn't changed.

Primary belongs to the action you would defend as valuable, and nothing softer

Primary

A specific customer action you have defined as valuable, such as an online purchase or phone call

Secondary

Still tracked and still reported; where softer signals belong, such as time spent on site or homepage visits, which Google says should not be added to every campaign

Use Google's definition as the test: an action you have defined as valuable. Some tracked signals don't survive it. Google's Ad Grants conversion-tracking guidance says conversion types such as time spent on site or homepage visits may be added, but “should not be added to every campaign.” If your conversion rate looks high, the same page tells you to confirm that the rate reflects “strong performance for a meaningful conversion.”

A conversion rate that looks strong because homepage visits count as conversions tells you people reached the homepage. It says nothing about donations, inquiries or registrations.

Put those signals in Secondary, where they still report in All conversions. You keep the visibility and give up the influence. Promote an action only if you want the bidding system working, auction after auction, to produce more of it.

The Google for Nonprofits conversion-tracking setup page states a minimum call length of 30 seconds for phone-call conversions. If calls are one of your meaningful actions, that number decides which calls count at all, before the Primary or Secondary question arises. Check it against the live page before you build around it, because Google's live documentation controls.

The monthly requirement is read in the Conversions column, where only Primary actions report

Primary

Ad Grants policy requires active and accurate conversion tracking, at least 1 conversion per month, and meaningful actions

Secondary

Not counted where the guide looks: the monthly conversion is read in the Conversions column, which Secondary actions do not report in

The Ad Grants setup guide says policy requires active and accurate conversion tracking on your account, at least 1 conversion per month while the account is active, and meaningful actions. The policy compliance guide adds that accounts created since January 2018, and advertisers using Smart Bidding strategies, must implement accurate conversion tracking.

That is a floor for your account, and the compliance guide says where to read it: at least 1 conversion per month "(see the Conversions column)". Only Primary actions report in that column, so the setting matters here. Counting a softer signal to keep the monthly number ticking over runs against the same policy line, which requires meaningful actions.

One column counts. The two cells differ where it counts. The compliance guide reads the monthly conversion in the Conversions column, and Secondary actions never report there. An account whose meaningful actions are all Secondary can record conversions in All conversions and still show none where the guide looks, so keep at least one meaningful action Primary. Google decides what satisfies the requirement.

Mark one meaningful action Primary, keep the rest Secondary

Mark one meaningful mission action Primary, inside the goal your campaigns optimize toward, and leave everything else Secondary. Donations, service inquiries and event registrations are the candidates. Engagement signals stay Secondary, where they report without steering a bid.

One condition flips that for the same action. While you're still confirming the tag fires correctly, keep it Secondary. All conversions lets you report on the action without putting it in the bidding column: watch the numbers there, compare them against what you know happened, and promote the action once the data is trustworthy. Promote it earlier and you hand the bidding system evidence you haven't checked. Another article covers campaigns that Google marks Eligible while showing no impressions.

The check to run this week: open Goals, list every action marked Primary, and confirm each one is an action you'd defend as the point of the campaign. Then open the campaign's goal settings and confirm it optimizes toward the goal those actions sit in. If several actions are Primary inside that goal, decide which single one you want the bidding to chase.

Set it once, then confirm the goal

Changing the setting takes a minute. Confirming that your campaigns optimize toward the goal holding the action takes another, and without it the setting does nothing to your bidding. Google's documentation changes, so check the live pages before building a routine around any rule quoted here.

The qualification review is free. All we need is your organization's name and website. Start the free quiz