Cross-Account Imported Conversions
One or more conversion actions on your account have names matching common cross-account or external-import patterns (imported_, [MCC], ga4_, firebase_, sf_, hubspot_). Imported conversions are valid, but they need a deduplication plan. If the same outcome is being counted by both an imported action and a native tag, Smart Bidding sees inflated volume.
Why It Matters
Imports come from a few places: GA4 conversions linked into Google Ads, Salesforce or HubSpot offline conversion uploads, Firebase events from mobile apps, or MCC-level shared conversions inherited from a parent account. Each is a legitimate setup. The risk is overlap. A common pattern: the site has a native Google Ads conversion tag for Purchase, and the same Purchase event is also synced from GA4 as an imported conversion. Both arrive in Google Ads with similar names. If both are set to Primary, every order is counted twice and Target ROAS bidding sees doubled volume against the same spend. Reported ROAS halves and the bidder behaves erratically. The second risk is naming hygiene. Imported conversions often carry prefixes (imported_, ga4_, sf_) that survived from the source system. When the conversion list grows past 20 or 30 entries, distinguishing the canonical action from the import becomes difficult and stale imports linger past their useful life.
How To Fix It
- List every flagged imported action and identify the source system (GA4, Salesforce, Firebase, MCC).
- For each, find the corresponding native action on the same outcome. If both exist and both are Primary, pick one canonical source and set the other to Secondary or Removed.
- Document which source is authoritative for each business outcome (typically: native tag for website Purchase, offline upload for closed-won deals, GA4 import only when no native option exists).
- Rename surviving imports to remove source-system prefixes where they obscure intent.
- Re-run the audit after the next reporting cycle to confirm volume is no longer duplicated.
Example
Active actions: Purchase (Website, Primary), ga4_purchase (Import, Primary). Same outcome counted twice.One or more conversion actions on this Google Ads account appear to be imported from another system based on naming conventions such as imported_, ga4_, sf_, hubspot_, firebase_, or [MCC]. Per Google Ads conversion tracking documentation, imported conversions are a supported source but require deduplication when a native tag covers the same outcome. The most common failure mode is a website Purchase tag and a GA4-imported Purchase both set to Primary, resulting in doubled conversion counts feeding Target ROAS bidding against the same spend and producing halved reported ROAS. Imports also tend to accumulate stale entries with source-system prefixes that obscure the canonical action. Fix: identify the source system for each imported action, pick one authoritative source per business outcome, demote duplicates to Secondary or Removed, and document the authoritative source so future audits can be reasoned about clearly. Source: support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722022.
Drop this paragraph into your client deliverable. Sources back to the canonical platform documentation linked below.
References
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