Why your Google Ads conversions are "unverified" or not recording
Google Ads shows your conversion action as "unverified", "inactive" or "no recent conversions", even though sales are happening. That status means the conversion signal is not reaching Google, and until it is, smart bidding is running blind.
The common causes
- The tag is not on the conversion page, or fires on the wrong one. See thank-you page not firing.
- Google Ads and GA4 are not linked, or the imported key event is not set as a conversion.
- Consent Mode denies the signal for most users. See Consent Mode v2 breaking ads.
- The conversion tag was only just added, so Google has not seen one yet, verification can take a few days of real conversions.
How to get it verified
Complete a real conversion and confirm the tag fires (Tag Assistant or GTM Preview), check the Ads-GA4 link and that the action is set to count, and confirm Consent Mode is granting the ad signals for consented users. Once Google receives genuine conversions with valid consent, the status flips to verified. An free check shows whether the conversion tag is firing at all.
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