Conversion tracking
Conversion tracking is the code that tells Google which clicks turned into enquiries, so it can bid toward the ones that do.
Without it, Google is optimising toward clicks, and clicks are not the thing you're buying.
A form conversion should fire when the thank-you page loads, not when the submit button is pressed, because a press doesn't prove the message sent.
Proof that tracking works is a real request reaching Google from a real browser on the live site, not a green tick in a settings screen.
I've taken over accounts where the tracking read as configured and had been counting nothing for months, and every bid decision in that period was made from a number that was wrong.
The click window matters too: set to 90 days it credits a lead that took 2 months to decide, and that setting can't be applied backwards to money already spent.
What this means for you
This is the first thing I check on any account and nothing else gets touched until it's clean, because every keyword, bid and budget decision downstream inherits whatever this reports.
This one sits under Google Ads management.
Related terms
Want to know how this looks on your account?
I'll look at what you've got and tell you where it stands, in the same plain terms.
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