In this video I describe how how can delete bad conversion data in Google so you can have clean data for better optimization and ensure the algorithm has the best data to use for your account
We've all gotten leads from Google that aren't our ideal prospect, duplicate conversions or people looking for jobs. However with how most people track conversions, they can still be added to the dashboard and cause the algorithm to think "Ooh THIS stale lead is a conversion?! Lets get more of them!" Which of course we don't want.
This can also make optimization a bit tricker. As when you look if a keyword got a conversion, you may not know or remember if the conversion was good or not, causing you to keep keywords that are generating bad leads,
For a while now I thought there wasnt a way around this until I did more digging and found what can be done to remove these pesky conversions. The term is called conversion adjustment. Here is an article that explains it more in detail.
Overall we are telling Google to change this specific conversion to 0 (or to retract it). This way we remove the bad conversions and keep the good ones! That way Google knows what a good conversion is and it can do its thing with automated or enhanced bids.
So how do you do it?
Here is what you'll need
(Assuming you are accurately tracking conversions and you know which ones are bad)
Download the template needed to delete conversions (Go to your Google Ads dashboard --> Tools & Settings --> Conversions --> Uploads (on the left side of the screen) --> Click the blue plus circle--> click view templates --> download the Conversion adjustments using Google Click ID
The Google click ID (gclick ID) of the bad conversion (if you use call tracking like callrail, they will give this to you
The name of the conversion you want to delete
The EXACT date and time that conversion was recieved (down to the second, Ill explain how we can work around this)
Your timezone ID (you can find it here) Grab the ID of the account time zone. for example of you are in eastern time your ID is America/New_York
Overall if you track conversions you should be able to get all this data
So the Excel sheet has 5 columns (Google Click ID, Conversion Name, Conversion Time. Adjustment Time, Adjustment Type, Adjusted Value Adjusted Value Currency) DO NOT delete any of the columns
Step 1: Add the Google Click ID to the first column. Only add the gclick ID and nothing else (i.e no need to add the url)
Step 2: Add the Conversion Name exactly how it appears on the conversion page of Google ads. For example if the conversion you want to delete is "First Time Phone Call" Ensure you put "First Time Phone Call"
Step 3: Conversion Time (The fun part). Your conversion tracking system should report the date and time you got the conversion up to the minute. However Google needs to know the exact time you got the conversion up to the second! I didnt realize and this stumped me for a bit, but here is a cheat to get around this
Ensure you do a date and time format using military time as this will make things easier (for example 9/22/2023 15:49:00)
Click on the block with the date you just put and click & hold the square on the lower right corner of the block and if you drag it down, you see itll add a second to the time (ie now its 9/22/2023 15:49:01)
Do this until you reach 9/22/2023 15:49:59. Now we have accounted for all the seconds that conversion could have happened. Of course if you already know down to the second when the conversion happened, you can skip this step.
Step 4: Add in your timezone ID to the end of ALL the times so it reads 9/22/2023 15:49:01 America/New_York). There is an excel hack to do this quicker which is explained here. Be sure to drag down the gclick ID and Conversion name as well to go with all the times you inputted (those wont change since they dont have a number at the end of it)
Step 5: Add an Adjustment Time: This can be anytime AFTER the inital conversion time. So just add an hour or so the the time like 9/22/2023 16:49:01 America/New_York. It can be the same for all the rows
Step 6: Adjustment type. Type the word RETRACT and add it to all the rows
Repeat For all bad conversions (Yes it will be a big sheet)
No need to worry about the other 2 columns unless you attached a value to the conversions
Save the sheet! Then go to your Google Ads dashboard --> Tools & Settings --> Conversions --> Uploads (on the left side of the screen) --> Click the blue plus circle
Select the source (excel or Google sheet) and then hit preview.
You should see alot of error
but hey look, 1 (or more if you deleted multiple conversions) was successful!
Thats all we need, Click apply and in 3-4 hours that conversion will disappear from your dashboard and not affect your algorithm!
While it is time consuming, this can improve results but not only giving more accurate data or the keywords that actually gave good conversions, but help with the automated bidding as well
Looking to learn how to run Google Ads? This program will show you how