> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Conversion Drop Alert, Google Ads > Conversion Drop Alert detects when Google Ads conversions drop materially. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ads](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > **Alerts when Google Ads conversions drop significantly versus a recent baseline.** **A 25%+ overnight conversion drop is rarely a real demand drop, it is almost always a tracking failure**: GTM tag broken, conversion goal misconfigured, conversion linker disabled, or the BC checkout-event GTM tag stopped firing. The card is the early-warning signal that catches conversion-tracking gaps before the merchant burns through 7-14 days of ad spend on data the platform can't optimise. | | | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Detects when current-period conversions fall below a rolling-baseline threshold. The threshold is dual: (a) absolute drop greater than 15% over the rolling 7-day window vs the prior 7-day window, OR (b) absolute drop greater than 25% in any 24-hour period. Either trigger fires the alert. | | **Sample type** | Google Ads conversions (purchases) data, refreshed on the standard data refresh. | | **Why this alert matters** | (1) **Catches tracking failures fast**: most conversion drops are tracking issues; the 24-hour trigger catches them within a day rather than a week. (2) **Protects ad spend**: Google Ads bidding optimises against conversion data. Broken tracking sends Smart Bidding into the dark, leading to wasted spend. (3) **Diagnoses release regressions**: GTM tag changes, theme updates, BC integration changes can all break conversion firing without obvious symptoms. | | **Reading the value** | (1) No alert: conversions tracking normally. (2) Alert with 15-25% drop: investigate but may be real demand softening. (3) Alert with 25%+ drop in 24h: almost certainly a tracking issue; pause investigations and check GTM. (4) Cross-reference `gads_total_revenue` and BC's `total_orders` for the ground-truth sales picture. | | **Currency** | percent (drop magnitude). | | **Time window** | `7D vsP` rolling, with 24h sub-window for sudden drops. | | **Alert trigger** | `conversions_change_pct < -15` (over 7D) OR `conversions_change_pct < -25` (over 24h). | | **Sentiment key** | `gads_conversion_drop_alert` (alert state when triggered). | | **Roles** | owner, marketing, operations | ## Calculation ``` gads_conversion_drop_alert fires when: (current_7d_conversions - prior_7d_conversions) ÷ prior_7d_conversions × 100 < -15 OR (last_24h_conversions - average_24h_baseline) ÷ average_24h_baseline × 100 < -25 ``` The 24h trigger uses a rolling 7-day baseline average to avoid false positives on weekend/weekday mix. ## Worked example A UK-based BC store, conversion drop alert reading on Wednesday 15 May 26. | Period | Conversions | Change | Notes | | ----------------------------- | ----------: | -------: | ---------------------- | | 7 days ago - today | 213 | -22.4% | **Alert fired** | | Prior 7 days | 274 | baseline | - | | Last 24h | 22 | -42% | Severe sub-window drop | | 24h baseline (rolling 7d avg) | 38/day | - | Expected | Cross-reference signals: * BC `total_orders` last 7 days: 462 (BC-side sales unchanged; Google Ads "lost" the conversions despite real sales) * `gads_total_spend` unchanged at £45K * `gads_ctr` unchanged at 3.2% * Recent release deploy: GTM container update on Monday 13 May (2 days before alert) What the alert is telling us: 1. **Sales are actually fine; tracking is broken.** BC reports 462 orders (real sales), Google Ads reports 213 conversions. Google Ads is missing roughly half the conversions. **This is conversion-tracking failure, not demand drop.** 2. **Smoking gun: GTM update on Monday.** The release timing aligns with the conversion drop start. Likely cause: GTM container was updated, conversion linker tag disabled or broken, conversion event firing condition changed. 3. **The financial impact of letting this run:** * Google Ads Smart Bidding optimises based on conversion data. With half the conversions invisible, **bidding optimises for the wrong audiences and decisions**. * 7-14 days of broken tracking can result in 20-40% wasted ad spend as Smart Bidding degrades. * In this case: 7 days × £6,500/day spend = £45,500 of ads optimised on broken data. 4. **Recommended response, in priority order:** * **Hour 1**: Verify in Google Ads the conversion event is firing as expected. Use the Google Ads Tag Assistant. * **Hour 1**: Check the GTM container changelog for any changes to: conversion linker tag, purchase event tag, BC integration trigger. * **Hour 2**: Test the checkout flow; check that purchase event fires in browser console. * **Day 1**: Roll back the GTM container change if the broken tag is identified. * **Day 1**: Use Google Ads' "Conversion adjustment" feature to retroactively credit the missed conversions if possible. * **Day 2-7**: Re-train Smart Bidding on the corrected data; expect 7-14 days for bid optimisation to recover. 5. **What to NOT do:** * **Don't pause campaigns yet**. Pausing during a tracking issue means the resumed campaigns lose all bid history. * **Don't accept the alert as a real demand drop without checking BC's order data.** Always cross-reference BC `total_orders` first. * **Don't manually adjust Smart Bidding** until tracking is fixed. Let Google's algorithm work with corrected data. 6. **Common root causes when this alert fires:** * GTM container update breaking the conversion event tag (most common) * BC theme/checkout customisation breaking the purchase event firing * Conversion linker disabled or expired * Cookie consent changes (gtag consent mode v2 misconfigured) * Cross-domain tracking broken (referrer exclusion list outdated) * Apple ITP / browser blocking (gradual; usually flagged separately) The diagnostic flow: 1. **See the alert.** Compare Google Ads conversions vs BC total\_orders. 2. **If BC orders unchanged**: tracking issue. Investigate GTM, conversion linker, cookie consent. 3. **If BC orders also dropped**: real demand event. Investigate site speed, OOS, paid spend changes. 4. **Fix the cause; re-train bidding.** Rapid-response playbook: | Time horizon | Action | | ------------ | -------------------------------------------------- | | First 1 hour | Cross-check BC orders; confirm tracking vs demand. | | First day | Identify GTM / consent / tag root cause; fix. | | First week | Smart Bidding re-trains; conversion data recovers. | | Day 14 | Confirm performance returned to baseline. | ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why merchants reach for it | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | [`gads_total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/total-revenue) | Revenue companion. | | [`gads_total_spend`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/total-spend) | Spend; should track conversions. | | [`gads_roas`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/roas) | ROAS; collapses when tracking breaks. | | [`gads_alert_conversion_tracking_broken`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/conversion-tracking-broken-alert) | More specific tracking-broken alert. | | [`total_orders`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-orders) | BC-side ground truth for cross-check. | | [`ga4_alert_conversion_drop`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-analytics/conversion-rate-drop-alert) | GA4-side companion alert. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Google Ads:** Tools → Conversions; Diagnostic insights for tracking issues. **Why our alert may differ from Google's own:** | Reason | Direction | What to do | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | **Threshold sensitivity.** Google's alert may use 30%+ drops; this card alerts earlier at 15-25%. | Vortex IQ earlier | n/a; earlier is better. | | **Per-campaign vs account-wide.** Google may flag per-campaign; this card is account-wide. | Variable | Cross-reference. | | **Data delay.** Conversions report with up to 72-hour delay in some cases. | Variable | Allow 72h before treating recent drops as real. | **Quick rule:** always cross-check BC `total_orders` before assuming the alert is a real demand event. ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Q: The alert fired but BC orders are normal. What does that mean?** Tracking is broken. The conversions are happening; Google Ads just can't see them. Most common cause: a GTM container change broke the conversion event tag. Check GTM changelog, fix the tag, use Conversion Adjustments to backfill if possible. **Q: The alert fired and BC orders also dropped. What does that mean?** Real demand event. Investigate: site speed regression, OOS bestsellers, payment failure, deliverability issue, competitive event. Cross-reference `psi_perf_score_summary`, `out_of_stock_count`, `failed_orders_trend`. **Q: We just upgraded our checkout app. Could that be the cause?** Very likely. Checkout customisations frequently break the BC → GTM → Google Ads conversion chain. Test the new checkout in incognito and verify the `purchase` event fires in browser console. If it doesn't, the new checkout app needs configuration to fire the event. **Q: Should I pause campaigns while diagnosing?** Generally no. Pausing kills bid history; resuming starts from cold and may take 2-4 weeks to recover. Better: keep campaigns running while you fix tracking; Smart Bidding will re-train on corrected data within 7-14 days. **Q: Why is the threshold at -15% and not stricter?** -15% over a week is the boundary between "natural variance" and "real signal". Setting tighter (e.g., -10%) creates alert fatigue from weekend-vs-weekday or seasonal noise. The 24-hour sub-window at -25% catches the urgent cases. **Q: We use offline conversions (in-store sales reported via API). Are those covered?** Yes if uploaded via the standard offline conversion API and configured as conversion goals. The card monitors all conversions Google Ads counts, regardless of online or offline source. **Q: Conversion adjustments, how do they work?** After fixing tracking, you can upload corrected conversion data via Google Ads' Conversion Adjustment API. This back-fills the missed conversions and updates Smart Bidding. Most agencies miss this step; it's worth doing for any multi-day tracking outage. **Q: How is this different from `gads_alert_conversion_tracking_broken`?** This card is the broad conversion drop alert (which includes tracking failures and real demand drops). The other card is a specific tracking-failure detection that triggers on patterns like sudden zero-conversions in active campaigns. Both can fire together; this card fires on more scenarios. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Conversion Drop Alert* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Google Ads and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.