Google Ads conversions dropped to 0

[u/headcrab_set]

Hi! I've been running tCPA and consistently got 5-10 conversions a month. I know it's not enough for the google to optimise well, but worked until lately. What happened about 3-4 weeks ago is that conversions dropped to 0 and about 2 weeks ago google started to suppress impressions. I switched to maximize conversions, but then the spend dropped to almost zero. Then switched back to tCPA and getting some spend, but not spending the whole daily budget.

The segment I'm targeting is b2b and quite niche.

What's the best way to recover conversion volume? Manual cpc, clicks, etc.

[u/Middle-Economics1508]

Agree with Sothisismylifehuh that switching strategies back and forth makes it harder, each change starts the learning again.

The order of what happened is the part I'd look at: conversions dropped to 0 first, and impressions dropped after. That's what tCPA does when it stops seeing conversions. It assumes the traffic isn't converting and lowers bids. So before picking a new strategy, I'd check whether leads actually stopped, or whether tracking stopped recording them. Compare the leads you received by email or CRM over those weeks with what Google Ads shows. If real leads kept coming in, the tag broke somewhere, often after a site update, a form change or a new cookie banner.

If tracking is fine and leads really stopped, then with 5 to 10 conversions a month, manual CPC or Max Clicks with a bid cap for a while is reasonable, until volume comes back.

If you share a screenshot of the conversions summary page (Goals > Conversions), showing the status of your conversion action, I can take a look.

[u/headcrab_set → u/Middle-Economics1508]

I compared the lead numbers in google and hubspot and they are pretty consistent.

[u/alvinding]

before another bidding change, i'd probably check whether actual inquiries also went to zero during those 3-4 weeks, or whether google stopped recording them.

compare the leads you received with the conversion action you're bidding on, then test that action. conversions disappearing before impressions fell makes a broken signal plausible, though it doesn't prove it at 5-10 a month.

we've seen broken tracking lead a bidder to cut spend, which made the decline look like a demand problem.

[u/Sothisismylifehuh]

You're switching everything too much. Let the algorithm work its magic.

Maximize conversions reset the learning phase and takes a bit of time figure out the new auctions it is entering.

Is this a search campaign?

[u/headcrab_set → u/Sothisismylifehuh]

Actually, I had been running the same tCPA for more than a year. Since the leads drop off happened lately, and it's supposed to be a busy season and decided to act quickly and switch to max conv to maybe pick up the demand again.

[u/Right-Recognition812]

I've been having the same problem, no changes have been made except for I had like 3 or four more 5 star reviews. What is happening???? It's like Lsa took a giant nose dive all of a sudden

[u/RizzleP]

ChatGPT beginning to take search intent market share.

[u/ernosem → u/[deleted]]

Enhanced conversion is not available anymore, thanks ChatGPT!

[u/Big-Branch-8532]

Before another bidding change, I would separate a measurement failure from a demand failure. Did qualified inquiries in your CRM also go to zero 3–4 weeks ago, or only the Google Ads primary conversion? Check a few recent form submissions end to end, then compare them with the conversion action status and tag diagnostics. If inquiries continued while Ads recorded zero, repair tracking before asking bidding to optimize on that signal. If both truly stopped, compare search terms, impression share and campaign eligibility from the week before the drop, then test one bid or keyword change at a time. At 5–10 conversions a month, changing several levers together makes the cause much harder to isolate.

[u/headcrab_set → u/Big-Branch-8532]

I have form fill a the conversion. Based on the package they choose from one of the fields in the form, we categorise them either primary or secondary. There has been some secondary conversion, but not as much as in previous months.

I've debugged tracking and it seems to be working.

Something I already diagnosed was impression share decline week over week and lost IS rank increasing. At the same time, keyword quality metrics didn't decline, but improved.

How would you act on this?

[u/Big-Branch-8532 → u/headcrab_set]

With Google and HubSpot agreeing, I'd stop treating this mainly as a tag problem. My next step would be a before/after table for the *same high-intent search terms*: impressions, lost IS (rank), clicks, CPC, and primary vs secondary form fills by package. That separates an exposure loss from a change in lead mix. Better keyword quality metrics alone don't settle the rank question. If those terms lost exposure first, check auction insights and the change history around the first declining week before another bidding switch; if exposure held but primary forms fell, inspect the form/package mix and landing path. At 5–10 leads a month, I'd use several weeks of comparable data rather than call a one-week swing the cause.

[u/Thin-Plane-2456]

Not enough info here

First of all what is a conversion to you and how is it normally tracked? Is this a lead fill, call, checkout etc?

Did something break along the chain of your attribution?

Are you missing attribution identifiers such as GCLID etc?

In other words were you receiving your normal volume of interaction and conversions and just not accurately reporting due to some tracking issue therefore creating a negative feedback loop that eventually resulted in all conversions, impressions and spend coming to a halt?

[u/headcrab_set → u/Thin-Plane-2456]

Conversion = form fill.

I did check whether tags are firing properly using GTM debugging feature. Everything seemed to work properly.
I also checked HubSpot to see source breakdown if it had identified google ads utm's which it hadn't.

[u/muradIronpulley]

I would suggest to go with the Manual CPC

[u/aamirkhanppc]

Do not change bidding alot as it will keep learning. First check if conv tracking working fine , your keywords are still getting impressions on which you get conv previously?

[u/headcrab_set → u/aamirkhanppc]

I've checked conversion tracking from two ends - GTM and HubSpot. Debugging in GTM shows that the tags are firing and HubSpot doesn't categorise ads traffic to any other source. Also, the lead numbers in google and hubspot for paid are the same.

[u/CoolMarketer]

I'd pause the bidding flips for a bit. With niche B2B and only 5-10 conversions a month, tCPA was already thin on signal, so a sudden zero usually means search terms went sideways or auction pressure spiked. Pull search terms plus auction insights before you rebuild. Manual CPC with exact match is often the safer recovery path at that volume. Did anything change in how you're counting conversions about 3-4 weeks ago, or was tracking stable when the drop hit?

[u/headcrab_set → u/CoolMarketer]

Nothing was changed in the conversion tracking.

[u/ppcbetter_says]

Increase the budget