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In order to give advertisers better insight into conversions that occur across devices and browsers, Google introduced a new metric, called Estimated Conversions, on October 1st. This feature will soon be available to AdWords users across the globe, providing that they use conversion tracking. 

Consumers often begin searching for a product or service on one device, before moving to another to convert and this is therefore a timely addition to the AdWords interface.

Users will find an ‘estimated total conversions’ column in their AdWords accounts, which combines information from the regular conversions column with estimates of cross device conversions. This will enable advertisers to determine where their ads are most effective in terms of conversions, allowing them to tailor their bids and messages accordingly.

There are certain minimum requirements for using the feature: only advertisers receiving more than 50 conversions daily will be eligible. This might exclude a lot of smaller retailers and service businesses.

Estimating conversions in a multi-screen world

As the above infographic from Google shows, they are also planning to incorporate conversions in-store and by phone into this feature and this will provide even greater insight for AdWords advertisers.

If your business qualifies, it is definitely worthwhile looking into this feature, as it could paint a much more realistic picture of the success (or failure) of your AdWords campaigns.

A simple example to illustrate this is the scenario of a shopper searching for an item from a desktop PC while at work, then saving it to his / her favourites, then revisiting the item via saved bookmarks from a tablet or laptop at home and completing the purchase there. In such a scenario, traditional conversion tracking would fail to attribute this sale to Google AdWords, thereby leading an advertiser to wrongly assume that a potentially valuable keyword is wasting their budget.