Summary
The event must be designated as a key event. GA4 only exposes key events to a linked Google Ads account for import as conversion actions, so the flag has to be set in Admin, Data display, Key events first. Once imported and set as primary, the action can be used for bidding optimisation.
Nitin Batra is a Google Analytics 4 certified professional who configures key events, Google Ads links and imported conversion actions for client properties on a regular basis.
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Before you can create a conversion in Google Ads from a GA4 event, the event must be designated as a key event in Admin, under Data display, Key events, which makes it eligible for import and bidding.
- The event must be designated as a key event.
- The event’s parameters must be marked as custom definitions.
- The event data must be exported to BigQuery.
- The event must be analyzed in a custom exploration.
The correct answer is: The event must be designated as a key event.
Key Takeaways
- – After identifying the important event, it must be designated as a key event in GA4 before the conversion can be created in Google Ads.
- – Key events are configured in Admin, Data display, Key events, and you can toggle an existing event or add one by name before it has been collected.
- – GA4 stopped calling these conversions and now uses key event in the property, while Google Ads still calls the imported action a conversion.
- – Marking an event as a key event is not retrospective for the Ads import, so historical data before the flag was set will not populate the imported conversion action.
Where exactly do you mark an event as a key event in GA4?
Go to Admin, then under Data display click Key events. Any event GA4 has already seen in the last few days appears in the events list with a toggle you can switch on. If the event has not fired yet, use New key event and type the event name exactly as it will be sent, including case, because event names are case sensitive.
Why did Google rename conversions to key events in GA4?
The rename separates GA4 measurement from Google Ads bidding. In GA4 a key event is an action that matters to your business, while in Google Ads a conversion is an action you want to optimise and pay for. Keeping the terms distinct avoids confusion when the same event is counted differently by the two products, since GA4 and Ads use different attribution and counting rules.
Does marking an event as a key event automatically create the conversion in Google Ads?
No. The key event flag only makes the event eligible for import. You still have to open the linked Google Ads account, go to Goals, Conversions, Summary, choose New conversion action, then Import and Google Analytics 4 properties, and select the event. After importing, check the conversion goal and the Primary or Secondary setting, because only primary actions feed Smart Bidding.
What happens if you skip the key event step and try to import the event into Google Ads?
The event simply will not show up in the import list, and people often assume the account link is broken. Check that the GA4 property and the Ads account are linked in Admin, Product links, Google Ads links, that the event is toggled on under Key events, and that it has recorded data since being marked. It can take up to a day for a newly marked key event to appear as available for import.