Understanding View-Through Conversions in Google Ads in 2025

As an advertiser, you would surely agree that every click on your Google ads matters. However, what is equally important to know and often overlooked is that not every result comes directly from those clicks. Some users just view your Google ad, don’t interact with it at that moment, and yet still visit your website sometime in the future, and complete a conversion. 

This means that even without direct engagement, your ads influence user behavior. It shows that the visibility of your ads alone—supported by proper tracking through tools like a conversion pixel—can help you raise brand awareness and motivate future conversions.

Now the real question is, can you measure these silent yet valuable conversions in Google Ads? Does the standard Google Ads conversion tracking report capture them? Yes, it does. These are recorded as view-through conversions.

If you haven’t heard of view-through conversions before and don’t know how to track them in Google Ads, don’t worry, this blog will guide you. Through it, we will be discussing: 

1. The definition of view-through conversions 
2. How they work and how you can track them in your Google Ads account
3. Why view-through conversions matter
4. How are they different from click-through conversions and much more. 

So, are you ready? Let’s quickly start. 

What are View-Through Conversions in Google Ads? 

A View-through conversion (VTC) occurs when a user views your ad but doesn’t interact with it, and then later completes a conversion on your website within a pre-defined view-through conversion window. As a metric, it helps you understand how ad impressions influence user actions even without direct clicks. 

Unlike click-through conversions, which require a click before conversion, VTCs give credit to the ad view alone as long as no other ad clicks occur before the conversion. 

To further enhance our understanding of VTCs, let’s go through an example.

Suppose a user sees your Google Display ad, through which you are promoting the organic cotton clothes you sell on your e-commerce store. At that moment, they scroll past it and move on. However, after some days, when they realize the need for the same product, they recall your Display ad and visit your website directly to explore it further. Upon exploring, they purchase it.

Since they haven’t viewed or interacted with any other ads between seeing your ad and completing the purchase, that transaction will be recorded as a view-through conversion in your Google Ads account. And as you may have guessed, the credit for that conversion will be attributed to your Display ad. 

So, in short, VTCs play an important role in helping you measure the broader influence of your ads on user behavior. They offer insights into how ad views (impressions) can prompt customers to complete a conversion. 

Some other important points as well that you should note about VTCs: 

• View through conversions aren’t a specific setting or feature in Google Ads that you can enable. For eligible ad formats (Display, video, and app), Google will automatically record these conversions within the defined conversion window. As an advertiser, you can only customize the VTC window. Learn more here. 
• Google Ads uses Active View technology to track these conversions. 
• View-through conversions always appear in the “View-through conversions” and “All conversions” columns. You will not be able to view them in the main “Conversions” column.
• These conversions do not take into account those users who interact with any of your other ads before converting. 
• For Display Network ads, the last viewable impression that meets Google’s Active View standard gets credit for the conversion.
• View-through conversions are not taken into consideration for those browsers that don’t allow cross-site cookies. 
• For Video ads, a view-through conversion occurs when an impression of your video ad results in a conversion on your website. 
• The last impression of a video ad before the conversion receives credit for it.

How to Check View-Through Conversions in Google Ads? 

Here’s the step-by-step process to follow in order to check the view-through conversions for a particular campaign in Google Ads: 

1. Go to your Google Ads account. 
2. From the left-hand side menu, click on Campaigns. 
3. Then expand the Campaigns menu, and again click on ‘Campaigns.’ 

4. Select one specific campaign type from PMax, Display, Demand Gen, or Video from the filters above. For demonstration purposes, we will select ‘Display.’

Note: Only Performance Max (PMax), Display, Video, and Demand Gen campaign types support display and video ads, which are the primary sources of view-through conversions. However, VTCs may also appear in Search or Shopping campaigns when Google’s systems infer that a past ad impression influenced a later conversion.

5. If you are running multiple Display campaigns, then select any one from that list. 
6. You will see a performance report generated for that Display campaign. 

7. Click on ‘Columns’ right above the report and then select ‘Modify columns.’ 

8. Search for the ‘View-through conv.’ metric. 

9. Click on ‘Apply.’

10. That’s it. The campaign report will start showing data for VTCs as well, just like you can see in the image below. 

Note: As per the intended length of this blog, we have only discussed the process to track view-through conversions at the campaign level. However, you can also monitor view-through conversions at the ad group and ad level.  In addition to that, you can also view the recorded view-through conversions for your desired campaigns via customized reports in the Google Ads Report Editor.

What are View-through Conversion Windows? 

View-through conversion windows refer to the time period after an ad impression occurs, during which a VTC can be recorded. It is primarily used to define how long Google and its ad systems should track a user’s action after they see your ad but don’t interact with it. 

For example, if you choose a 30-day window, Google and its algorithms will record any view-through conversions that occur within 30 days after the ad impression. 

A longer view-through conversion window usually results in a larger number of recorded VTCs. This is primarily because users get more time to complete a conversion after they see your ad for the first time. 

Now you might be wondering, “How long can the view-through conversion window be?” The minimum duration is 1 day, while the maximum is 30 days. In between, you can choose any custom whole number and set the window accordingly. 

How to Set View-through Conversion Windows? 

You can set VTC windows whenever you create or edit a conversion action in Google Ads. 

For reference purposes, we will go through the step-by-step process of setting VTC windows while creating a new conversion action: 

1. In your Google Ads account, click on ‘Goals’ from the left-hand side menu. Select ‘Summary.’  

2. Scroll down to the ‘All your goals’ section and click on ‘Create conversion action.’

3. Choose where you want to measure conversions from (e.g., website, app, phone calls, etc.) We will go ahead with ‘Website.’ Once selected, click on ‘Save and Continue.’

4. Then choose a category to create conversion actions from. Some of the available categories include: 

• Purchase
• Submit lead form 
• Contact 
• Page view 

We will select ‘Purchase.’ 

5. Now you will have to add a conversion action. Click on ‘Add conversion actions.’ 
6. Select your website. 

7. Then select whether you want to manually set up the action using code or let Google Tag detect it automatically. 

From a convenience point of view, selecting the latter is recommended. 

8. Next, set the event type and enter your website URL. 
9. Then, you will have to configure the conversion settings. These settings will include action optimization, adding a conversion name, assigning conversion values, and conversion counting options. 
10. Once done, you will finally reach the stage where you can set up your VTC window. 
11. In the view-through conversion window setting, select a particular time period from these available options: 

• Custom, which allows you to pick any number of days between 1 and 30 days. However, please note that you can only add a whole number (e.g., 19 days). You can’t go with values that include decimals like 17.6 days. 
• 30 days
• 4 weeks
• 3 weeks 
• 2 weeks
• 1 week 
• 3 days 
• 1 day 

12. Configure other conversion windows, attribution, and enhanced conversions settings, and click on ‘Done.’ 
13. That’s it. You would have successfully created the conversion action and its view-through conversion window. 

Importance of View-Through Conversions

We will now discuss the key reasons why tracking VTCs of your Google Ads is important. 

1. Capturing Brand Influence: Not all users will click an ad when they first see it. Some will just notice your brand, remember it, and visit your website later (as and when the need arises) to make a purchase. View-through conversions help you track this hidden influence. 

They help you understand how ad impressions build awareness and affect a shopper’s purchase decisions over time. 

2. Helps to Better Optimize Google Ads: By tracking VTCs, you can easily understand which ad campaigns are bringing in meaningful results for your brand. Based on those insights, you can optimize your other ad campaigns, their targeting, budget allocation, creative design, and more. 

For example, if you notice that one of your Google Ads Display Campaigns is generating around 100 VTCs per month, you can adapt its creative design or targeting strategy to other campaigns as well. That will ensure that more of your ads reach the right audience with the relevant message and contribute well to higher conversions. 

3. Improved Reporting Accuracy: According to some studies, approximately 25% of total conversions in Google Display and Video campaigns originate from VTCs. This is why including VTC data in your reports ensures that you are measuring the performance of your ads more accurately. It prevents underestimating those campaigns that are primarily for driving awareness and helps you view the holistic customer journey, and not just last-click actions.

Challenges of Tracking View-through Conversions 

Let’s now understand the challenges of tracking and using view-through conversion data in Google Ads. 

Attribution Complexity 

One major challenge of tracking and interpreting VTCs is determining how much credit an ad impression truly deserves. A user might see multiple ads from your brand (and not interact with them as that’s what leads to VTCs) before converting. In such cases, it’s difficult to pinpoint which impression actually influenced the shopper’s final decision. 

For example, if some views both your YouTube ad and a remarketing Display ad before converting, it’s difficult to tell which one played the bigger role. This overlap often makes attribution tricky. And when attribution is not on point, campaign performance analysis and optimization become even more challenging.  

Overestimation of Impact

Sometimes, VTCs may make your campaign appear more effective and successful than it actually is. This mainly happens because not every conversion recorded as a VTC is necessarily influenced by your ad. 

For example, a user might already be aware of your e-commerce store and would have decided to visit it and make a purchase soon. However, if Google’s algorithms show your display ad to that shopper just before he visits your online store, and then if he makes a purchase, then Google will report that conversion as a view-through conversion. But in reality, the ad didn’t have much of a role in driving that conversion. 

To deal with this overestimation problem, always compare VTC data with click-through conversion data. Moreover, also analyze the GA4 attribution paths report to better understand which customer paths trigger key events. And as much as possible, always keep the conversion window short so that only recent and more relevant ad impressions receive credit.

Limited Tracking Visibility 

As discussed earlier, browsers that block cross-site cookies (such as Safari) don’t allow VTC tracking. This means that your VTC data may not accurately reflect the actual number of conversions completed, as some users in your audience may not have been trackable due to the specific browser they were using. 

So, whenever analyzing VTC data, all advertisers should be considerate about this potential underreporting. 

Pro tip: Analyze Google Ads conversion tracking data along with Google Analytics 4 Funnel Exploration reports. That will help you get a more complete understanding of how your campaigns drive user actions across different channels and sessions.

Short Conversion Window

The view-through conversion window has a maximum limit of 30 days. This can be limiting for those businesses that sell expensive products or services. That’s because in such cases, the sales cycle is a bit long, and customers may need more time to make a decision. 

So, for example, if you sell premium quality furniture online, there’s a good chance that users will take 6-8 weeks (or even more) to purchase your products, even after they see your ad. That’s because for such high-end expensive products, shoppers usually spend time exploring and comparing different styles, designs, prices, and reviews across different competitors, etc., before making a final decision. And if they finally make a purchase after the 30-day window, Google Ads won’t report that. 

Thus, for some specific niches, VTCs aren’t useful. They will fail to capture the true impact of your advertising efforts. 

Can View-Through Conversions in Google Ads Actually Be Trusted?

Many advertisers often question whether view-through conversions (VTCs) truly reflect ad influence. To find out, Aimers (a performance marketing agency) conducted an interesting experiment, which was later also featured on the WordStream blog.

One of their clients wanted to pause a Display remarketing campaign because it showed few direct conversions, even though nearly half of its total conversions were view-throughs. To test how accurate these VTCs were, the Aimers team set up two campaigns:

• One used the original ad creative, which was a regular banner
• The other campaign was a clone of the first campaign. However, the catch here was that the banner in this ad was completely blank. No headlines, no space, no description, and nothing.  

Now, if VTCs were unreliable, then both campaigns would show similar results. This was the expectation that both Aimers and their client had. However, the outcomes proved otherwise and surprised everyone.

• The original ad received over 2.4 million impressions and nine view-through conversions.
• The blank ad had 315,000 impressions and zero view-through conversions.

These results clearly showed that view-through conversions were not random. Users actually saw the display ad, remembered it, and later on the basis of their brand recall, they converted.

This experiment demonstrated that VTCs are reliable indicators of measuring the real influence of your ads beyond just direct clicks. 

Other Google Ad Conversion Tracking blogs to read: Most Common Conversion Tracking Issues in Google Ads Google Ads Conversion Rate: Concept, Formula & Average Rate Google Ads Conversion Settings for Optimized Bid Strategy

View-Through vs. Click-Through Conversions: Key Differences

Now, we will go through the differences between view-through and click-through conversions. 

But before that, you should understand what we mean by click-through conversions.

A click-through conversion (CTC) refers to those conversions that a user completes after clicking on your ad within the defined click-through conversion window. 

This explanation was necessary as Google doesn’t provide a help center page on this. 

Aspect	Click-Through Conversions (CTCs)	View-Through Conversions (VTCs)
User Behavior	These conversions involve active engagement. The user first clicks on an ad they see and then converts. This behavior shows clear intent and direct interest in the product or service that a business offers.	VTCs involve passive engagement. Users only view the ad; they don’t interact with it. Later, they visit your website and complete a conversion. This highlights that the influence is delayed.
Attribution Method	Generally, CTCs are credited to the last clicked ad based on the attribution model you select. In the default last-click attribution model, the last clicked ad and the corresponding keyword get the entire credit.	These conversions are credited to the last viewable ad impression seen within the view-through window.
Conversion Window Limit	1-90 days	1-30 days
Conversion Accuracy	CTCs are considered to be high-confidence, trustworthy metrics. That’s because the user’s click directly links the ad to a conversion.	Compared to CTCs, VTCs are less reliable. This is primarily because there are no clicks. The ad may have influenced a user’s behavior, but the connection is indirect. Thus, VTCs can be seen as an indicator of potential influence rather than definite impact.
Best Used For	Measuring direct response performance.	Understanding and tracking brand awareness.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Understanding view-through conversions (VTCs) is essential for every Google Ads advertiser. They help you measure the hidden impact of your ads beyond direct interactions and give a more complete view of your campaign’s performance.

The key takeaways from this blog include:

• VTCs track conversions influenced by ad views. They measure when a user sees your ad but doesn’t click, yet later visits your website and converts within the defined view-through conversion window. It helps to understand how your ads create awareness and influence customer actions over time.
• They complement click-through conversions (CTCs). While CTCs capture direct intent, VTCs reflect delayed influence. Tracking both helps you understand how your ads drive conversions at different stages of the buying journey.
• You can easily track VTCs in Google Ads. For eligible campaign types, open the campaign report, click on “Columns,” and add the “View-through conv.” metric. You can also monitor them through the Google Ads Report Editor. 
• A view-through conversion window is the time period during which Google tracks conversions after a user sees your ad but doesn’t click it. You can adjust this window between 1 and 30 days based on your campaign goals and sales cycle.
• VTCs improve performance insights. Including them in your analysis helps you understand how display and video ads contribute to brand awareness and conversions that don’t come directly from clicks.
• VTCs also have a few limitations. Attribution complexity, browser tracking restrictions, and short conversion windows can affect accuracy. 
• Always compare VTC data with CTC data and GA4 reports for balanced insights related to the performance of your campaigns. 

Good luck. 

FAQs

1. What is a view-through conversion in Google Ads?

A view-through conversion (VTC) happens when a user sees your ad, doesn’t click it, but later visits your website and completes a conversion. Google counts it only if the conversion occurs within your defined view-through conversion window (up to 30 days).

2. How to view conversions in Google Ads?

To view your conversions, open your Google Ads account, go to Campaigns from the left-hand side menu, and within that, click on campaigns. You will get the performance report for all active campaigns in your Google Ads account. Click on Columns and then Modify columns. Select ‘Conversions’ and apply it. 

This is for the campaign level. You can also view conversions for ad groups and ads. 

3. For which types of ads are view-through conversions available?

View-through conversions are available for Display and Video ads in Google Ads. 

4. What is a good number of view-through conversions?

There’s no fixed number for a “good” view-through conversion rate. It depends on your business type and campaign goals. However, if your Display or Video campaigns get around 10–20% of total conversions from view-throughs, it’s considered healthy. A much higher percentage could suggest that your ads are showing too often to the same audience or your targeting is too broad.

Other Resources You Might Like:

• Top 36+ Google Ads Errors and How to Fix Them