Saylia uploads the calls you decide should count to Google Ads as offline conversions, with a value and matched to the click or call that started them. Most accounts send qualified and booked calls. Smart Bidding then learns from the calls that became customers, not from how long the phone was off the hook.
Three stages, three conversion actions
Every call can be sent at up to three stages. Each stage goes to its own conversion action in Google Ads:
| Stage | What it means | Typical action name |
|---|---|---|
| Call | A call you want counted at all | Call |
| Qualified lead | The caller needs something you offer | Qualified call |
| Booked lead | An appointment was set or a job booked | Booked call |
Each upload carries a value and a currency. Click conversions also carry an order ID, unique to that conversion, so Google won’t count the same one twice. Call conversions have no order ID; Google matches them by caller and call time.
How each call is matched
| What Saylia has for the call | What’s uploaded | Google Ads action type |
|---|---|---|
| A GCLID from the landing page, captured by the tracking tag | A click conversion matched to that click, with enhanced conversion data attached | Import from clicks |
| A GBRAID or WBRAID (Google uses these for some iOS traffic) | A click conversion matched with that ID, with enhanced conversion data attached | Import from clicks |
| No click ID, but the caller’s number | The hashed caller number alone; Google matches only some of these | Import from clicks |
| A call that came through a Google forwarding number, such as a call from a call ad | A call conversion matched by the caller’s number and the call’s start time, which Google checks against its own call records | Import from calls |
Click conversions carry enhanced conversion data: the caller’s phone number, normalized to E.164 and hashed with SHA-256. When the click ID matches, it adds a second signal. Without a click ID, Saylia can send the hashed number alone, and Google matches only some of these.
Google auto-tagging must be on for your ads to carry a GCLID. Check it under Admin → Account settings → Auto-tagging.
Create the conversion actions in Google Ads
Create one action per stage you want to send. Most accounts start with Qualified call and Booked call.
- In Google Ads, go to Goals → Summary, click + Create conversion action and choose Conversions offline.
- For calls with a click ID, set it up to import conversions from clicks. For calls from call ads that you want matched by caller and call time, create a separate action under Conversions from phone calls → Calls via uploads (not under Phone call lead).
- Name it for what it measures — for example Booked call — and pick a matching category, such as a booked-appointment category for booked calls or a qualified-lead category for qualified calls.
- Under Value, choose to use different values for each conversion, so Saylia can send each call’s own value.
- Under Count, choose One for lead-type actions: one person from one click is one lead, however many times they call. Google doesn’t accept GBRAID or WBRAID conversions on an action that counts One, so for those calls Saylia sends the hashed phone number instead of the ID.
- Set the click-through conversion window to cover how long your customers take to call, up to Google’s 90-day maximum.
- Save. Then set Booked call as a primary action and Qualified call as secondary, unless you book too few calls for bidding to learn from.
Then connect the Google Ads account in Saylia and choose which action each stage sends to.
Values that bidding can use
- Use what the outcome is worth to you, not your biggest ticket ever. If one booked job in three becomes a sale, a booked call is worth about a third of your average sale.
- Use the job’s actual value when you have it. If your field-service system reports what the job was worth, that beats any estimate.
- Keep qualified calls cheaper than booked ones, so bidding always prefers the outcome you want most.
How uploads are delivered
- Sent through the Google Ads API, moving to Google’s newer Data Manager API.
- Sent once. Saylia deduplicates uploads, so a retry never becomes a second conversion.
- Retried automatically. Uploads Google doesn’t accept are sent again on the next scheduled pass.
- Logged. Every attempt and Google’s answer are recorded in a send log.
Google’s timing rules
Google enforces these:
- Up to 90 days. A conversion must arrive within the action’s click-through window, and never more than 90 days after the click.
- After the click. The conversion time must be later than the click time.
- New actions need 4 to 6 hours before they accept conversions.
- Reporting lags. Imported conversions can take up to a day or two to appear in Google Ads reports.
Avoid counting calls twice
- Calls from ads. Google can count calls from call ads on its own, by call length. Once Saylia’s booked calls are your primary action, keep Google’s call-length action secondary. The call ads guide has the full setup.
- Calls from your website. Google can also swap numbers on your site with its own forwarding numbers (calls to a phone number on your website). Don’t run that alongside the Saylia tracking tag. Two scripts rewriting the same number will fight, so pick one.
- The same call at different stages goes to different actions: Call, Qualified call, Booked call. Only one of them should be primary.
If an outcome changes later
A booking can be cancelled after its conversion was sent. Google Ads lets advertisers retract a click conversion or restate its value through conversion adjustments, identified by order ID. Adjustments aren’t available for call-import actions, or for conversions matched with a WBRAID. See Google’s guide to conversion adjustments. Saylia doesn’t send retractions or restatements.
If bookings often fall through, make Qualified call your primary action and keep Booked call secondary until you trust the booked signal.
Consent
Saylia marks every upload to Google as consented. Only send conversions for callers in the EEA, UK or Switzerland if you hold that consent (Google’s EU user consent policy).
Troubleshooting
Conversions aren’t appearing. Allow up to a day or two. Then check that the action is enabled, that it’s the right type (import from clicks, or from calls), and that the click is less than 90 days old and inside the action’s window.
Uploads are rejected as too early. The action was created less than 4 to 6 hours ago. They’ll go through once Google accepts them.
The click belongs to another account. The GCLID came from a Google Ads account other than the connected one, for example another client under the same manager account. Connect the account that runs the campaigns, or the manager account if it tracks conversions across accounts.
Fewer conversions than booked calls. Some booked calls have no click ID and no enhanced-conversion match, came from other channels, or fall outside the conversion window. They’re still in Saylia’s reports; only the ones Google can attribute appear in Google Ads.
Values look wrong. Check the value set for that stage in Saylia, and the action’s currency in Google Ads.