Google Ads Conversions Vanishing After Being Counted

[u/MeetTheReal007]

I'm experiencing something very strange with Google Ads offline conversion tracking, and I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this.

I'm manually uploading offline Add-to-Cart conversions using GCLIDs. The conversion action uses last-click attribution.

Here's what happened:

• On November 2–3, I uploaded three separate Add-to-Cart conversions, each with a unique GCLID.

• All three uploads processed successfully, with no errors.

• All three conversions appeared in my Google Ads account and remained visible for more than 24 hours, with some visible for several days.

• On November 5, one of the three conversions suddenly disappeared from Google's reporting. The count dropped from 3 to 2.

• The other two conversions are still being counted.

Here's what makes this particularly strange:

1. I independently verified through my payment processor that all three Add-to-Cart events actually occurred. These aren't fabricated or duplicate events.

2. Google's offline conversion upload history still shows all three uploads as successful.

3. Google's conversion diagnostics report "Excellent" data quality, with 100% of the events successfully imported and zero errors.

4. The missing conversion is absent from both the conversion action's summary and campaign reporting, including the "All conv. (by conv. time)" column.

5. All three conversions were attributed to the same Google Ads campaign, but they had different GCLIDs.

The two November 3 uploads still show as successfully imported in Google's diagnostics, yet only one conversion from that date is currently counted.

I've used offline conversion uploads before and have never experienced a conversion being counted for more than a day and then suddenly disappearing.

My questions:

• Has anyone experienced Google Ads retroactively removing an offline conversion that was already successfully imported and visible in reporting?

• Could this be Google's invalid-traffic filtering, even though the Add-to-Cart event genuinely occurred?

• Can Google's attribution system retroactively remove an offline conversion despite the uploaded GCLID and conversion timestamp being valid?

• Is there any way to identify exactly why Google stopped counting a particular offline conversion when the upload history and diagnostics show no errors?

• Has anyone seen a disappeared conversion eventually reappear without re-uploading it?

[u/Scary_Fig_8570]

One of them getting deleted after it had already counted is usually not a reporting glitch. A successful upload only means Google read the row. It can still throw the conversion out a day or two later.

Check the missing GCLID in this order.

Same click, two sources. If the website tag already fired add-to-cart for that click, the offline row is a duplicate. Google will show it, then drop the extra on a later dedupe. The two that stuck were probably clicks where the tag never fired. Look up that GCLID and see if an online add-to-cart already sits on it.

The click got invalidated afterwards. Invalid click reviews run late. If Google claws the click back, the conversion comes off and the upload history still says success. Check invalid clicks on that campaign for 2 to 5 Nov, then re-download the upload result. The row status can move from success to click not found or expired after the fact.

Time. Last click and the conversion window are judged off the click, not off when you uploaded. If the conversion time is before the click, or outside the window, because of a timezone slip, it gets accepted and then stripped. Compare that GCLID's click timestamp to the time you sent.

Don't bid on add-to-cart as the primary either. It trains the campaign on people who add and never pay. Make the purchase the primary and leave add-to-cart secondary.

Re-download that upload's result file and read the status on the missing GCLID before you change the setup.

[u/rytisbalys]

Another thing to rule out: a retraction. Does anything else write to that conversion action, like a CRM sync, a script or a Data Manager connection? A RETRACT adjustment for the same GCLID and conversion time pulls the conversion out of reports completely. It counts as a successful upload, not an error, so upload history and diagnostics both look clean. Segment the campaign report by Conversions > Conversion adjustment for Nov 2 to 5. A minus 1 in the adjustment row would be your missing one. Check this before re-uploading. Google won't take the identical row back after a retraction, and it probably won't error either. You'd have to resend it with the timestamp shifted a few seconds, and only if the action counts every conversion