Should I give MQLs, SQLs and closed deals different conversion values in Google Ads?

TofuAnswer by the Tofu team · checked

Not as a value ladder you bid on all at once. Google advises choosing a single stage of your lead-to-sale journey for bidding, ideally one with at least 15 conversions in 30 days that happens within 7 days of the click. Use Target CPA on qualified leads if they clear that bar. Use Maximize conversion value on that one stage if leads differ in worth and you report two or more distinct values. If qualified leads are rarer, keep bidding on form fills and still import MQLs, SQLs and closed deals, so Google can learn from them.

As of October 2026.

Quick answer by situation

If you…UseWhy
Get fewer than 15 qualified leads in 30 daysMaximize conversions or Target CPA on form fills, with CRM stages imported but not bid onGoogle asks for 15 conversions in 30 days on the goal you bid on
Get 15 or more qualified leads in 30 daysTarget CPA on a Qualified lead goalGoogle's pick when lead quality matters but leads have no values
Have qualified leads worth very different amountsMaximize conversion value on that one stage, with a value per leadNeeds two or more distinct values
Need a set return on ad spendTarget ROASSame 15-in-30-days bar, plus weeks of value data first
Know some locations, devices or audiences are worth moreConversion value rulesThey adjust values at auction time, but not by lead stage
Close deals weeks or months after the clickAn earlier stage, such as qualified leadGoogle prefers conversions within 7 days of the click

Why not bid on every stage with its own value?

Because Google advises against it. Its lead quality page says to "avoid selecting goals from multiple stages of your Lead Journey Mapping for optimization," and its value-based bidding page recommends "a single stage in your lead-to-sale journey." If several goals track stages of one funnel, Google says to make only one of them an account-default goal.

There is a counting problem too. A campaign bids on every primary action in the goals it uses, and each shows in the Conversions column. If MQL, SQL and closed-won are all primary, one customer adds three conversions and three values to what Smart Bidding learns from, and MQLs, the most common stage, make up most of it.

Values still help. Google says value-based bidding needs "two or more different values," which can be "real economic values, like revenue or proxy values, like a lead score." Use them to tell leads apart within the stage you bid on.

If you get fewer than 15 qualified leads in 30 days

Keep bidding on form fills. Google asks for at least 15 conversions in the last 30 days, counted across the account, on the goal you bid on. Below that, a deeper stage gives the bidder too little to learn from. If junk form fills are the problem, see how to stop spam and fake leads from Google Ads.

Import MQLs, SQLs and closed deals anyway, in the Qualified lead or Converted lead category, and keep those goals out of what your campaigns bid on. Google says primary actions that aren't used for optimization "may be used to enhance predictions." Its Journey-aware bidding beta, for Search campaigns on Target CPA or Maximize conversions, learns from every goal, "biddable or not," once you import the actions in your lead journey. Google doesn't say who gets the beta.

If you get 15 or more qualified leads in 30 days

Bid on them with Target CPA. Google says: "If lead quality is important to you, but you aren't able to assign distinct values per conversion, we recommend using target cost-per-acquisition bidding for qualified or converted leads." Lead goals like these also "automatically trigger invalid traffic protections" built for lead generation. The steps to switch are below.

If your qualified leads are worth very different amounts

Use Maximize conversion value, still on one stage, with a value on each lead. Google wants two or more unique values, and says to judge results on the conversion value the campaign brings in.

One way to set a value is expected revenue: deal size times the share of leads at that stage that close. To illustrate with made-up numbers: if your average deal were $24,000 and 25% of your SQLs closed, an SQL would be worth about $6,000. Use your own CRM numbers. Send a higher value for leads from larger companies if they buy bigger deals. With Salesforce connected through Data Manager, you can map any Salesforce value field to the conversion value; if you don't, each conversion counts as 1.

Three limits:

  • Later value changes barely reach bidding. You can restate a value for up to 54 days, but bidding reads adjustments only within 7 days of the conversion being recorded.
  • Spend can jump. With no target, it tries to spend your full budget, and Google warns that if you now spend much less, it "could significantly increase your spend."
  • Report values first. Google says to include new values in the Conversions column and wait 1 to 2 conversion cycles before you switch.

If you need a set return on ad spend

Use Target ROAS (named "Maximize conversion value with a Target ROAS" until Google's June 2026 rename; the bidding didn't change). Search campaigns need at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days. Google's pages differ on the lead time: report values for 3 weeks (value-based bidding guide) or 4 weeks (Target ROAS page), or 1 to 2 conversion cycles if longer. Benchmark the target on your last 30 days of ROAS. A target set too high "may limit the amount of traffic your ads may get."

If some locations, devices or audiences are worth more

Use conversion value rules, under Goals, then Conversions, then Value rules. A rule adds to, multiplies (by 0.5 to 10) or, in a beta, sets a value when a lead comes from a chosen audience, location or device, such as a Customer Match list of target accounts. Smart Bidding applies them at auction time with Maximize conversion value and Target ROAS.

They can't value leads by stage: the conditions are audience, location and device (or no condition, for store visit and store sales actions), and all rules in an account must use the same conditions. Google also notes Smart Bidding already uses these signals, so add a rule only for value your data doesn't show.

If you close deals weeks or months after the click

Bid on an earlier stage. Google says your final sale "might have the most accurate values," but if the delay is too long, choose "a goal earlier in the consumer journey, like a qualified lead." It recommends delays under 7 days, and says that if nothing is uploaded within 7 days of the click, ramp-up for value-based bidding "may take several months."

There's a hard cutoff too: offline conversions uploaded more than 90 days after the last click aren't imported (63 days for enhanced conversions for leads). Upload daily, and set each action's conversion window to cover your sales cycle.

How do I move bidding from form fills to qualified leads without losing volume?

Expect fewer form fills; the goal is more qualified leads for the money. Google says this switch "may have caused a temporary impact to performance" in the past. Its steps, staying on Target CPA:

  1. Import and categorize. Upload the stage, ideally daily, as a Qualified lead, Converted lead or Purchases action.
  2. Mark it primary, but don't bid on it yet. Keep its goal out of account-default and campaign goals for at least 2 to 3 conversion cycles. Google says Smart Bidding "will train on this data in the background."
  3. Swap the goals. Stop bidding on Submit lead form and bid on the new goal, account-wide (Google's simpler option) or in batches, starting with medium-sized campaigns.
  4. Raise the CPA target to what you've actually paid per qualified lead, and watch spend.
  5. Wait. A goal change can show Learning for up to 7 days, and results settle in 1 to 2 conversion cycles. Judge over 2 cycles or 2 weeks, whichever is longer. Google's primary and secondary actions page says 7 to 14 days instead; see what restarts the learning period.
  6. Add value bidding last, after weeks of value data, without backfilling old values. To test it, Google's experiment guide asks for 50 conversions in 30 days (not a minimum for value bidding itself), a 50/50 split and 30 days after ramp-up.

For uploads, see offline conversions with Data Manager. For the same CRM stages on other platforms, see LinkedIn conversions from HubSpot or Salesforce and CRM lead stages to Meta.

What to avoid

  • Made-up values that never change. Tie them to deal size and close rates, and update them.
  • Testing goals against each other in an experiment. Google says Smart Bidding trains on everything in the Conversions column, so results "will not be meaningful."
  • Judging the switch on cost per form fill. Measure cost per qualified lead and pipeline.
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