When a customer returns a purchase or receives a partial refund, the conversion value originally reported to Google Ads no longer reflects the actual transaction outcome. Google Ads provides two distinct adjustment mechanisms to correct this: RETRACT and RESTATE. These are not interchangeable. A RETRACT removes the conversion entirely from your conversion count and sets its value to zero, affecting both CPA and ROAS bidding strategies. A RESTATE changes only the conversion value while preserving the original purchase count, affecting only revenue-based metrics and ROAS strategies. Understanding which adjustment to apply is critical because applying the wrong type can distort your campaign performance data and mislead your bidding algorithms about true profitability. This resource reconciles the official Google Ads documentation to clarify when each adjustment applies, what metrics each one changes, and the permanent consequences of reaching a zero-value state. [4] [5] [6]
The Two Adjustment Types and Their Metric Impact
Google Ads separates changes to a purchase amount from removal of the purchase itself. A RESTATE adjustment with a positive remaining value changes the revenue amount while retaining the conversion. It updates the conversion-value columns and influences ROAS bidding. RETRACT removes the conversion and assigns a zero value instead. That changes the purchase count as well as the value, so both CPA and ROAS strategies are affected. [4]
| Adjustment Type | Conversion Count | Conversion Value | Affected Metrics | Affected Bidding Strategies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RESTATE | Unchanged | Updated to new amount | Conv. value, All Conv. value, ROAS | ROAS only [4] |
| RETRACT | Removed from count | Set to 0.00 | Conv., Conv. value, All Conv. value, ROAS | CPA and ROAS [4] |
When to Use RETRACT: Full Refunds and Canceled Orders
RETRACT is the appropriate adjustment when a customer receives a full refund or when an order is canceled entirely. In these cases, the original purchase conversion should no longer be counted as a valid conversion because no retained revenue resulted from the transaction. Retracting removes the conversion from your conversion count, which means your CPA and ROAS calculations will no longer include that transaction. This is the correct behavior because a fully refunded order did not generate retained value for your business. [4]
Full refunds: customer returns the entire order and receives a complete refund [4]
Canceled reservations: customer cancels a booking or reservation before the service is delivered [4]
Unpaid orders: customer completes checkout but payment fails or is reversed [4]
When to Use RESTATE: Partial Refunds and Value Corrections
RESTATE is the correct adjustment when a customer receives a partial refund but retains part of the order. For example, if a customer orders shoes in multiple sizes and returns the ones that do not fit, the total value of the purchase decreases but the customer still owns and keeps some items. In this scenario, the original purchase conversion should remain in your conversion count because a genuine purchase occurred. However, the conversion value should be reduced to reflect only the retained portion of the order. A restatement updates the conversion value without removing the conversion from your count, preserving the signal that a customer acquisition occurred while correcting the revenue amount. [4]
Restatement is also appropriate when you discover that the original conversion value was recorded incorrectly and needs to be corrected upward or downward based on actual order details. The key distinction is that the customer relationship and purchase event remain valid; only the financial value of that event changes. [4]
The Terminal Zero-Value State and Adjustment Finality
Once a conversion is retracted or restated with a value of zero, it enters a terminal state and cannot be adjusted further. Any subsequent attempts to adjust that conversion will be silently ignored without an error message or confirmation. This is a critical boundary: a zero-value restatement has the same permanent effect as a retraction. If you restate a conversion value down to zero, you cannot later restate it back to a positive value. The conversion is removed from your reports and locked in that state. [4] [6]
If you need to undo a conversion retraction or zero-value restatement, the only workaround is to re-upload the original conversion as a new event. To do this, you must provide a new, unique Order ID by appending a suffix such as -1 or -reupload, and slightly adjust the conversion timestamp. Re-uploading with the same Order ID will be rejected as a duplicate, even if the timestamp is changed. This re-upload will be treated as a new conversion and will add to your conversion count. [6]
Distinguishing Purchase Count from Revenue in Refund Scenarios
The Conversion adjustment segment in Google Ads reports shows the original conversion value and count compared to the change in value and count after adjustment. This segment is essential for understanding the difference between purchase count and revenue impact. When you restate a partial refund, the conversion count row remains unchanged while the conversion value row decreases. This means your purchase count metric stays accurate while your revenue-based metrics reflect the actual retained value. When you retract, both the count and value rows decrease, removing the purchase signal entirely. [5]
Multiple adjustments to the same conversion are processed in order of adjustment time, with the earliest adjustment processed first. However, if any adjustment retracts the conversion or reduces its value to zero, Google Ads will not process any subsequent adjustments to that conversion. This means if you initially restate a partial refund and later discover the customer returned more items, you can adjust again. But if you retract or zero out the value, you cannot make further adjustments to that same conversion. [5]
Bidding Strategy Implications and Timing Constraints
Conversion adjustments affect your bidding strategies differently depending on the adjustment type. A RESTATE affects only ROAS-based bidding strategies because it changes revenue without changing conversion count. A RETRACT affects both CPA and ROAS strategies because it removes a conversion from the count. If you are running a Target CPA strategy, retracting a conversion will reduce your total conversion count, which may cause the algorithm to adjust bids to maintain your target cost per acquisition. If you are running a Target ROAS strategy, both restatement and retraction will affect the algorithm because both change the revenue-to-spend ratio. [4] [6]
For best results, upload conversion adjustments at least 24 hours after the original conversion to allow Google Ads time to record the conversion. For autobidding readability, adjustments should be made within 7 days of the original conversion recording. Adjustments made after 7 days will still be processed and will update your reports, but they will not influence autobidding algorithm training. Outside of the autobidding window, overall conversion adjustments can be made within 54 days of the original conversion. [6]
Methodology and limitations
This resource synthesizes three official Google Ads support documents that define conversion adjustment mechanics, metric impact, and implementation requirements. The analysis compares the stated behavior of RETRACT and RESTATE operations across their effects on conversion count, conversion value, and bidding strategy eligibility. The distinction between purchase count and revenue impact is derived directly from Google's documentation of the Conversion adjustment segment and the explicit statement that RESTATE affects only Conv. value and ROAS strategies while RETRACT affects Conv., Conv. value, and both CPA and ROAS strategies. The terminal zero-value state and re-upload workaround are documented in the official How to adjust your conversions guide. No merchant performance data, measured refund rates, or causal bidding outcomes are claimed. The resource interprets the supplied documentation without extending claims beyond the stated adjustment mechanics. [4] [5] [6]
Source observations retrieved on . Retrieval dates are distinct from any study measurement period.
This resource explains the mechanics of Google Ads conversion adjustments as documented in official support pages. It does not measure actual merchant behavior, refund rates, or the real-world impact of adjustments on campaign profitability. Implementation depends on the original conversion source and whether the conversion was tracked with a transaction ID. Conversions without transaction IDs can be adjusted using GCLID and conversion time, but the process differs and is not detailed here. [4] [6]
The timing statements in the supplied official pages specify that adjustments within 7 days are readable by autobidding and that overall adjustments can be made within 54 days. These are stated constraints from Google's documentation, not measured performance windows. The actual impact of an adjustment on bidding algorithm behavior depends on your specific bidding strategy, conversion volume, and account history. No universal deadline or guaranteed bidding response is asserted. [6]
The silent-ignore behavior when attempting to adjust a retracted or zero-value conversion is documented in the official support pages. However, the exact timing and conditions under which this occurs may vary. If you attempt to re-adjust a retracted conversion, you will not receive an error message, but the adjustment will not be processed. The re-upload workaround requires setting your conversion counting option to every conversion and is specific to offline conversion imports. [4]
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