About 80% of advertisers using Smart Bidding still feed Google a single value for every conversion in 2026, even though the underlying transactions differ in margin by a wide range. That single number quietly tells the algorithm that a low-margin sale in one country is worth exactly as much as a high-margin sale to a brand-new customer somewhere else — and the bidding follows that flawed instruction faithfully. Conversion value rules exist to fix that mismatch.
This guide shows how to adjust conversion value by location, device and audience so Smart Bidding optimizes toward real margin, with setup steps, the interaction with Target ROAS, the mistakes that quietly break the system, and a measurement routine. To see whether your account is already leaking margin to flat value signals, run our free 5-axis Google Ads audit.
Updated 2026-05-26 with current value-rules behavior, Performance Max support and tROAS interaction observed across US, UK and European accounts.
- Value rules adjust conversion value at bid time, before the auction closes. 2. Three conditions — location, device and audience — each take a multiplier. 3. They only steer bidding under Target ROAS or Maximize Conversion Value. 4. Audience rules are the standard way to value new customers higher. 5. Overlapping rules follow a precedence order — they do not stack additively, so map them on paper first.
What are conversion value rules and why do they matter?
A conversion value rule is a conditional instruction that changes the value Google Ads reports for a conversion, applied at the moment the bid is calculated. Instead of every conversion carrying the same number, a rule says: when this condition is true, multiply the value by a factor or set a fixed amount.
Why it matters — Smart Bidding is only as smart as the value signal you feed it. If a sale in Germany carries a 40% margin and a sale in Spain carries 15%, but both report the same value, the algorithm chases the wrong one. A value rule restores the truth of margin to the bid.
Three conditions — Rules trigger on location (where the user is), device (phone, tablet, computer) or audience (a list, segment or new-customer signal). You can combine conditions within reason, but each adds complexity.
Bid-time, not after the fact — The adjustment happens before the auction closes, so it actually changes how much Google bids. That is what separates a value rule from a post-hoc data correction, and why it can move delivery rather than just reporting. For the strategic frame on raw value versus margin, see our why 4x ROAS is a vanity metric guide.
How do value rules differ from conversion value adjustments?
These two features sound similar and are routinely confused, but they act at opposite ends of the conversion timeline.
Value rules are predictive — They apply at bid time based on conditions you set in advance, changing the value Smart Bidding optimizes toward for future auctions. The system bids more or less right now because of the rule.
Value adjustments are retrospective — You import a corrected value after the conversion happened — once a lead is qualified, an order is returned, or a deal closes. They sharpen reporting and feed future learning, but cannot change a bid that already fired.
Use both together — Value rules shape live bidding; value adjustments feed back the true outcome so the model keeps improving. A mature value-based setup uses rules to steer and adjustments to correct. If you are still deciding whether value-based bidding fits your account at all, our Target ROAS vs Target CPA guide frames that choice.
How to set up value rules by location, device and audience
Setup lives under Tools, then Conversions, then Value rules. The mechanics are the same for all three condition types; only the trigger changes.
Location rules — Use these when margin or fulfilment cost varies by geography. If orders from one region cost more to ship or carry lower margin, a multiplier below 1.0 tells Smart Bidding to bid less aggressively there. A high-margin region gets a multiplier above 1.0.
Device rules — Use these when conversion quality differs by device — for example if mobile leads close at half the rate of desktop leads. A device multiplier corrects for that quality gap so the bid reflects realized value, not just the raw conversion.
Audience rules — The highest-leverage type. Attach a multiplier above 1.0 to a new-customer or high-LTV audience and 1.0 or below to existing customers, so Smart Bidding bids harder for the buyers worth more over time. This is where value rules and lifetime-value modeling meet: the multiplier should mirror the measured LTV gap. Keep your first multipliers in the 1.2 to 1.5 band so you can read the effect cleanly.
How value rules interact with tROAS bidding
Value rules only have a lever to pull when the bid strategy optimizes toward value. That makes the strategy choice the gating factor.
Target ROAS — The natural partner. tROAS bids to hit a return on the value it sees, so when a rule raises the value of an auction, tROAS bids more to win it. The adjusted value flows straight into the bid.
Maximize Conversion Value — Also value-based, also responsive to rules. The system spends the budget to capture the most adjusted value, so multipliers reshape where that budget lands.
Target CPA and Maximize Conversions — These optimize toward count or cost, not value, so a value multiplier has no bidding effect — it only changes reported value. If margin is your goal, move to a value-based strategy first; our Maximize vs Target CPA guide walks through that transition. To set the target itself, use our ROAS target calculator.
Common value-rule mistakes to avoid
Most value-rule failures are self-inflicted and fall into four patterns.
Double-counting value — If your imported conversion value already bakes in margin, and you then apply a margin-based multiplier, you adjust the same gap twice. Decide where margin lives — in the value or in the rule — never both.
Overlapping rules — When one conversion matches a location rule and an audience rule together, the multipliers do not add up. Google applies a precedence order, so a 1.4 and a 1.3 do not become 1.82. Map overlaps before you activate.
Multipliers from a guess — A multiplier should mirror a measured margin or LTV difference. A round 1.5 picked by feel injects noise into bidding rather than signal.
Judging too early — Every rule restarts a learning ramp. Reading results after a few days mistakes learning noise for impact. Give it 4 to 6 weeks.
The single most expensive value-rule mistake is assuming multipliers combine. They do not. When a conversion matches two or more rules, Google applies a defined precedence and only one set of conditions wins per attribute. Building rules as if a 1.4 location and a 1.3 audience produce 1.82 will silently misprice your auctions. Map every overlap on paper, keep the rule set small, and verify the effective multiplier in reporting before you trust it.
The value-rules setup table
Use this table as a working reference while you build. It pairs each condition with a typical use case, a starting multiplier and the strategy it needs to take effect.
How to measure the impact of value-based bidding
The hardest part of value rules is proving they worked, because the metric you watch can move for the wrong reason.
Measure margin, not raw value — Reported conversion value and even headline ROAS can rise simply because you relabeled conversions. The honest test is margin-weighted profit per dollar of spend, pulled from your own data, before and after.
Respect the re-learning window — Compare a stable period after the 4-to-6-week ramp against an equivalent period before. Comparing into the learning phase reads noise as signal.
Watch the conversion mix — A working rule should shift spend toward the high-value location, device or audience you favored. If the mix did not move, the rule had no real effect even if a number changed.
Audit before you scale. A clean value signal beats a clever rule on a broken setup. Run the SteerAds free 5-axis audit to catch value-tracking gaps, and set your return target with our ROAS target calculator before you layer rules on top.
Sources
Official sources consulted for this guide:
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support.google.com — about conversion value rules
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support.google.com — value-based bidding
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support.google.com — Target ROAS bidding
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blog.google — Ads & Commerce announcements
FAQ
What are conversion value rules?
Conversion value rules are conditional multipliers that adjust the value Google Ads passes to Smart Bidding at the moment of the auction. Instead of treating every conversion as worth the same amount, you can tell the system that a lead from one country, a sale on one device, or a purchase from a high-value audience is worth more or less than the baseline. The rule applies a multiplier — for example 1.3 or 0.7 — or sets a fixed value, and that adjusted figure is what tROAS and Maximize Conversion Value bid toward. Because the adjustment happens before the bid, value rules steer delivery in real time rather than just relabeling data afterward.
How are value rules different from conversion value adjustments?
Value rules are predictive and apply at bid time: they change the value Smart Bidding optimizes toward for future auctions, based on conditions you set for location, device or audience. Conversion value adjustments are retrospective: you import a corrected value after the conversion has happened — for instance once a lead is qualified or an order is returned — and they refine reporting and future learning but cannot influence the bid that already fired. Use value rules to shape bidding live, and value adjustments to feed back the true outcome. They are complementary, not interchangeable.
Do conversion value rules work without tROAS?
They work best with value-based strategies — Target ROAS or Maximize Conversion Value — because those bid strategies actually optimize toward the adjusted value. With Maximize Conversions or Target CPA, the system optimizes toward conversion count or cost per action, so a value multiplier has no bidding lever to pull and the rule mainly affects reported value. If your goal is margin rather than volume, pair value rules with a value-based strategy. Our guide on Target ROAS vs Target CPA explains when to make that switch.
Can I set a higher value for new customers?
Yes. Audience-based value rules are the standard way to value new customers above returning ones. You attach a multiplier above 1.0 to a new-customer audience — typically built from a customer list or a 'new customers' signal — and a multiplier of 1.0 or below to your existing-customer list. Smart Bidding then bids harder on auctions likely to bring first-time buyers. This is closely related to lifetime-value modeling: if a new customer is worth 3x a repeat order over 12 months, the multiplier should reflect that gap, not a guess.
How do I know if value rules actually helped?
Measure margin-weighted ROAS or profit, not raw conversion value, before and after. Run the rule for at least 4 to 6 weeks so Smart Bidding can re-learn, then compare blended profit and the mix of conversions by location, device and audience against the prior period. Because value rules reshape where spend goes, the headline ROAS in the interface can move while real margin improves — or vice versa. The honest test is whether profit per dollar of spend rose, which is why we treat reported ROAS as a starting point, not the verdict.
Can value rules conflict with each other?
Yes, and overlapping conditions are the most common source of unexpected results. When a single conversion matches a location rule and an audience rule at the same time, Google does not add the multipliers — it applies them in a defined precedence, and only one set of conditions can win for a given attribute. If you stack a 1.4 location rule and a 1.3 audience rule expecting 1.82, you will not get it. Map your rules on paper first, check for overlaps, and keep the rule set small enough to reason about.
Are conversion value rules available for every campaign type?
Value rules apply at the account or campaign level and cover Search, Shopping and Display campaigns that use a value-based bid strategy. Performance Max has its own value-rules support that has expanded through 2026, though some conditions behave differently there. Always confirm in the interface which conditions are eligible for the campaign type you are editing, because availability for location, device and audience conditions is not identical across every surface, and Google updates eligibility periodically.