Understanding conversion delay

Note

Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!

Conversion delay is the time between when someone clicks your ad and when they complete a conversion, like making a purchase, installing an app, or signing up. Conversions are reported based on the click date rather than the conversion date, which means there may be a delay before all conversions are fully reflected in your reports. This can temporarily inflate your cost per acquisition (CPA) or deflate your return on ad spend (ROAS). Gaining insight into conversion delay can help you understand your performance more accurately, forecast final results with greater confidence, and make more informed bidding and budgeting decisions.

How to add and view conversion delay data

You can add and view conversion delay data across several areas of Microsoft Advertising:

Reports

You can add the Conversion delay column to the following reports:

• Campaign performance report
• Goal performance report
• Account performance report

Campaign grid

The Conversion delay column shows how many days it typically takes to collect 90% of conversions for each campaign within the selected time range.

View the conversion delay column:

1. From the campaign grid view, find the Conversion delay column in the table.

2. Hover over the graph icon in the Conv. column to view the recommended date to evaluate performance inclusive of delayed conversions.

   

• To add the Conversion delay column, select Modify columns.
• In the column selector, choose Conversion delay.
• Select Apply.

Note

Note

Conversion delay data is only available for clicks starting June 1, 2025.

Goal grid

The Conversion delay column shows how many days it typically takes to collect 90% of conversions within the selected time range.

View the conversion delay insights:

1. From the goal grid view, find the Conversion delay column in the table.

2. Hover over the graph icon in the All conv. column to view the recommended date to evaluate performance inclusive of delayed conversions.

   

• To add the Conversion delay column, select Modify columns.
• In the column selector, choose Conversion delay.
• Select Apply.

Note

Note

Conversion delay data is only available for clicks starting June 1, 2025.

Portfolio grid

The Conversion delay column shows how many days it typically takes to collect 90% of conversions within the selected time range.

View the conversion delay insights:

1. From the portfolio grid view, find the Conversion delay column in the table.

2. Hover over the graph icon in the Conv. column to view the recommended date to evaluate performance inclusive of delayed conversions.

   

• To add the Conversion delay column, select Modify columns.
• In the column selector, choose Conversion delay.
• Select Apply.

Note

Note

Conversion delay data is only available for clicks starting June 1, 2025.