I’m hoping to see if other merchants have experienced a recent and significant change in how the official Google & YouTube app reports conversion values to Google Ads.
It appears that since the beginning of September, the conversion value being sent to our Google Ads account has suddenly started including VAT, which is causing inflated reporting and making our ROAS data inaccurate.
Throughout August, our tracking was working as expected. The conversion value in Google Ads was correctly aligned with our actual net sales revenue (excluding tax).
However, in September, we noticed a major discrepancy. For example, for every €10,000 in net sales (excl. VAT) that Shopify attributes to Google, our Google Ads account is now reporting a conversion value of around €12,100.
This difference of approximately 21% strongly suggests the app is now sending the total price (including tax) instead of the subtotal (excluding tax).
My main question is:
Has anyone else experienced this exact change in behavior between August and September? Could a recent app update have changed the default tracking logic?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, you have diagnosed this perfectly, and other merchants have reported the same problem. A recent, unannounced update to Shopify’s Google & YouTube app now sends the total price (including VAT) to Google Ads, which is why your conversion value and ROAS are inflated.
Fortunately, there is a straightforward fix for this within your Google Ads account. You need to tell Google Ads to expect and account for this tax.
Go to Goals > Conversions in your Google Ads account and click to edit the settings for your primary “Purchase” conversion action. Find the “Value” section and change the tax setting from “Value may exclude tax” to “Value may include tax.” Google Ads will then ask you to enter your default VAT rate (e.g., 21%).
After you save this, Google will automatically subtract the tax from the incoming conversion values, making your ROAS and revenue reporting accurate again.
Thank you so much for your quick reply and for confirming the diagnosis. It’s indeed very frustrating that such a critical change was rolled out unannounced by Shopify or Google.
I immediately went to check the settings for my primary conversion action, which is named “Google Shopping App Purchase”.
Unfortunately, it seems that for this specific conversion action created and managed by the Google & YouTube app, the option to specify whether the value includes or excludes tax is not available. The settings appear to be locked, so I can’t apply the straightforward fix you suggested.
It looks like I’ll have to find a workaround to manage this, most likely by using value rules directly within Google Ads to correct the inflated data.
We’ve noticed the same issue — since early September the Google & YouTube app seems to be sending gross values incl. VAT instead of net sales. This wasn’t the case in August. Looks like a recent app update may have changed the default logic. I’d recommend checking your checkout scripts to confirm if total_price is now being sent instead of subtotal_price.
creating rules can be a way to deal with this. but it can be complex.
rather, you can go with a specialized google ads conversion tracking app. one good example is Nabu for Google Ads pixel. it does offer an advanced setting which allows you to include or exclude tax charges from sales values. so, you can ensure that reporting is as per your specific needs and accurate.