Fireshift / Guides

Google Ads conversion values for SaaS leads: 670 sites

By the Fireshift team · Updated 2026-11-05

Which conversions do SaaS sites give a value?

On 5 Nov 2026 we rescanned the 886 sites that had Google Ads conversion tags in our 1,727-site study: homepage, /pricing, /signup and /demo, plus every public GTM container they load. 860 still had Ads conversion tags after removing sister domains that share containers. 670 of them are B2B SaaS. For each Google Ads conversion tag we read the value field (empty, a typed-in number, or a variable) and sorted each of its triggers by the funnel step it counts.

A site can sit in several rows, and a label with triggers in two steps counts in both. Another 257 sites have conversions on events we could not place (a bare custom event name), not shown here.

Two things stand out. The step SaaS sites bid on most, the lead form, is the one they value least. And the gap with e-commerce is large: in the same rescan, 60 of 67 e-commerce Ads sites (89.6%) send a value, against 26.9% of SaaS sites and 15 of 123 agency sites (12.2%). A shop has a price on every order. A lead has no price until someone puts one there.

What value do sites put on a demo request?

155 lead-form labels carry a typed-in number. 56 of those are the number 1, which is a placeholder, not a worth. 46 sites type a real number (above 1) into a lead-form tag. One number per site (the median if a site has several):

Amounts are in each tag's own currency, mostly USD. Don't copy the median: a value should come from your own deal size and close rate (below). The spread is the point. Sites that sell similar products value a lead anywhere from 5 to 2,500, so a number copied from a blog post is as arbitrary as 1.

Three sites put a typed-in number on both a lead form and a signup step. Their lead is worth 1.2, 2.9 and 7.5 times their signup. That is the kind of difference bidding needs to see.

Is one value for everything good enough?

No. Of the 180 SaaS sites that send any value, 99 use only typed-in numbers. 80 of those 99 never send two different numbers: one value on every valued tag, or only text. 40 send nothing but 1. For bidding, that is the same as no value: every conversion is worth the same.

Google's own advice for typed-in (static) values is to measure "at least 2 unique values across at least 2 different actions" and to "make sure neither are a value of zero" (Google Ads Help: conversion values best practices). Value-based bidding, Maximize conversion value or a target ROAS, needs conversion tracking with values before you can use it (Google Ads Help: Maximize conversion value). Even on Maximize conversions, values let the reports show which campaigns bring the leads worth having.

Other things we found in the value field: 11 labels on 7 sites carry text instead of a number, such as "$500" with the currency sign, a campaign name, and a conversion label pasted into the wrong box. 17 lead-form labels read ecommerce.value, a variable from e-commerce tracking. Check that the form's dataLayer push really fills it.

How do we work out a value for a lead?

Start from what a step is worth on average, then refine. For each step you bid on:

Use close rates from your CRM for the last 6 to 12 months. If you don't have them, a ratio between steps is still better than one number for all. Write the formula down so the next person can update it.

Two refinements, in this order. First, conversion value rules in Google Ads can raise or lower a value by location, device or audience, for example a lead from a target market worth twice the base (Google Ads Help: conversion value rules). Second, the real fix for lead gen: send qualified leads and closed deals back from the CRM with their value, so bidding learns from pipeline, not form fills. See offline conversion import and enhanced conversions for leads.

When should the value come from the page?

When the page knows something that changes the worth of the lead. 81 SaaS sites fill at least one value from a variable. What they read, from the scan:

Paid, real amount
AW-•••••••••/••••  purchase                             value = {{ecommerce.value}}
AW-•••••••••/••••  purchase                             value = {{invoiceTotal}}  currency = USD

Lead form, scored
AW-•••••••••/••••  mkto_alt_funnel_form_submit_success  value = {{bant_score}}
AW-•••••••••/••••  ec_form_submit_price_request         value = {{user_data.amountOfEmployees}}

Trial, predicted
AW-•••••••••/••••  StartTrial                           value = {{predictedLTV}}

A lead score or predicted lifetime value is a good input if it is in money. A company-size number or a 1 to 100 score is not money, and Google reports it as revenue, so ROAS figures turn into nonsense. Map it to an amount first (for example, a lookup table: 1 to 50 employees = 300, 51 to 500 = 1,200).

A variable that is empty when the tag fires sends no value. If a page has no reliable number to read, a fixed value per step is safer than a variable that is sometimes blank. Google's fallback works the same way: if the tag sends nothing, the default value set on the action in Google Ads is used (Google Ads Help: about conversion values).

How do I check what my site sends?

1. Open your site in Chrome, accept the cookie banner, open DevTools, Network, tick Preserve log, and filter on conversion.
2. Submit your demo or contact form with a test address (your own form, on your own site).
3. Click the request to googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/ or google.com/pagead/1p-conversion/ and open Payload. Look for value= and currency_code=.
4. No value, value=0 or value=1 means the conversion carries no worth from the site. A value with a $ or a word in it is broken.
5. Repeat for a signup and, if you have one, a payment. The values should differ by step.
6. In GTM, open each "Google Ads Conversion Tracking" tag and read the Conversion Value and Currency Code fields. A variable there: open it in Preview mode and check it has a number when the tag fires.
7. In Google Ads, Goals, Conversions, open each action and read its value setting and default value. We can't see that from outside.

How to fix it

1. Write down 30 days of conversions, conversion value and cost first. Values change the reports from day one.
2. Pick the 2 or 3 steps you bid on (see primary vs secondary conversions). Steps that should not steer bids get no value and go secondary.
3. Work out one value per step with the table above, in one currency, and set it on the tag or as the action's default value in Google Ads.
4. Replace every 1 and every text value with a number. Send the currency on every valued tag.
5. Pass the real amount on payments from the checkout's success event, with a transaction ID so a reload doesn't count twice (Google Ads Help: transaction ID).
6. Move to value-based bidding only when the values are right and there is enough volume. Google suggests a bid goal with "at least 15 monthly conversions" and a short conversion delay (best practices).
7. Then send pipeline back from the CRM with real deal values.

Agency or in-house team running the account? Send them the table in the first section and ask which row your site is in.

What we can't see from outside

• Values set in Google Ads. A default value on the action, and value rules, live in the account. A site in our "no value" count may set one there. The 26.9% is the share that send a value from the site.
• Primary or secondary. Also set in the account. We don't know which of these conversions steer bidding.
• What a variable holds at run time. We read the setup, not the hit. A {{dealValue}} variable can still be empty.
• Server-side tags, offline imports and inline gtag code. We read public GTM and Google tag containers loaded on four pages. Values sent from a server or a CRM are not in these numbers.
• The sample. Sites we classed as B2B SaaS in the 1,727-site study, and only those with Ads conversion tags. It is not a random sample of all SaaS companies. Steps are sorted by text patterns in event names, URLs and click targets.

Data: docs/research/value-steps-2026-11-05.json, scanned 5 Nov 2026 with tools/research/value_step_scan.py and value_step_analyze.py. How we scan: method. What our free scan flags for values: missing conversion values.

FAQ

Should a demo request have a conversion value in Google Ads?

Yes, an estimate: average first-year deal times the share of demos that close. Only 16.8% of 524 B2B SaaS sites with a lead-form conversion send a value on it (our scan, 5 Nov 2026). An estimate beats no value, and beats 1.

Is a conversion value of 1 harmful?

It doesn't break anything, but it tells bidding nothing. Every conversion is worth the same, and conversion value equals conversion count. 40 of the 99 SaaS sites that use only typed-in values send just 1.

We set the value in Google Ads, not on the tag. Is that fine?

Yes, a default value per action works for fixed values, and the scan can't see it. Check that the steps you bid on have different values, and that the tag doesn't send its own 1, which replaces the default.

Can we use Maximize conversion value without values on every conversion?

Google requires conversion tracking with values for it. Conversions with no value add nothing to conversion value, so bidding steers toward the ones that carry one. Set values on every primary action first.

Can Fireshift see the values in our Google Ads account?

No. We read what your site sends: the value field on each Ads conversion tag. Default values, value rules and primary or secondary settings live in your account.