Fireshift / Help / Fix a page-view conversion

Fix a conversion that fires on page views

By the Fireshift team · Updated 2026-11-05

Before you start

• Note the conversion label from your scan (the label in the finding), and the GTM container it sits in.
• You need Publish access to the GTM container and Standard access to Google Ads.
• We can't see from outside whether the action is primary or secondary. Check it in Google Ads, Goals, Conversions, Summary.

Step by step

1. Stop the damage. In Google Ads, Goals, Conversions, open the action with that label. If it is primary, set it to secondary. History stays.
2. Find the tag. In GTM, Tags, open the Google Ads Conversion Tracking tag whose Conversion Label matches. Look at its trigger: All Pages, Page View, DOM Ready, Window Loaded, or a Page View with "Page URL contains" a word like signup, demo or contact.
3. Pick the success signal. In order of preference:
   • a dataLayer event your app pushes after success (sign_up, generate_lead, demo_booked): Custom Event trigger with that exact name;
   • your form tool's success callback (HubSpot, Marketo and Typeform each have one), pushed to the dataLayer as an event: Custom Event trigger on it;
   • a thank-you page that only loads after success: Page View trigger, Page Path equals the exact path, not "contains".
4. Swap the trigger. Remove the page view trigger from the conversion tag and add the new one. Leave the Conversion Linker and the Google tag on All Pages: they belong there.
5. Check in Preview. Click Preview, load the home page and the form page: the conversion tag must show under "Tags Not Fired". Complete a real test signup: it must fire once.
6. Check in DevTools. Network, filter pagead. On normal pages you should see no /pagead/conversion/ request with that label.
7. Publish with a version note ("Ads conversion moved from All Pages to sign_up").
8. Switch back. Once real conversions show in Google Ads for a few days, set the action to primary again if it is the one bidding should use.

What changes after the fix

• Reported conversions drop, sometimes by most of the total, because each visit was being counted.
• CPA in the report goes up. It was understated before.
• Smart Bidding needs time to relearn after a goal change. Expect 1 to 2 weeks of movement.
• Run a new scan after you publish: the finding should be gone.

How common it is

On 5 Nov 2026 we read the public tags of 1,727 sites. Of the 886 with Google Ads conversions, 4.7% had one on All Pages and 26.6% had one on a plain page view of a page that isn't a success page. Why it happens and what it does to bidding.

FAQ

Can I just set it to secondary and leave it?

That stops it steering bidding. It still shows in All conversions and in any report built on it, and someone can make it primary again. Fix the trigger too.

The thank-you page can be reloaded. Is that a problem?

A reload fires it again. Set the action's count to One in Google Ads for leads, or use a dataLayer event that fires once per success.

Can you do it for us?

Yes. That is the Fix Sprint: we make the change in your GTM and Google Ads and rescan to show it is gone.