Practical guide

Google Ads campaign performance report: where to find it, what to include, how to read it

A Google Ads campaign performance report is a table of your campaigns with impressions, clicks, cost and conversions for one date range. Find it under Campaigns, or under Reports, then Predefined reports (Dimensions), then Basic, then Campaign, and add CTR, Avg. CPC, Cost / conv. and Conv. value from Columns. The report is only useful when spend is read beside the outcome each campaign exists to produce, over complete days, with the conversion definition named.

By Adlane · Updated 3 November 2026

Fix the account, currency, timezone and date range before reading a single number

Choose one Google Ads account and write down its currency, its reporting timezone and the complete date range you are reviewing. A period that ends today contains a partial day; a period that straddles a timezone change can double count or lose hours. Pick complete days and keep them identical for every comparison in the report.

Separate campaign types before comparing rates. A Search campaign, a Performance Max campaign and a Display campaign reach people in different contexts and deliver different mixes of clicks and impressions. Their click-through rates and costs per click are not comparable in the way two Search campaigns might be. Group like with like, then compare.

Where to find the campaign performance report in Google Ads

In Google Ads, open Campaigns for a quick view, or Reports, then Predefined reports (Dimensions), then Basic, then Campaign for a downloadable table. Set the date range first, then use Columns to add Impressions, Clicks, CTR, Avg. CPC, Cost, Conversions, Cost / conv. and Conv. value. Download as CSV or Google Sheets, or schedule it by email.

The old AdWords API had a report type called CAMPAIGN_PERFORMANCE_REPORT. The Google Ads API replaced it with a query against the campaign resource in Google Ads Query Language (GAQL). Cost fields come back in micros, so divide by 1,000,000.

GAQL: campaign performance for last month

SELECT campaign.name, metrics.impressions, metrics.clicks, metrics.ctr,
       metrics.average_cpc, metrics.cost_micros, metrics.conversions,
       metrics.cost_per_conversion, metrics.conversions_value
FROM campaign
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_MONTH
ORDER BY metrics.cost_micros DESC

What to include in a campaign performance report: columns and formulas

Every ratio in the report is built from a few counted columns. Keep the counts in the table beside the ratios so the reader can see how much evidence sits behind each rate. Conv. value and ROAS only belong in the report when conversion values are set up and meaningful; for lead generation, cost per conversion of one named action is the headline.

Metric	Google Ads column	Formula	What it answers
Impressions	Impr.	Counted	How often the ads were shown
Clicks	Clicks	Counted	How often people acted on them
Click-through rate	CTR	Clicks ÷ impressions × 100	Does the ad earn attention where it is shown?
Cost	Cost	Counted, in account currency	What was spent
Average cost per click	Avg. CPC	Cost ÷ clicks	What each click cost
Conversions	Conversions	Counted per the conversion actions included	How many named outcomes were recorded
Conversion rate	Conv. rate	Conversions ÷ interactions × 100	How well clicks turn into outcomes
Cost per conversion	Cost / conv.	Cost ÷ conversions	What each outcome cost
Conversion value and ROAS	Conv. value, Conv. value / cost	Conv. value ÷ cost	Reported value per unit of spend (not profit)
Search impression share	Search impr. share	Impressions ÷ eligible impressions	Room to grow with more budget or rank

Campaign performance report template

A usable report has three parts: a header that fixes the context, one row per campaign, and a short note per material change. Copy the structure below into a sheet or a scheduled Google Ads report. All numbers in the example row are illustrative.

Header: account name and ID, currency, reporting timezone, date range (complete days only), comparison range of equal length, conversion actions included, attribution model. Notes: for the two or three campaigns with the largest absolute change, write what changed, the plausible cause and the next check.

Campaign	Type	Impr.	Clicks	CTR	Cost	Avg. CPC	Conv.	Cost / conv.	Change vs previous period
Brand search (illustrative)	Search	12,000	1,800	15.0%	900	0.50	90	10.00	Cost +5%, conv. +2%
Generic search (illustrative)	Search	48,000	1,440	3.0%	2,880	2.00	48	60.00	Cost +30%, conv. −10%: check search terms
Remarketing display (illustrative)	Display	220,000	660	0.3%	660	1.00	11	60.00	Conv. immature: last 7 days provisional

How to read a Google Ads report in five checks

Check 1: context. Same account, currency, timezone and complete date range on both sides of every comparison. Check 2: definitions. Which conversion actions are included in Conversions, and did that list or the attribution model change during the period? Check 3: size. Sort by absolute change in cost and in conversions, not by percentage, so small campaigns with dramatic rates do not take over the review.

Check 4: mechanism. For each large change, split cost per conversion into its parts: did CPC rise, did conversion rate fall, or did the mix of campaigns change? Check 5: maturity. Treat the most recent days as provisional, because conversions arrive after the click. Only then write the conclusion and the next action.

Read spend, impressions, clicks and conversions together, not one column at a time

Review spend, impressions, clicks and the relevant conversion measures on the same screen. A rise in cost per conversion can come from more expensive clicks, from a weaker conversion rate or from a change in what counts as a conversion. Reading the columns in isolation hides which one moved.

Keep absolute values beside every ratio. A campaign with three conversions can show a dramatic swing in cost per conversion when a fourth arrives. Rates on small counts are noisy, and a denominator of zero makes the ratio undefined rather than infinite or free. Show the counts so the reader can judge how much weight the rate deserves.

Rank the largest absolute changes before investigating small fluctuations

Most reports contain dozens of small movements and a handful of meaningful ones. Sort campaigns by the absolute change in spend and in conversions between two equivalent complete periods. Investigate the top contributors first and record a plausible explanation and a next check for each. Use the worksheet below to keep the review consistent week to week.

Report field	What to record	Why it matters
Objective	The business outcome this campaign exists to produce	Decides which conversion column is relevant
Conversion definition	Which actions count, and whether value is meaningful	Equal ratios can hide different meanings
Spend and currency	Total cost in the account currency over complete days	Keeps the denominator consistent across periods
Largest contributor	The campaign or group with the biggest absolute change	Directs effort to what actually moved the total
Next check	Search terms, device, landing page or tracking change	Turns an observation into a bounded investigation

Illustrative example: two campaigns with equal cost per conversion and different meanings

Illustrative example: two campaigns in an invented account both report a cost per conversion of 25 in the account currency over the same four complete weeks. Campaign A counts completed purchases. Campaign B counts newsletter sign-ups. The displayed ratios are identical while the business meanings are entirely different, and nothing in the campaign table reveals it.

The report should name the counted action beside the ratio. If the reader wants to compare acquisition efficiency, the comparison has to use the same outcome for both campaigns, which may mean reading Campaign B with purchases only and accepting a smaller, slower-to-mature number.

Attributed conversions are not incremental sales, and recent outcomes are immature

Google Ads attributes conversions to ad interactions according to the account’s conversion settings and attribution model. That attribution is a reporting convention, not a controlled estimate of how many sales would have been lost without the ads. Keep platform-attributed performance separate from any claim about incremental revenue.

Recent outcomes are also incomplete. People convert days after the original click, so the newest part of any report has had less opportunity to accumulate conversions. Note the typical delay for this account and treat the last several days as provisional rather than as a decline.

Run the same campaign performance review in Adlane

Connect the Google Ads account for the business you are reviewing, then ask a bounded question that names the period and the goal. For example: “Compare the last two complete months for our Search campaigns, using purchases as the conversion. Which campaigns changed most in spend and in conversions?” Adlane reads the connected campaign data and returns the evidence it used, so you can check the counts beside every ratio.

Any live change is a proposal that you review and approve; the conversation does not change campaigns on its own. New campaigns start paused. End the review with a short campaign note: the objective, the result, the plausible explanations and the next check.

Questions, answered

Where is the campaign performance report in Google Ads?

Open Campaigns for the on-screen table, or Reports, then Predefined reports (Dimensions), then Basic, then Campaign for a report you can download as CSV or Google Sheets or schedule by email. Set the date range first, then add columns.

What happened to the AdWords campaign performance report?

AdWords became Google Ads, and the AdWords API report type CAMPAIGN_PERFORMANCE_REPORT was replaced in the Google Ads API by a GAQL query on the campaign resource. In the interface, the predefined Campaign report covers the same ground.

Which columns should a campaign performance report include?

Impressions, clicks, CTR, cost, average CPC, conversions, conversion rate and cost per conversion; add conversion value and ROAS only when values are meaningful, and Search impression share for Search campaigns.

How do I schedule a Google Ads campaign report by email?

Save the Campaign report in the Report editor, then use the schedule option to email it daily, weekly or monthly to people with access to the account.

Why do my campaign conversions change after the period has ended?

Conversions are credited to the date of the ad click or interaction, and people often convert days later. Recent days keep filling in, so treat them as provisional.

Can I compare Search and Performance Max campaigns in one report?

Show them in the same table, but compare rates only within the same campaign type. They are shown in different contexts, so CTR and CPC are not like for like.