Key Event
AnalyticsAlso: GA4 Key Event · Conversion Event (GA4)
Quick definition
A key event is what Google Analytics 4 (GA4) calls a conversion event from March 2024 onward. The underlying mechanics are the same: you mark an existing GA4 event as important, and it appears in your key events reports. The rename was made to reduce confusion with Google Ads conversion tracking, which remains a separate system.
How it varies across Australia
Most Australian businesses running GA4 have configured fewer key events than they should. A single purchase event or a single lead form submission covers the obvious case, but the signals needed to understand the full funnel sit unmarked. The gap between what is tracked and what is useful for decisions tends to be wide.
See data and tracking scores across Australian industries →The three layers that confuse everyone
Any interaction sent to GA4: a page view, a scroll, a click, a form submission. All key events start as events.
A GA4 event you have marked as important. Shows in key events reports and feeds Looker Studio dashboards.
A separate conversion definition in Google Ads. Can import a GA4 key event, but is a distinct system with its own attribution window and bidding logic.
What it actually means
In March 2024, Google renamed conversions in GA4 to key events. If you opened GA4 the day before and saw a 'conversions' report, you opened it the day after and saw a 'key events' report. Same numbers, same logic, different label.
The reason Google made the change is legitimate. The word conversion meant two different things in two different Google products and marketers were constantly mixing them up. In GA4, a conversion was a marked event used for reporting. In Google Ads, a conversion was the action used to train bidding algorithms and report cost per conversion. They overlap but they are not the same thing, and importing one into the other adds another layer of divergence.
By calling GA4 marked events key events, Google created a clearer separation. Your GA4 key events are your reporting milestones. Your Google Ads conversions are the signals your campaigns bid against. They can be linked but they are different instruments.
In practice, the rename changes almost nothing about how you configure tracking. You still go to GA4 admin, find the events list, and toggle the star next to the events you want to elevate. What changes is the vocabulary in reports, the label in Looker Studio connectors, and the terminology in documentation. Anything you built before the rename still works. The rename does not affect attribution, does not affect the data layer, and does not affect how GA4 passes events to Google Tag Manager.
The rename fixed a label problem without fixing the underlying confusion about what actually gets sent to Google Ads bidding.
How it shows up
Key events show up in the GA4 reports section under Engagement, in the Conversions report (now labelled Key Events), and in any Looker Studio dashboard pulling from the GA4 connector. When you link GA4 to Google Ads, you can import individual key events as Google Ads conversions, at which point they appear in both platforms but are processed independently.
The most common place marketers notice the rename is in Looker Studio, where the GA4 connector field that was previously labelled 'conversions' is now labelled 'key events'. This has broken a number of dashboards built before the rename. If your Looker Studio report suddenly shows zero conversions, the field mapping is almost certainly the issue.
The Australian context
Australian businesses using GA4 through a Google Marketing Platform reseller or agency may have had key events configured on their behalf under the old conversion naming. After the March 2024 rename, some agency reports continued using the old terminology without flagging the change, which caused confusion in quarterly reviews when client-side teams were seeing different labels than the reports showed. Worth checking that your reporting layer and your GA4 instance are using consistent terminology.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
Do I need to do anything after the GA4 conversion to key event rename?
No action is required on your GA4 configuration. Existing marked events carry over automatically. The only thing that may need attention is any Looker Studio dashboard or third-party reporting tool that referenced the old 'conversions' field name. Check those field mappings and update labels where needed.
Why do my GA4 key events and Google Ads conversions show different numbers?
They use different attribution windows and different counting methods by default. GA4 may use data-driven attribution across a 30-day window. Google Ads may use last-click with a 90-day window. Both numbers are correct for their own system. They measure the same events through different lenses.
How do I mark an event as a key event in GA4?
Go to GA4 admin, open the Events report under your property, find the event you want to elevate, and toggle the star icon in the Mark as key event column. It can take up to 24 hours to start appearing in key events reports.
Should I import GA4 key events into Google Ads or use native Google Ads conversion tracking?
For most Australian businesses running Google Ads, native Google Ads conversion tracking (via the global site tag or Tag Manager) gives the most reliable bidding signal because it stays within Google's system with the tightest attribution loop. GA4 key events imported into Google Ads work, but add one more layer where discrepancies can appear.
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New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
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