Google Analytics has closed a long-running gap for app and web measurement. On September 29, Google updated its cross-channel conversion reports to include app conversions—a change aimed squarely at performance teams that import Analytics conversions into Google Ads.
What changed
App conversions now appear across the Conversion performance report, attribution analysis, and attribution models report. You can see which channels drive selected conversions, compare how credit shifts between models, and break assisted conversions into early, mid, and late touchpoints. Google also lets you set attribution settings for app conversions independently, so app credit rules no longer have to mirror web.
The feature is not available for every property yet. And the Conversion performance report only displays conversions shared with a linked Google Ads account, so this update mainly reaches advertisers already importing app conversions from Analytics into Google Ads.
The caveats to watch
- Cross-channel budgeting is still web-only; projection and scenario plans don’t include app conversions.
- The Paid and organic channels setting is still web-only. Google’s attribution page is explicit: “app conversions always use Google paid channels.”
- Some reports, such as Attribution paths, still rely on key events rather than conversions.
Why it matters for growth teams
For e-commerce and D2C brands, web and app conversions often live in separate tools. That makes it hard to answer a simple question: did the same user journey start on organic, continue on paid search, and finish in the app? This update brings those signals into one view—at least for Google-paid activity.
The practical frame is a shared report with paid-only app rules. If you have the Paid and organic channels setting switched on, web conversions can include organic search and direct visits. App conversions cannot, so only Google paid channels qualify for credit. When you present these reports, label app rows clearly rather than letting stakeholders assume they read the same way as web.
What to do now
Check that your property has the conversions section at all, since Google’s note covers the whole area, not just the app addition. Then confirm your linked Google Ads account and review which app conversions are imported. Set app attribution deliberately and document the model.
For reports that don’t support app conversions yet, use key events and keep dashboard labels consistent. Also watch for two likely next steps: cross-channel budgeting expanding beyond web, and the Paid and organic channels setting eventually covering apps.
The immediate play is attribution hygiene. Define the same conversion event names, choose your model on purpose, and label paid-only app rows everywhere they appear. That keeps one report from becoming two conflicting truths.
Source: Search Engine Journal
