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Custom columns

Custom columns are columns you add to Google Ads tables yourself, with a formula built from the account's own metrics, typed-in numbers and filters.

How it works

A custom column is a formula written like one in a spreadsheet. It combines standard columns such as Cost or Conversion value with operators, numbers you type in, functions and filters. A filter narrows a metric, for example to clicks from mobile phones or to the value of one conversion action.

For an online store, the useful formulas add numbers that Google Ads doesn’t have: a margin, a break-even ROAS, a target. A typed-in number is the same for every row, so one margin has to stand in for every product and category. Google Ads custom columns for online stores covers which formulas are worth adding.

Where you see it

  • Google Ads: in the Campaigns, Ad groups, Ads, Assets and Search keywords tables, under Modify columns → + Custom column. A manager account can also add them on the Performance page.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop keeps 35% of revenue after the cost of goods. It adds a column “Profit after ads”: (Conversion_value * 0.35) - Cost. For the month, 180,000 × 0.35 − 40,000 = 23,000. A second column, Conversion_value_per_cost >= 2.86, shows True or False: whether a campaign reaches the shop’s break-even ROAS of 1 ÷ 0.35.

Not to be confused with

  • Conversion value rules — change the conversion value that bidding works with. A custom column changes only what the table shows.
  • Looker Studio (now Data Studio) — a separate Google reporting tool that can combine Google Ads data with other sources. A custom column stays inside the Google Ads table.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “The total row of a custom column adds up the campaigns.” Right: Google Ads applies the formula to the totals themselves. With Conversion_value_per_cost - 2.86, a campaign at 60,000 ÷ 10,000 shows 3.14 and one at 120,000 ÷ 30,000 shows 1.14. The total shows 180,000 ÷ 40,000 − 2.86 = 1.64, not 4.28.
  • Wrong: “To see one conversion action, filter Conversions by it.” Right: Conversions counts only actions set to “Include in conversions”, so the column gets filtered twice and drops any action outside that setting. Google suggests the “all” variants, such as All conversions, for such filters.

Sources