uploadClickConversions with GCLID/WBRAID/GBRAID for invalid-traffic exclusion – how do consent flags affect conversion detection?

Hi, 

I’m building an ad fraud protection tool that uses the Google Ads API and uploadClickConversions with GCLID / WBRAID / GBRAID to mark invalid trafficand then exclude those users via a user list built from a specific conversion action.

My upload looks like this (TypeScript / Node):

The conversion action is configured as:

• Counting = Every(compatible with WBRAID/GBRAID),

• Goal = Secondary,

• “Don’t use a value”(only for invalid-traffic logic / exclusion, not bidding).

I then create a user list that includes users who have this conversion action(i.e. a conversion-based user list off this “Invalid Traffic” action) and exclude that list from campaigns.

When I upload a conversion ( I omit the consent object for all of my requests), the API call returns success (no partial failures), but:

• I see far fewer conversionsfor this action in metrics than I’ve uploaded (e.g. in all_conversions), and

• The user list stays small, as if most of the uploaded conversions are not being detected/eligible.

My questions:

1. For uploadClickConversions with GCLID/WBRAID/GBRAID, what is the expected behavior if the consent object is:

   • not provided at all,

   • provided with ad_user_data = DENIED, or

   • provided with ad_personalization = DENIED?

   Specifically:

   • Will these conversions still appear in reports (e.g. all_conversions)?

   • Will they still be eligible to populate a conversion-based user list?

2. Is a conversion-based user list that is used only for exclusion(invalid traffic) still treated as “personalized advertising” and therefore requires ad_personalization = GRANTED?

3. Is the following pattern correct/allowed:

   • Only send identifiers and set ad_user_data + ad_personalization = GRANTED when I have ad personalization consent,

   • Never upload identifiers for users without such consent (so they never enter the user list),

   • And still expect conversions to be visible/usable where consent is granted?

4. When I omit the consent object completely, does Google infer consent state automatically from Consent Mode / other signals and silently treat some uploads as non-eligible (for reporting or user lists)? Or are such uploads supposed to behave the same as if consent were not restricted?

Right now uploads succeed (no explicit errors) but I see relatively few conversions and a small user list, so I’m trying to understand exactly how consent flags (or their absence) gate both conversion detectionand user list filling. 

Thanks!