You’re trying to determine how effectively your ads are driving online sales and generating leads through sign-ups, and you compare your Google Ads data with your offline data. That’s when you see a difference in the number of sign-ups in Google ads vs. your offline data source. Assume everything is working properly and the issue lies with when a conversion was counted. What would you say is causing this data discrepancy?

You’re trying to determine how effectively your ads are driving online sales and generating leads through sign-ups, and you compare your Google Ads data with your offline data. That’s when you see a difference in the number of sign-ups in Google ads vs. your offline data source. Assume everything is working properly and the issue lies with when a conversion was counted. What would you say is causing this data discrepancy?

• You’d say that Google Ads reports conversions against the date/time of the click that led to the conversion. Depending on the other data source, it might use the date/time of the conversion itself.
• You’d say that Google Ads reports views against the device type of the view that didn’t lead to a conversion. Depending on the other data source, it might use the date/time of the conversion itself.
• You’d say that Google Ads reports clicks against the date/time of the event that led to the conversion. Depending on the other data source, it might use the click of the conversion itself.
• You’d say that Google Ads reports conversions against a unique ID of the event that led to the click. Depending on the other data source, it might use the click of the conversion itself.

 

Explanation: The data discrepancy between Google Ads and the offline data source regarding the number of sign-ups can likely be attributed to how each platform counts conversions. **Google Ads reports conversions against the date/time of the click that led to the conversion.** In contrast, the offline data source might use the date/time of the conversion itself. This difference in attribution methodology can result in variations in reported conversion numbers, especially if there’s a delay between the ad click and the actual sign-up or conversion event. For instance, if a user clicks on an ad but doesn’t complete the sign-up process until later, Google Ads would attribute the conversion to the date/time of the initial click, whereas the offline data source might attribute it to the date/time when the sign-up occurred. Understanding these nuances in conversion tracking is crucial for reconciling discrepancies between online and offline data sources and gaining accurate insights into campaign performance.