If you’re running a business, you’ll likely be tracking your revenue in multiple ways. For example, you may be using Google Analytics to track website traffic and ecommerce platforms to track sales. But if the numbers don’t match up, it can be confusing and difficult to figure out why. This article will explain why your Google Ads revenue may differ between Google Analytics and ecommerce platforms, and how to reconcile the discrepancies.
First of all, it’s important to understand that Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows businesses to bid on certain keywords in order to display their ads in search engine results pages (SERPs). When someone clicks on one of these ads, the advertiser pays for the click and is charged based on their bid amount.
When it comes to tracking this revenue in analytics tools like Google Analytics or an ecommerce platform like Shopify or Magento, there are several factors that can affect the accuracy of the data.
For starters, there are differences between how clicks are tracked by each platform. For example, when someone clicks an ad from a SERP page on desktop or mobile devices, this click is tracked by both Google Analytics and most ecommerce platforms (depending on how they’re set up). However, when someone clicks an ad from within an app or from a third-party website such as Facebook or YouTube – which often happens with PPC campaigns – only Google Analytics will track this click as part of its data collection process. This means that any revenue generated from these types of clicks won’t show up in your ecommerce platform’s data unless you manually add them yourself.
Another factor that can cause discrepancies between your analytics tools is attribution models. Attribution models determine which interactions with customers lead them down the path towards conversion – i.e., making a purchase – so they can be attributed back to specific marketing channels like PPC campaigns for reporting purposes. By default, most analytics tools use last-click attribution models; however some offer more advanced options such as time decay or position-based models which may result in different numbers being reported for each channel depending on how much weight they give certain interactions along the customer journey towards conversion.
Finally, there may also be discrepancies due to timing issues; i.e., when exactly each platform records transactions compared with when they actually occurred (or vice versa). This could happen if one platform records transactions at midnight while another does so at noon; resulting in some transactions appearing twice or not at all depending on which system was used first for reporting purposes.
In conclusion, understanding why your Google Ads revenue differs between different analytics tools can help you better understand where your money is going and make sure it’s being spent effectively. To reconcile any discrepancies, make sure all platforms are using consistent attribution models, ensure all types of clicks are being tracked properly, and check for any timing issues. With these steps taken care of, you should have accurate reports showing exactly where your money is going – allowing you better control over your budgeting decisions.