Introduction
Google Ads plays a part anywhere in the conversion funnel, even if the conversion happened eventually through organic search (or any other source like Social, Direct or Referral), Google Ads would attribute the conversion to the last Google Ads click.
Case Example: If the conversion path looks like this and the conversion window is set as 30 days.
Day 1: User searches for “Targeted Keyword” on Google and clicks on Ad 1
–> Doesn’t fill out the form (no conversion)
Day 7: User searches for “Targeted Keyword” on Google and clicks on an organic listing and lands on your website
–> Doesn’t fill out the form (still no conversion)
Day 30: User searches for “Targeted Keyword” on Google, and clicks on another organic listing
–> Fills out a form and converts.
Here, Google Ads would attribute conversion to “Ad1”, and the conversion would be counted on the date when this ad was last clicked or seen.
Suggestion: Keeping the conversion window as short as possible to decrease the discrepancy of conversion count, below is a screenshot for the same shared for your reference.
Why do I see different numbers of conversion in Google Ads and Meritto?
A. Case: Setting conversion count - Know how it matters in conversion tracking:
Reason: The count is always set as a “One Conversion”, if you have set it as "Every Conversion" in Google Ads Conversion Setting it will count multiple conversions of a single user but Meritto does not allow duplicates.
Case Example: If someone clicks on the Ad1 and fills the form, Google Ads counts as first conversion, now the same user clicks on Ad2 and fills out the form, Google Ads will count it as second conversion because of conversion count setting as "Every Conversion" while Meritto report shows it as one conversion (it might seem simple, but it generally happens). Below is a screenshot of same for your reference.
B. Case: If you have applied a date filter causing a mismatch in data between Google Ads and Meritto report.
Reason: There could be a mismatch in Google Ads and Meritto report as Google Ads shows the conversion at a different time when the impressions/clicks took place while Meritto shows a different time and date when someone completes the registration.
Case Example:
If a prospect lead searches for a targeted keyword on Google and clicks on Ad1 at 11:55 PM but does not fill the lead detail and goes to some other website to gather more information and comes back after an hour at 00:55 AM finally filling the lead capture form thus completing registration, In this case, Google Ads will show conversion for yesterday whereas in Meritto report it will show that conversion happened today because user filled the form at 00:55 AM and day is changed here.
C.1 If UTM parameter is wrongly created or broken.
When a UTM parameter is wrongly created or broken, they won't be able to find the leads in Meritto reports against that particular source and conversion count will mismatch in Google Ads and Meritto reports.
For Building UTM Parameters you can use any online tool to avoid mistakes.
Online Tool to create UTM parameter for marketing campaigns.
https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/
C.2 Identify the campaign and compare lead count in Google Ads and Meritto using UTM Parameters:
Reason: User might miss to use the UTM parameters in some of the campaigns and when leads are checked in Meritto reports with that specific source you would see a discrepancy shown between Google Ads and Meritto reports.
Case Example: You are running around 8 Ads on Google Ads and you have created UTM parameters for 6 Ads but you forgot to create the UTM for the newly added 2 Ads that would cause a mismatch in the conversion count.
Please Note:
- If you’re using UTM parameters then leads would fall under the Publisher/Other Campaigns section.
- If you’re not using any UTM parameters it will fall under Paid Campaigns Section in the Meritto report.
D. Case: If you see a higher number of Conversions in Google Ads report compared to the Meritto report.
Reason: Conversion tracking code is not placed on the appropriate page where conversion is taking place.
Case Example: The Google Ads tracking script must be positioned on the thank you page, where the actual conversion occurs. Occasionally, advertisers make an error by putting it on the ad's landing page. Consequently, whenever a user visits that landing page, each click is recorded as a conversion. This leads to inflated numbers in Google Ads reports compared to the figures in Meritto reports.
E. Case: If you have applied a date filter causing mismatch in data between Google Ads and Meritto report.
Reason: There could be a mismatch in Google Ads and Meritto report as Google Ads shows the conversion at a different time when the impressions/clicks took place while Meritto shows a different time and date when someone completes the registration.
Case Example:
If a prospect lead searches for targeted keyword on Google and clicks on Ad1 at 11:55 PM but does not fill the lead detail and goes to some other website to gather more information and comes back after an hour at 00:55 AM finally filling the lead capture form thus completing registration, In this case, Google Ads will show conversion for yesterday whereas in Meritto report it will show that conversion happened today because user filled the form at 00:55 AM and day is changed here.