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Big difference between clicks and visits in GA4

Anonymous
2024-01-03T09:45:07+00:00

Hi, I have a trouble with big difference between clicks and visits from Microsoft Ads in GA4. For example in December can see more than 200 clicks in Microsoft Ads (search campaign) but only 19 visits in GA4. There is automatic tagging enabled, this is example how can I see url with utm after click on the ad: /?msclkid=d2aec014bed51b5e70d2a58192ba5000&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=CZ%20%7C%20SRCH%20%7C%20ŠKolení&utm_term=iso%209001&utm_content=Kvalita%20%7C%20ISO%209001

Thresholding in GA4 is not active.

Thank you.

Microsoft Advertising | Reports | Universal event tracking

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-08T09:17:40+00:00

    Hello, Dagmara,

    thank you for the answer, but the main problem is huge difference between clicks and sessions in GA4 from bing / cpc. This is not usual difference, we can talk about 95 % of clicks is missed.

    Thank you.

    Best regards

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-01-08T09:45:09+00:00

    Hello Petr,

    Thank you for your message.

    Unfortunately, I cannot say why GA4 is overcounting, to ensure you are seeing Bing CPC and Bing organic separate as this is often the reason for that type of discrepancy (GA4 counting organic performance as ads).

    Microsoft Ads count is the one that is accurate, we only charge you for the clicks we count. Our number should be the one that are correct, because it's our platform and our websites.

    I hope my answer helped. I will send you private message in case of further assistance.

    Kind regards, 

    Dagmara | Microsoft Advertising Support Specialist | 800-518-5689

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-03T10:34:40+00:00

    Hello Petr,

    Thank you for using our Microsoft Advertising Community Forum! 

    I am sorry that you see a discrepancy between Microsoft Advertising conversion counts and those from GA4. There could be several reasons why conversions may not match. Microsoft Advertising doesn't expose conversion data to any third-party platform, and each system uses its own logic and goal setup to track conversions.

    Google recently moved to a new default attribution model known as data-driven attribution as part of the migration toGoogle Analytics 4 (GA4), which may be causing large discrepancies in conversion attribution reporting between Google's tools and Microsoft Advertising.

    Why Microsoft Advertising may not be counting conversions?:

    • Did you verify that there is no duplication of the UET tag installation on the site (especially on the conversion pages)? If you have installed the same UET tag twice on the conversion pages, conversions will be double counted.
    • Did you verify that there are no duplicate goals? It's also possible that multiple goals match with the one user event thus increasing the number of conversions.
    • Did you verify that the goal definitions are the same across all the platforms being compared? Are the conversion windows similar?
    • Do you have test/fraudulent/duplicate conversions being generated on your site? Microsoft Advertising currently does not filter those out.
    • Are you using the same counting method (Unique vs. All) in your comparisons?
    • Note that Microsoft Advertising includes any cross-device conversions that it can identify as part of the conversion count. Google Ads reports those via estimated conversion columns. Google Analytics has a custom solution for cross-device that most advertisers may not be using.
    • When comparing, note that Google Analytics does cross-channel attribution which means that some of the conversions that Microsoft Advertising (or Google Ads) take credit for may be attributed to other channels by Google Analytics.

    Why Microsoft Advertising might over counting?:

    • Did you verify that there is no duplication of the UET tag installation on the site (especially on the conversion pages)? If you have installed the same UET tag twice on the conversion pages, conversions will be double counted.
    • Did you verify that there are no duplicate goals? It's also possible that multiple goals match with the one user event thus increasing the number of conversions.
    • Did you verify that the goal definitions are the same across all the platforms being compared? Are the conversion windows similar?
    • Do you have test/fraudulent/duplicate conversions being generated on your site? Microsoft Advertising currently does not filter those out.
    • Are you using the same counting method (Unique vs. All) in your comparisons?
    • Note that Microsoft Advertising includes any cross-device conversions that it can identify as part of the conversion count. Google Ads reports those via estimated conversion columns. Google Analytics has a custom solution for cross-device that most advertisers may not be using.
    • When comparing, note that Google Analytics does cross-channel attribution which means that some of the conversions that Microsoft Advertising (or Google Ads) take credit for may be attributed to other channels by Google Analytics.

    Why Microsoft Advertising might under counting?:

    • Did you verify that the UET tag is present across the site (or at least on the relevant conversion pages)?
    • Did you verify that the goal definitions are not too restrictive such that they don't count all conversions?
    • Is your conversion window too small?
    • Are you counting Unique conversions (and comparing to All conversion counts in Google Ads, etc.)?
    • Note that if your users are converting directly or via other channels, Microsoft Advertising will not count conversions. They are reported in Google Analytics and Google Ads (if Google Ads determines the conversion was caused by their ad click).

    If you would like to know as well about how we counting clicks, please visit out page where you can find information about Click measurement: description of methodologyhere.

    I hope this information were helpful. I will send you private message in further support is needed. Please check your inbox for further support.

    Kind regards, 

    Dagmara | Microsoft Advertising Support Specialist | 800-518-5689

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