Ad platforms count conversions differently, so totals never match your CRM

Ad platforms almost always report more conversions than the real sales in your CRM. According to Search Engine Land, this isn't a reporting bug: Google Ads, Meta and Microsoft count conversions by different rules, and every platform has a commercial interest in reporting generously.

The main reason for the gap is methodology. The same user action can be counted differently by two platforms, counted twice, or not counted at all. That's where the "extra" conversions in dashboards, double-counting across channels, and the endless marketer-versus-finance argument come from.

Key sources of the discrepancy:

• Attribution windows. Meta defaults to 7 days after a click; Google Ads with data-driven attribution looks back up to 90 days. Different horizon, different totals.
• What counts as engagement. Meta credits video views and carousel swipes; Google and Microsoft usually require a click.
• View-through. Display and YouTube credit conversions from an ad view, not a click — and web analytics never sees them.
• Attribution models. Google spreads value across several touchpoints; Meta typically hands it all to the last click.
• Modeled conversions. Privacy changes push platforms to estimate part of the data with their own algorithms and across devices.

Platform numbers are counted generously, and every side benefits from reporting more — hence the gap with the CRM. LTV, customer acquisition cost and product margin stay in the business's own data, while a perfect reconciliation between Google Ads and Meta probably never happens: the attribution methodology is just too different. It's worth noting that marketers usually turn to incrementality tests only once budgets get genuinely serious.

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