Datahound blog

Tracking & analytics, in plain English

Short, practical reads on why tracking breaks and how to fix it, so your GA4, Google Ads and Meta numbers finally agree and your ad spend works on real data.

Google Ads Google Ads conversions not tracking? Here is why, and how to fix it If Google Ads shows zero or far too few conversions, the cause is usually one of six things. Here is how to find which one, and what a clean fix looks like. Meta ads Meta Pixel underreporting? The iOS gap, and how the Conversions API fixes it If Meta reports fewer purchases than you actually get, browser-only tracking and iOS are usually why. Here is what is happening and how the Conversions API recovers the lost sales. GA4 GA4 not recording purchases? The usual causes, and how to fix them If GA4 shows sessions but no purchases, or far fewer than your store, the cause is usually the data layer, a missing tag, or consent. Here is how to find it. Diagnostics 7 signs your website tracking is quietly broken Broken tracking rarely throws an error. It just feeds you wrong numbers. Here are seven signs your GA4, Google Ads or Meta data is not to be trusted. The audit What a tracking audit actually finds, and why it pays for itself A tracking audit is not a report you file away. It finds the specific faults costing you conversions and ad budget. Here is what a good one checks and delivers. Consent & compliance Google Consent Mode v2 for UK and EU stores, explained simply Consent Mode v2 decides whether your GA4 and Google Ads tags run, get blocked, or model. Get it wrong and you lose data or break compliance. Here is the plain version. Server-side Server-side tracking, explained without the jargon Server-side tracking recovers the conversions browser tags miss and makes your data more accurate and durable. Here is what it is, in plain English, and when you need it. GA4 vs Google Ads Why GA4 and Google Ads conversion numbers never quite match GA4 and Google Ads will always report different conversions. Some of the gap is normal, some is a fault. Here is how to tell which, and when to worry.

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