Gap Between Google Ads Conversions and Shopify Orders Explained

Still trying (and failing) to make Google Ads and Shopify agree on your sales?

Still trying (and failing) to make Google Ads and Shopify agree on your sales?

In some cases, Google Ads shows only a fraction of the sales visible in Shopify. In others, it reports more purchases than actually happened.

This mismatch often leads to confusion and doubt, causing you to optimize around the wrong signals, waste budget on underperforming campaigns, and lose sight of what’s actually driving real revenue. Before you know it, you’re pausing profitable campaigns while scaling ones that aren’t.

So why does this happen? And which number should you trust?

If you’re trying to figure out whether to rely on Google Ads or Shopify for your conversion data, this blog will give you clarity. We’ll explain what each platform really tracks, where the gaps come from, and how to make smarter decisions with your data.

Why Google Ads and Shopify Report Sales Differently

At the heart of this difference is a simple fact: Google Ads and Shopify data rarely match due to fundamental differences in tracking, attribution, and data privacy.

Say you get 100 orders in Shopify. Logically, you might expect Google Ads to show 100 purchases too. But in reality, they don’t measure sales the same way.

Shopify records every completed order in your store, including payments, refunds, and fulfillment details. Its reporting focuses on what actually happened in the transaction, not on which marketing touchpoint influenced the shopper. Attribution in Shopify is typically based on the customer’s last interaction before checkout, depending on the available tracking data.

Google Ads reporting, by comparison, only includes conversions it can track and associate with ad interactions. If a shopper clicks an ad, leaves, returns later, and completes a purchase within the attribution window, Google Ads may still credit the campaign because it considers that ad click part of the conversion journey.

That said, the reliability of this data depends on how conversion tracking is set up. Most implementations use browser based tracking scripts, which can be disrupted by privacy settings, cookie consent being declined, ad blockers, or checkout interruptions. When tracking tags do not fire, Google Ads may miss the conversion or lose parts of the customer journey. In some cases, the same purchase can also be credited across multiple touchpoints. Shopify, however, will still record the completed order because it is based on the actual transaction.

This is what creates the reporting gap between ad platforms and your store data. Let’s take a closer look at the main reasons behind this reporting gap.

When Google Ads Underestimates Conversions?

Missing Conversions
A real purchase happens in Shopify, but no data reaches Google Ads because the tag failed, was blocked, or never triggered.

Delayed Conversions
Some conversions appear hours or days later due to processing delays, long buying cycles, or attribution windows.

Misleading Attribution Models
Customer journeys are rarely linear. Privacy restrictions, blocked cookies, and fragmented data prevent Google from seeing the full journey. As a result, some ad-influenced purchases receive little or no credit.

Cross-Device Tracking Gaps
A user may click an ad on mobile and purchase on desktop. If Google cannot connect those devices, the conversion is lost while Shopify still records the sale through email addresses, customer logins and persistent cookies.  

When Google Ads Overestimates Conversions?

Duplicate Counting
Multiple tags, repeated page loads, or incorrect triggers can send the same purchase event more than once, making one order look like two or more.

Incorrect Conversion Setup
Non-purchase actions, such as button clicks, test orders, or form submissions may be mistakenly marked as conversions, inflating performance reports.

Bot Traffic and Spam
Automated bots and low-quality traffic can generate fake clicks and interactions that trigger false conversions, even though no real purchase occurred.

Whether Google Ads underreports or overreports, it can distort your view against Shopify orders, making it harder to spot missed conversions.

So, how can you bridge the gap between Shopify’s source of truth and Google Ads performance?

Best Practices to Fix Shopify - Google Ads Tracking

You will almost never get Google ads and Shopify to match perfectly, and that’s normal. But, you can still make the gap small enough to trust your data and make good decisions. 

Shopify is your Financial Source of Truth

Shopify shows total sales after returns, cancellations, and refunds. In contrast, Google Ads shows ad-influenced conversions, not actual money received. Trust Shopify for revenue.  Use Google ads data to optimize for sales (which campaigns are driving initial purchases, what’s my cost per attributed conversion..)

Fill the Gaps with Enhanced conversions

Enhanced conversions are a way for Google Ads to capture conversions that traditional browser-based tracking can miss due to privacy rules, cookie consent, and ad blockers. When a customer makes a purchase, Shopify collects identifiers like email or phone number, encrypts (“hashes”) them, and sends them to Google so conversions can be matched across devices without violating privacy.

However, enhanced conversions still won’t capture every sale. Match rates (i.e., the percentage of conversions Google can successfully link to an ad) depend on proper data formatting, data quality, and whether users are signed in to their Google accounts at the time of conversion. In addition, privacy limits caused by iOS updates, ad blockers, and cookie deprecation continue to prevent complete attribution.

Improve reliability with Server-side Tracking

Browser-based tracking is not fully reliable. Ad blockers, cookie consent restrictions, and technical issues can cause missed conversions, making Google Ads underreport performance even though Shopify accurately records the sale. 

Server-side tracking tackles this problem by sending purchase events directly from your Shopify store’s server to Google Ads. This bypasses most blockers and privacy restrictions, ensuring that conversion events reach Google Ads without exposing any sensitive customer information. Even then, 100% accuracy is still not guaranteed. If consent is denied or the setup is misconfigured, some conversions may still be missed or modeled rather than recorded exactly.

Align Expectations with Attribution Models

As you know, Shopify relies on a “last-click” attribution model for its basic reporting and completely ignores all the previous touchpoints that might have assisted in the conversion. Google Ads, on the other hand, defaults to more advanced models like Last Non-Direct Click or Data-Driven Attribution, showing a more complete picture of how ads contribute to conversions.

This means the same sale can appear very differently in Shopify vs Google ads. A campaign that looks low-performing in Shopify may actually be helping drive sales in Google Ads. You might think it’s underperforming and pause it, but in reality, it could be guiding customers earlier in their buying journey.

By understanding these attribution differences, you can reduce discrepancies between reported conversions and actual orders, and gain a more complete picture of how Google Ads contributes to revenue.

Monitor your tracking often 

Tracking isn’t foolproof. Even small changes to your website, updates to apps, or new browser/privacy can break it without you noticing. 

• Make sure your data is set up correctly in Google Analytics 4 and your conversions are properly connected in Google Ads.

• Whether you use Google Tag Manager or direct tags, make sure your tracking pulls the right parameters from Shopify, fires on the correct purchase event (usually on the thank-you page), and sends clean, accurate data to Google. This prevents missing, wrong, or duplicate conversions.

• Before launching new campaigns or making website changes, always check that your tracking still works. Do a test purchase and confirm that all tags and conversion events fire correctly. 

Conclusion

Shopify and Google Ads are meant to work together, not mirror each other. They often measure different things, even if they seem to be counting the same sales.

When each platform claims the same sale, your job isn’t to pick sides. It is to see how the funnel works together, with each platform playing a role in driving the purchase. If Google Ads helped bring in the customer and influenced the purchase, that matters. If Shopify processed the order, you know the sale is real.

Between rising browser protections, ad blockers & the shifting privacy rules out there, you’ll always lose some data. The goal is to minimize that loss and ensure you’re capturing as much accurate data as possible.

When you approach it this way, small discrepancies stop being a problem. You stop guessing, stop reacting to incomplete numbers, and start making confident decisions based on data that truly reflects your business.

If you want to trace which sales channels truly contributed to an order and understand the real conversions coming from your ad channels, Bloom can help connect those dots.