Why advertiser and publisher reports disagree

Different report totals do not always indicate missing conversions. First establish that both reports count the same events over the same period, then investigate delivery failures.

Agree on definitions

Document what each column represents: all received events, unique users, approved conversions or paid results. Registration, first deposit and repeat deposit are different events. A rejected conversion may remain in the total while contributing nothing to rewards.

Check time and attribution

Compare time zones, period boundaries, click time and event time. Document the attribution window and partner selection rule when a user follows multiple links. Google Ads documentation also discusses reporting differences related to conversion timing; verify your network's rules separately.

Illustrative example: a Sunday click and Monday deposit may appear in different weekly reports when one uses click date and another event date. Do not adjust a payout before investigating the cause.

Reconcile individual events

Export a bounded period and match click ID, external event ID, type, timestamp, currency, amount and status. Group mismatches: not sent, not accepted, accepted with a different status or attributed to another period.

Do not share passwords, postback secrets or unnecessary personal data. Identifiers and a minimal field set are usually enough for technical reconciliation.

Control retries

Check server responses and retry logs. A successful HTTP response does not necessarily mean payout approval. Retry the same event using the same ID; a new ID can appear to be a new operation. First verify that the receiving system handles duplicates safely.

Document the resolution

Keep the discrepancy list, agreed decisions and responsible owner. Rerun reports after delayed events are processed. Check the financial entries separately: corrected statistics do not always automatically correct rewards.

Start with the missing conversion checklist.