Knowledge Base      


Why don’t my Tracking Link stats match other apps?


Unfortunately, you can’t rely on the stats provided by your ad networks or other marketing apps you use.

They just don’t have all the data points necessary to generate unbiased, accurate, and actionable marketing insights.

Ad network tracking is also crippled by short attribution windows, estimated and delayed data, “greedy attribution,” and iOS “do not track” and other privacy-related issues.

And tracking is just an afterthought with all the other marketing apps you use, so you can’t rely on them either.

So the fact that ClickMagick won’t always match up with these other apps is a good thing – because it means that ClickMagick is revealing your actual, statistically significant, and actionable stats.

With that being said, here are the most common reasons for stats “discrepancies” …





Reason #1 – You’ve just started using ClickMagick

If you’ve just recently started using ClickMagick, your stats will not match the other marketing apps you’re already using due to all the prospects in your funnel before you started to use ClickMagick.

Learn more


Reason #2 – There’s a problem with your Tracking Code

Your ClickMagick Tracking Code needs to be “installed” correctly to get accurate stats, so if things are “missing” in ClickMagick, you’ll want to start here.

Learn more


Reason #3 – GDPR Privacy/Cookie Banners & Apps

If you have any type of privacy/cookie banner on your website that asks visitors to consent to accepting cookies and data collection, in most cases they can’t be tracked if they decline.

Learn more


Reason #4 – You have non-dedicated “thank you” pages

The ideal “thank you” page is a dedicated page or screen that visitors or buyers see just once after a conversion occurs e.g. an opt-in or sale. This is best because it ensures you won’t ever have to worry about duplicate conversions.

On the other hand, if you’re adding conversion tracking code to pages that visitors can easily reach in multiple ways, over and over again, you may need to make a small tweak to your ClickMagick setup.

Learn more


Reason #5 – Ad networks and other apps do not provide accurate stats

You absolutely cannot rely on the stats provided by ad platforms or other marketing apps you use.

Ad network tracking is crippled by short attribution windows, “greedy attribution,” estimated and delayed data, and iOS “do not track” and other privacy-related issues.

Learn more


Reason #6 – Different time periods, often due to time zone differences

To accurately compare two different sets of stats, you first have to make sure that you’re looking at the same time period on both sides. Comparing apples to apples, as they say.

Learn more


Reason #7 – Differences in counting “unique” clicks

The biggest issue here is that most traffic sources don’t publicly share how they determine a unique click, so it’s unlikely that the number of unique clicks shown in ClickMagick will exactly match your traffic source.

The big ad networks – like Google, Facebook, Microsoft Ads and TikTok – all use black box algorithms and don’t tell anyone how they count clicks. But what is obvious is that they will often charge you for multiple “unique” clicks from the same person in a short period of time, even within a matter of hours.

Ad networks are also known to adjust the number of clicks they say you’ve received after the fact, based on post-click analysis and other factors, so their numbers can change depending on when you look at it.

Learn more


Reason #8 – You have “leaks” in your tracking or untracked organic traffic

By default, Campaigns will only track visitors who arrive at your site via a proper UTM-powered link, which includes valid utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign values at a minimum.

If you also want to track organic traffic, you need to purposely enable that in your Campaigns click tracking code.

Learn more


Reason #9 – You’re receiving fraudulent or “fake” clicks

This is less likely with the major ad platforms, but there’s quite a bit of fraudulent traffic being bought and sold on some of the smaller ad networks, some of the CPV/PPV ad networks, and most certainly when it comes to “solo ads.”

These fake clicks are normally counted as real clicks by “dumb” platforms that can’t tell the difference, but ClickMagick separates these from your primary stats to preserve their accuracy.

Learn more


Reason #10 – Bots “clicking” your ads and links

The main issue is that many bots do not follow redirects, so a bot may “click” on your ad or other promotional links but not follow the redirect to your landing page the way a normal browser would, so you never see the click.

Learn more


Reason #11 – Prospects and customers repeatedly clicking on your paid ads

Rather than use bookmarks, many Internet users simply Google your product or brand name and click whatever shows up at the top when they want to get back to your site.

Usually, this will be your paid ad, and when they click it repeatedly over time, your ad network counts these as unique clicks and charge you over and over and over again.

Learn more


Here’s what to do if you still can’t figure it out ...

First, know that “discrepancies” are expected for many of the reasons discussed above.

And remember – you shouldn’t think of ClickMagick as a raw “click tracker.” ClickMagick aims to provide you with statistically significant and actionable stats that will help you optimize your marketing …

… and it doesn’t matter if Facebook reports 1,002 raw ad clicks and ClickMagick reports 982 unique visitors.

When it comes to optimizing your marketing, the numbers that ClickMagick provides will always be “correct” and infinitely more useful than those you see on other platforms.

With that being said, if you have a large discrepancy that you can’t figure out or you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out any time, and we’ll be happy to help!




Reason #1 – You’ve just started using ClickMagick

If you’ve just recently started using ClickMagick, your stats will not match the other marketing apps you’re already using due to all the prospects in your funnel before you started to use ClickMagick.

Learn more


Reason #2 – There’s a problem with your Tracking Code

Your ClickMagick Tracking Code needs to be “installed” correctly to get accurate stats, so if things are “missing” in ClickMagick, you’ll want to start here.

Learn more


Reason #3 – GDPR Privacy/Cookie Banners & Apps

If you have any type of privacy/cookie banner on your website that asks visitors to consent to accepting cookies and data collection, in most cases they can’t be tracked if they decline.

Learn more


Reason #4 – Ad networks and other apps do not provide accurate stats

You absolutely cannot rely on the stats provided by ad platforms or other marketing apps you use.

Ad network tracking is crippled by short attribution windows, “greedy attribution,” estimated and delayed data, and iOS “do not track” and other privacy-related issues.

Learn more


Reason #5 – Different time periods, often due to time zone differences

To accurately compare two different sets of stats, you first have to make sure that you’re looking at the same time period on both sides. Comparing apples to apples, as they say.

Learn more


Reason #6 – You have “leaks” in your tracking or other untracked traffic

Campaigns can only track visitors who arrive at your site via a proper UTM-powered link, which includes valid utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign values.

Anything else will be tagged as “organic” and not tracked the same as your paid ads.

Learn more


Reason #7 – Differences in counting “unique” clicks

The biggest issue here is that most traffic sources don’t publicly share how they determine a “unique” click, so it’s unlikely that the number of unique clicks shown in ClickMagick will exactly match your traffic source.

Learn more


Reason #8 – You’re receiving fraudulent or “fake” clicks

This is less likely with the major ad platforms, but there’s quite a bit of fraudulent traffic being bought and sold on some of the smaller ad networks, some of the CPV/PPV ad networks, and most certainly when it comes to “solo ads.”

These fake clicks are normally counted as real clicks by “dumb” platforms that can’t tell the difference, but ClickMagick separates these from your primary stats to preserve their accuracy.

Learn more


Reason #9 – Bots “clicking” your ads and links

The main issue is that many bots do not follow redirects, so a bot may “click” on a Tracking Link or Rotator but not follow the redirect to the actual landing page as a normal browser would.

Learn more


Reason #10 – Flagged clicks are not included in your ClickMagick click counts

By default, ClickMagick detects and separates clicks from bots, search engine spiders, anti-virus programs, ad networks, and other automated processes that send clicks to your links but aren't real clicks from real users.

Learn more


Reason #11 – Different click filtering or blocking settings

Tracking Links and Rotators allow you to Flag or Block bots and other automated clicks, and this can be a big cause of discrepancies between two ClickMagick users if these settings are different.

Learn more


Reason #12 – Clicks from “bulk traffic” sites blocked by ClickMagick

ClickMagick Tracking Links and Rotators automatically block clicks from many “bulk traffic” sites, so if this type of traffic is sent to a ClickMagick Tracking Link or Rotator, it will not be processed and a "discrepancy" could arise.

Learn more


Reason #13 – Someone has reset a Tracking Link or Rotator

When people reset Tracking Links and Rotators – which is generally not recommended – you can run into all sorts of problems and discrepancies regarding unique vs. non-unique clicks.

Remember …

Learn more


Here’s what to do if you still can’t figure it out ...

First, know that minor discrepancies are expected for many of the reasons discussed above.

And remember – you shouldn’t think of ClickMagick as a raw “click tracker.” ClickMagick aims to provide you with statistically significant and actionable stats that will help you optimize your marketing …

… and it doesn’t matter if another app reports 1,002 raw clicks and ClickMagick reports 982 unique visitors.

When it comes to optimizing your marketing, the numbers that ClickMagick provides will always be “correct” and infinitely more useful than the numbers you see on other platforms.

With that being said, if you have a large discrepancy that you can’t figure out, we’re happy to take a look and see if we spot anything you may have missed. But please understand the following when you do …

1. For us to help, we need you to detail everything you’ve already looked at and considered and what you’ve done to figure things out on your own. Without that info, we wouldn’t even know where to start.

2. We don’t have the resources to spend hours and hours figuring out any one user’s stats discrepancy, nor do we guarantee that we’ll always be able to figure out the issue – because sometimes it’s just impossible, for example, if someone is using sophisticated methods to generate fake clicks to your site.

3. We can’t help you with “solo ads” stats discrepancies. To learn more about that, please see this article:

Can you figure out my “solo ad” discrepancies?

Article 622 Last updated: 11/26/2023 12:39:50 PM
https://www.clickmagick.com/kb/?article=622