Why is there a discrepancy between Speakol Reports and Google Analytics?

It is normal and expected to find some differences and discrepancies between Speakol’s click reporting and Google Analytics reports. This is mainly because both companies rely on different reporting methodologies, yet they follow similar data trends. 

To help you grasp why these differences occur, we have listed some of the common reasons and tips about reducing the gaps in data when possible. 

Speakol Clicks Vs. Google Analytics Sessions

There is a difference between Speakol recorded clicks and Google Analytics recorded visits/sessions. Speakol records a “click” every time a user clicks on an ad on a publisher website, while Google Analytics records a single visit/session for all user interactions within a given time frame, which expires after 30 minutes of inactivity. So, for instance, if a user is directed to a marketer’s landing page through Speakol twice within a 30-minute time frame, this user’s interactions will only be recorded as ONE visit/session. 

Google Analytics Code Implementation:

You need to ensure that the Google Analytics code is implemented across your whole website and at the top of each particular page, including the home pages, section fronts, and mobile pages. If you implement the code far down your web page, there is a chance you will miss clicks if the page does not fully load for any reason. 

Google Analytics Code Up-Date:

Ensure that you have the latest versions of the GA script code, and add the UA and Domain attribute as described on the page. 

 

Partial Page Loads:

If a user closes your landing page before it fully loads and the GA is not triggered, Speakol will still count this as a click. 

Session Timeouts:

GA sessions expire after 30 minutes of inactivity. If a user leaves your landing page and returns again after 30 minutes, GA will count it as two sessions. 

Bookmarked Pages:

If a user clicks on your ad, is directed to your landing page, and decides to bookmark your page to return to it later during a different session. Speakol will only count this as one click, whereas GA will count these are 2 separate sessions. 

Optimize For Mobiles:

Loading time is crucial. If a mobile takes more than 4 seconds to load, it is expected that over 25% of users will drop off from click-to-page view. 

Landing page Speed and Performance:
It is essential that you check Google’s PageSpeed Insights, which provides optimization tips. For, delays in page load time can lead to discrepancies between Speakol clicks when compared to GA session counts.

User Browser Preferences:
Users may set their browser privacy preferences to disable cookies, images, JavaScript, which renders them untraceable by GA. Users who install Google’s own opt-out-add-on or a kind of AdBlocker are impossible to trace. 

Time Zone Differences:
Speakol’s reporting is based on the UTC time zone for all global markets. Therefore, if GA uses a different time zone, the daily reporting will differ. 

Speakol UTM Tag Implementation:
When creating a campaign, make sure that the UTM tags are implemented and added on the campaign level rather than the URL, mainly because dynamic parameters are not supported on the URL level. 

We hope these points have answered some of your questions. Should you have any more questions regarding your campaign data in Google Analytics, feel free to reach out to us at [e-mail]  for more information. 

Speakol can only investigate discrepancies between our platform and Speakol compatible click trackers and at this time, only Google Analytics is considered a Speakol compatible click tracker.