Google Analytics CPC and PPC not Matching

[Studio33]

Hi

Why do our CPC in Google Analytic not match our PPC in Adword, surely they should be identical?  We have Auto-tagging switched on and data in our history is wrong so it is not a timing issue.

Thanks

[johncallaghan]

Have you got the correct currency set in Google Analytics?

[Studio33]

Sorry I should have made it clearer.  By CPC I mean the traffic source. Paid clicks as opposed to Organic clicks

I would expect that the CPC source in GA to match the PPC clicks in Adwords but they don't

[johncallaghan]

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand.

Is data in Advertising -> Adwords in Google Analytics not matching data in Google Adwords?

Are your Google Adwords and Google Analytics accounts linked?

[Studio33]

Hi

Yes they are linked.  I think I may have just solved it.  In Google under Traffic Sources the "google / cpc" is always a bit higher than the clicks in Adwords for a given period.  On looking into the data more I can see that they are reporting the same keywords but on some of the keywords GA is reporting a few more clicks.  I am guessing this is due to people revisiting.  Is it that GA records the second visit again but adwords only records the original click?

Does this theory sound right?  It the only thing I can think of.  I suppose another way to ask the same question is "Does GA record revisits but adwords doesn't?"

Thanks

[Studio33]

I have just noticed one instance where Adwords clicks are higher..thus breaking the theory

[Bondara]

Might help

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1034383?hl=en-GB

[JasmineA]

Hey! This is a common issue between AdWords and GA. Analytics is tracking the number of visits, and AdWords is tracking the number of clicks. I'm not completely up to speed on what qualifies as an actual Visit to GA but it's not the same as what you're paying for. Sometimes when people don't stay long enough to count as a GA defined visit, it won't appear when reviewing traffic sources.

And when you see higher numbers in GA than in AdWords, there are a few other things that could be happening as well. AdWords is always about 4-6 hours behind the real up to date time. So as long as you aren't looking at today only, this shouldn't be a factor. Google also will credit you for what they believe to be fraudulent clicks, so they will also lower your numbers in AdWords.

What kind of variance are you seeing?

Also, you may want to look at the Advertising>AdWords>Campaigns section instead of the Traffic Sources section. I don't know when Analytics starts tracking last non-direct touch (if that's only in the goals or if that's throughout). But as soon as you leave the Advertising tab, things start to get wonky.