Your Google Ads Agency Report Is Wrong
Profitability 2 min read

Your Google Ads Agency Report Is Wrong

In 30 secondsEvery Monday you get your agency's report: ROAS 4.2x, 12% growth, everything under control. On Friday you look at Shopify and revenue hasn't risen 12%, and if you calculate ROAS against the store's real revenue it comes out at 2.1x. Both numbers are correct on their own: one is the Google Ads ROAS (it counts any conversion within 30 days of the click, even if another platform also claims it) and the other is your business's ROAS. When Meta Ads and Google Ads are active at the same time, the sum of reported ROAS can reach 200% of real revenue. To calculate real ROAS, cross-reference spend per campaign with Shopify orders using the GCLID and compare it with what's reported: if the gap exceeds 30%, your weekly report measures Google's decision, not the business's.

Every Monday you get a report. ROAS 4.2x. 12% month-over-month growth. Spend under control. The whole team nods.

On Friday you look at Shopify. Revenue hasn't risen 12%. If you calculate ROAS against the store's real revenue, it comes out at 2.1x. Something doesn't add up.

The problem isn't the agency. Both numbers are correct on their own, but they answer different questions: one is the Google Ads ROAS, the other is your business's ROAS.

The reported ROAS measures Google's decision, not yours

Google Ads counts a conversion when the user clicked on an ad within the last 30 days and completed an action you marked as a conversion. That's reasonable for Google. Not for your P&L.

If that same user also saw a Meta Ads ad or arrived via organic, all three platforms claim the same sale. The sum of reported ROAS can reach 200% of real revenue.

How to calculate real ROAS

  • Export spend per campaign for the last period from Google Ads
  • Cross-reference with Shopify orders using the GCLID or the UTM parameter
  • Real ROAS = revenue cross-referenced with store / total spend
  • Compare with the ROAS reported in the Google dashboard

If the gap exceeds 30%, the weekly report is measuring the Google Ads decision, not the business's.

What to ask your agency for

Ask for a report with two columns: platform ROAS and ROAS cross-referenced with Shopify. If they can't produce it, it's because they aren't connected to the store. And then the problem is more serious: they're optimizing blind.

What your agency measures should correspond to what you pay for its services. If you pay a variable fee on reported ROAS and the real one is half, you're paying twice.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How much does reported ROAS usually get inflated?

Between 30% and 60% in accounts spending more than €5,000/month that have Meta Ads and Google Ads active at the same time.

Should I switch agencies if the reported ROAS is inflated?

Not necessarily. The right question is whether they can produce the ROAS cross-referenced with the store when you ask for it. If not, the problem isn't capability but visibility.

How do you cross-reference the GCLID with Shopify?

Shopify stores the GCLID in the session if you capture it with a script at checkout. There are official apps that automate it, or you do it with a custom field on the order and a bit of scripting.