Why Meta's and Google's numbers differ from GrowViking's
Cost per result in Meta Ads Manager and Cost per order in GrowViking measure two different things. Ads Manager in GrowViking shows both side by side, so you see the gap and why.
How to do it
- 1
Spend is the same: GrowViking reads Meta's and Google's own spend per ad and day, in the ad account's currency.
- 2
Results and Cost per result (Meta) are Meta's own count of purchases, read with each ad set's attribution setting (for example 7-day click, 1-day view and 1-day engaged view), the same numbers as in Meta Ads Manager.
- 3
Orders and Cost per order are your shop's real orders whose link (UTM tags or GrowViking click tracking) names the ad. Each order counts once, on the day it was placed, after refunds.
- 4
Meta usually counts more: people who only saw the ad and bought later, buyers on another phone or computer, purchases Meta estimates for shoppers who said no to cookies, and buyers who came back through Google or a newsletter. That is why Meta's cost per result is often lower than the cost per order.
- 5
Meta can also count fewer: an order whose purchase never reached Meta, for example when the payment page skips the thank-you page.
- 6
ROAS in GrowViking is your shop's sales excl. VAT, after refunds, per 1 spent. Meta's ROAS uses the value its pixel sends, which is often incl. VAT and shipping, so the two differ. If Meta's purchase value per order looks far too low or too high, check the value and currency your shop sends to Meta.
- 7
Pick the same days on both sides. GrowViking's 7 days include today; Meta's Last 7 days end yesterday. The exact dates stand above the table.
- 8
An order that names only an ad set (its ID in utm_term) counts on that ad set and its campaign, but on no single ad.
- 9
Google: Google's conversions count the conversion actions you picked in Google Ads. If one of them is not a purchase (for example a page view or a click on a phone number), Google counts far more than your shop sold. Make a purchase your only primary conversion in Google Ads.
Judge money on Cost per order: those are real orders. Meta's cost per result shows what Meta learns from, since Meta steers your ads by its own count.