Google has recently provided updates on the status of some key attribution issues – these updates are shown in the tables below. Mis-attribution of traffic often leaves clients confused as to whether it is an issue with their implementation or with the wider GA4 platform. If you are facing attribution issues we recommend reviewing this post in order to save time investigating solutions and also setting expectations concerning forthcoming GA4 platform fixes from Google.
The cause of mis-attribution is predominantly from two sources
- Incorrect or sub-optimal implementation by the client
- Bugs or changes in the GA4 platform
If you continue to have further attribution issues or questions please contact us. We will, of course, keep you up-to-date with any further communications from Google. Alternatively, follow this link for information on the latest platform releases
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9164320?sjid=8327267682302645269-EU
Consent Mode Specific Attribution Issues
| Issue | Causes | Solution | Status Update from Google |
|---|---|---|---|
| If ad_user_data / ad_user_personalisation is denied Increased attribution to organic or (not set) | Unconsented traffic regarding ad_user parameters. This prevents GCLID from being used and the correct attribution being set. Default channel group is therefore set to organic or ‘empty’. | Client to check the correct consent parameter values are passed. Client to use manual UTM tagging where possible or where attribution is an issue. This will assist in correctly attributing traffic. Google to implement attribution updates within the restrictions of user consent. | Attribution fixed - if Adwords account is linked and auto-tagging is enabled. Source medium will now be google/cpc and default channel group is Paid Search. Google continues to work on providing ‘best’ attribution possible while respecting user consent constraints |
| Increase in (not set) traffic reported by customers from June 18th 2024 | Many clients do not have the correct consent mode implementation with regards to the default consent status. The consent state needs to mirror that of your consent banner. | Set up default consent states across all consent parameters. Ensure consent status is updated after consent is updated through the cookie banner / pop-up. These updates should occur on every page of the site. The consent update should occur BEFORE any hits are sent. This may require use of the wait_for_update setting if the consent banner updates asynchronously. | Clients should refer to the solution. No action from Google forthcoming. |
DMPG Tips – Consent Mode
Check your Google consent mode flags are accurate and are being changed in line with user consent preferences and at the correct time. Consent mode updates should occur BEFORE any hits are sent.
Use manual UTM tagging in order to ‘correct’ persistent issues.
General Attribution Issues
| Issue | Causes | Solution | Status Update from Google |
|---|---|---|---|
| (not set) reporting Missing attribution / over attribution to Google Organic | Auto-tagging Manual-tagging errors Traffic from unlinked Adword account General implementation errors Platform errors | Review implementation and tagging structure based on the causes of this issue. | Under review by Google. Clients should also review set-up to ensure best practice |
| Late firing of a new session occurring after an attributed session_start event. This is breaking attribution. Occurs on both auto events and custom events | Event ordering needs correcting by Google for both auto events and custom events | Auto-event timing is now fixed across all properties.You must now have a config command or the Google tag installed on a web page for automatically collected events to be sent. Custom event fix to be rolled out Q4 2024 |
|
| Over attribution to Direct in reporting | Caused by processing delay, events, especially complex events are attributed to the direct channel if they ‘miss’ the processing window. | Google to introduce: - a 3 hour processing delay ,data freshness indicator to show whether you are viewing intra-day or daily data. Clients can use the new BigQuery fresh daily export if they want to view all data faster with greater processing accuracy. | 3 hour delay introduced May 22nd 2024 Data freshness indicator introduced May 22nd 2024 ‘Data not available’ bucket to be introduced in Q4 2024. |
| DCLID & GCLID misattribution | Enabling Youtube auto-tagging mis-attributes traffic to Google Ads instead of DV360 or CM360 | Correctly attribute DV360 links Correctly attribute CM360 links | Attribution fixed for DV360 links. Google are still seeing issues in BigQuery Form CM360 links. A fix expected end of October 2024 |
| Other issues | |||
| Missing SA360 dimensions. Differences between SA360 reports and their Google Analytics or Google Ads reports. | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Fix implemented Additional support on alignment of conversions export to 360 expected in the future (No ETA provided) |
| Single Page Application & Organic Search. Conversion credit being assigned to organic search where it should be assigned to paid. | Event timing issue. Referrer attribution was being broken by a new session start. | Referrer attribution should be performed on the first event of the page. | Fix implemented |
| Google Ads Clicks vs Google Ads Sessions. Discrepancy between the number of Ads clicks for an Ads campaign and the GA sessions credited to that campaign | Currently unknown | Currently unknown. | Google is aware of the problem and will provide a notification when a resolution has been identified. |
DMPG Tips – General Attribution
- Review issues and causes and solutions.
- Be aware of platform changes to assist in attribution diagnostics
- Use BigQuery for fresher more accurate data
- Use manual tagging to correct auto-tagging errors where necessary