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Is Google Ads counting your Shopify purchases twice?

A common sign is Google Ads reporting more purchases than you had orders. It usually happens when two sources each send the same sale to Google Ads as a separate conversion, and both are set as primary. Here is how to check, and how to compare Google Ads with what Shopify recorded.

Why it happens

A Shopify store can send purchases to Google Ads from more than one place: the Google & YouTube app, a tag you or a developer added, or Google Analytics 4 purchases imported as conversions. Google Ads removes duplicates of a sale only within one conversion action, using the transaction ID. Two different conversion actions that both count purchases are added together, so one order can appear twice.

The count setting matters too. For purchases, Every counts each order, while One counts a single conversion per ad click. Which one suits your store depends on what you sell.

Signs it happened to you

• Google Ads conversions are close to double your Shopify orders from Google ads.
• Conversion value looks too high, or too low if shipping and tax are left out of the value sent.
• The numbers changed after you installed an app, added a tag or imported GA4 conversions.

A gap on its own does not prove double counting: Google Ads attributes by click date, uses its own time zone and conversion window, and cannot see shoppers who decline cookies.

Check it in five minutes

1. In Google Ads, open Goals → Conversions → Summary and list every action that counts purchases.
2. Note which are Primary and which are Secondary. Only primary actions are counted in the Conversions column.
3. If two primary actions both count purchases, keep one as primary and set the other to secondary.
4. For each purchase action, check the count setting (Every or One) and the value it uses.
5. In Shopify, count the orders that came from Google ads for the same days and compare. Use the same time zone.

How CommerceTrace helps

CommerceTrace does not read Google Ads, so it cannot see your conversion actions. The full order audit shows Sales from your ads: how many of your orders came from a Google Ads click, by the landing page Shopify recorded, and how many of those Google Analytics never recorded. If you import GA4 purchases into Google Ads, a sale missing from GA4 is missing there too.

How to fix Shopify orders missing from GA4 · Why GA4 purchases don't match Shopify orders