Why don't your Google Ads clicks match GA4 sessions?

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Reasons why data recorded in Google Ads is different from Google Analytics 4:
The main discrepancy we found between the two tools is the clicks recorded in Google Ads and the visits in Google Analytics, and there are several reasons for this:

Clicks and sessions are different metrics: Clicks and sessions are different metrics — Google Ads tracks clicks , while Analytics tracks sessions . If a user clicks on your ad twice within thirty minutes without closing their browser, Google Analytics will record the click as a single session, even if the user left your site and came back shortly after. For example, if a user clicks on your ad once, then clicks the back button , and then clicks on your ad again, Google Ads records two clicks , while Analytics records one session.
Invalid clicks or bots: Clicks can often be generated by bots or even unintentional clicks, which do not translate into effective page views. Google Analytics 4 counts visits from the 20th second onwards, so visits lasting less than 20 seconds are not considered as such. On the other hand, Google Ads automatically removes invalid clicks from your reports, i.e. those in which a user repeatedly clicks on your ad to increase your costs or click-through rate. You are not charged for these potential invalid clicks. Instead, electrical contractors email lists Google Analytics shows all session data, including clicks that Google Ads has excluded, recording all sessions regardless of their validity.
Correct tracking setup: It is vital to ensure that conversion tracking and tags are correctly implemented. If the page has loading delays or response time issues, some visits may not be counted. Additionally, if auto-tagging is disabled and campaign tracking variables have not been manually added to final URLs (utm), click traffic will not be recorded as Google CPC traffic (i.e. clicks from Google Ads ads) but will instead be classified as Google organic traffic, interpreted as organic search clicks on Google.com. To avoid this discrepancy, make sure to turn on auto-tagging in your Google Ads account or add campaign tracking variables to each final URL.
Filters applied in Analytics: If filters have been applied to Analytics visits, this may affect the number of visits reported.
Cookies and ad blockers: Some users may be using ad blocking tools or privacy settings that prevent proper tracking in Analytics, or users who access your website through Google Ads may have JavaScript or images disabled, or are using technology that prevents Analytics from collecting their data (such as the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on). In these cases, Analytics may not record these users, although Google Ads will still count them.
Returning users while a campaign is active: If a user returns to your website while a campaign is active, the visit is attributed to that campaign, recording more sessions than clicks. To see the number of sessions for returning users, apply the User Type cross-targeting to the campaign.
Users return to your site via bookmarks To identify traffic coming from your Google Ads ads, Analytics uses the GCLID parameter in your final URLs. The GCLID parameter appears in your landing page URL when users navigate to your site from your ad. For example, if your site is seocom.agency, when a user clicks on your ad, the following URL will appear in the address bar: seocom.agency/?gclid=123xyz If users bookmark your website URL using the GCLID parameter , Analytics records traffic from these bookmarks as traffic from your Google Ads ads. However, Google Ads won’t record the clicks because they’re not actual clicks on your ads.
Server-side delays: If a user arrives at your website from an ad and navigates away from the landing page before the tracking code executes, the GCLID parameter is never passed to Google's servers and that click is not associated with the session, although it will still appear in Google Ads.
Google Ads and Analytics use different conversion attribution methods. Google Ads relies on last click in Google Ads, and Analytics relies on last click across all channels.
Google Ads and Analytics use different transaction dates. Google Ads records conversions based on the date and time of the click that led to the conversion, while Google Analytics uses the date and time of the conversion itself.
Tracking data is reflected at a different time. Google Ads conversion tracking numbers can appear within 3 hours, while Google Analytics conversion tracking numbers appear within 9 hours.
Google Ads has more conversions than Analytics. In this case, the discrepancy is likely due to modeled conversions. Currently, conversion modeling in GA4 is done independently of Google Ads. Google Analytics 4 only exports observed conversions to Google Ads, and then Google Ads applies its own modeling on top of these observed conversions. Additionally, while modeling in GA4 does not alter the total number of conversions reported, Google Ads modeling can inflate that total, which can lead to differences between conversions reported in GA4 and Google Ads. It's important to note that there is no option to turn off conversion modeling in GA4; conversion data will be modeled whenever the necessary observed data is not available.