Do Meta and Google double count sales?

Yes, often. Meta and Google each count sales under their own rules, and neither one removes a sale the other already counted. A shopper who clicks a Meta campaign and later a Google campaign before buying can show up in both reports. Add the two totals and you can end up above what the client collected.

Why it happens

Each platform counts inside its own window. In Google Ads, if you don't change the click-through conversion window, "the default window is 30 days", and you can set it "anywhere from 1 to 90 days, depending on the source of conversions" (Google Ads help: conversion windows). Meta credits a purchase to your ad "if they happened within a certain number of days after someone viewed or clicked on your ad" (Meta help: actions attributed to your ad). Its default is "7-day click, 1-day view and 1-day engagement" (Meta help: Results).

Each platform only sees its own campaigns. Google's attribution setting shares credit between ads "from the same advertiser" on Google (Google Ads help: attribution). It doesn't know a Meta ad was involved, and Meta doesn't know about Google. Nobody removes the overlap.

The dates don't line up. Google says "Google Ads reports conversions on the ad impression date", while other tools use the conversion date (Google Ads help: data discrepancies). So the same sale can land in different weeks in different reports.

For the longer read, see why Meta and Google both claim the same sale and Meta's attribution window, explained.

What it looks like in real accounts

One post on r/DigitalMarketing (November 2025) describes a brand where Google Ads showed 180K in revenue and Meta claimed 160K for the same month. Actual revenue was 220K. The writer put it plainly: "Both platforms take credit for the same purchase." (r/DigitalMarketing thread)

A post on r/PPC from 2026 says the same thing more bluntly: "Both will happily claim the exact same sale, so of course the totals overlap and inflate." (r/PPC thread) And back in 2024, another r/PPC poster asked how to find real ROAS per platform "when meta and google are both taking credit for the same sales" (r/PPC thread).

A single platform can also run ahead of real orders on its own. One store owner on r/FacebookAds saw "about 30% more" conversions in Ads Manager than the store recorded, on two days in April 2026, and several replies said the same that week (r/FacebookAds thread). Another owner wrote that one day the store had 6 website purchases while Meta reported 10, and that Meta support told them Ads Manager includes modeled conversions (r/FacebookAds thread).

Those last two are Meta against the store, not Meta plus Google. Put the overlap on top and the sum climbs further. Each of these is one account's experience, not a typical gap.

How to check it in 10 minutes

1. Pick one client and one date range, say the last 30 days, in one time zone.

2. Write down Meta's purchase value for that range.

3. Write down Google's conversion value for the same range. Use the "Conversions (by conv. time)" columns, which Google suggests "for more aligned reporting" with other tools, so the dates match.

4. Write down the payments the client collected in their payment processor for the same range.

5. Add Meta and Google, then compare that sum with the payments. If the sum is higher, part of the difference is the two platforms counting the same sales.

The platform vs payment gap calculator does the math for you.

A quick example

Sample only. Invented for teaching. Not an industry average, not a customer result.

Meta reports 40 purchases worth €6,000. Google reports 25 worth €3,750. Together that's 65 purchases and €9,750.

The processor shows 50 payments and €7,500 for the same dates. The two platforms claimed 15 more purchases and €2,250 more than was collected. That's the line the client will ask about.

How to show it in a client report

- Keep Meta and Google on separate rows. Never add them into one "ads revenue" figure.

- Put the payments collected for the same dates on their own row.

- Show the gap as its own line, with one sentence on why it exists.

- Show which campaigns the payments came from, and how much came from visits that weren't campaigns, like email, organic or direct.

- Work out ROAS on payments, not on claims. More on that in true ROAS and blended ROAS and MER.

A line the account manager can paste in: "Meta and Google can each count the same sale, so we report the payments you collected and show each platform's claim next to it."

Does that mean the campaigns aren't working?

No. A double count says nothing about whether a campaign works. Platform numbers are still the right tool for comparing campaigns inside each platform. They're the wrong number for what the client earned, and that's the one the client pays you to grow.

Where Thexly fits, and where it doesn't

Thexly matches each payment in the client's payment processor to the campaign visit that led to it, counted once. You get one workspace per client and a read-only link the client opens without logging in. The trial is 14 days, no card.

It doesn't stop Meta and Google from overlapping, and it doesn't send conversions back to either of them. It doesn't pull ad spend, so you bring spend from the client's ad accounts. It doesn't connect to store platforms.

If you want to try it on one account first, here's how to run a payment gap check on one client.

What's the biggest gap you've seen between the platforms and the bank? Tell us at hello@thexly.com.