You're trying to determine how effectively your ads are driving online sales and generating leads through sign-ups, and you compare your Google Ads data with your offline data. That's when you see a difference in the number of sign-ups in Google ads vs. your offline data source. Assume everything is working properly and the issue lies with when a conversion was counted. What would you say is causing this data discrepancy?

The discrepancy arises because Google Ads attributes conversions to the date and time of the ad click that initiated the conversion path. This is a standard attribution model in Google Ads. Other data sources, especially offline systems, often record the conversion based on the actual date and time the conversion event occurred. For example, if a user clicks an ad on Monday and completes a sign-up on Wednesday, Google Ads will report that conversion on Monday, while an offline system might report it on Wednesday. This difference in reporting methodology for the conversion date is a common cause of data discrepancies between online advertising platforms and internal tracking systems. The other options describe incorrect or irrelevant reporting metrics (views, unique IDs) or misrepresent how Google Ads or other sources track conversions.