Why it happens
Each platform uses its own default
Each platform uses its own default
Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn and GA4 each start with a different click and view window, so the same conversion lands inside one and outside another.
View-through credit
Meta and LinkedIn credit conversions after an ad view with no click. Your analytics never sees a view, so it never credits one.
Your sales cycle is longer than the window
A B2B deal that closes 45 days after the click falls outside a 30-day window and never gets credited to the ad.
Windows changed under you
Meta removed the 7-day and 28-day view windows on January 12, 2026, which cut reported conversions overnight for accounts that relied on them.
How to line them up, step by step
Check the Google Ads window
Go to Goals, then Conversions, then Summary, open the conversion action, and read Click-through conversion window (1 to 90 days).
Check the Meta setting
In Ads Manager open the ad set and find Attribution setting under Conversion. Use Columns, then Compare attribution settings, to see 1-day and 7-day click side by side.
Check LinkedIn
In Campaign Manager go to Analyze, then Conversion tracking, open the conversion, and read the click-through and view-through windows.
Match the window to your cycle
Set the click window just past the time most buyers take to convert, and report every platform on click-through only when you compare them.
Steps checked against Google Ads Help: About conversion windows; Meta Business Help Center: About attribution settings; LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help: Conversion tracking attribution windows.
Sprites diagnoses this
Sprites diagnoses it
Sprites reads each platform’s attribution basis and lines the conversions up so you compare like with like.
What Sprites does
- Reports Meta conversions on the account’s attribution setting and flags date ranges that cross the January 2026 window removal.
- Reads the attribution window set on each Meta ad set.
- Puts Google Ads, Meta and LinkedIn conversions next to your analytics for the same dates.
What it doesn't do
- It does not change attribution windows or settings on any platform.
- It does not measure view-through conversions your analytics cannot see.
Questions
What is the default attribution window on Meta?
For website conversions, 7-day click and 1-day view, with 1-day engage-through for clicks that were not link clicks since March 2026.
What is the default conversion window in Google Ads?
30 days after a click, adjustable from 1 to 90 days.
Should I use a 1-day or 7-day click window?
Use 7-day click if buyers take more than a day to decide. Use 1-day click to judge impulse purchases and to compare with tighter analytics numbers.
Does changing the attribution window change delivery?
On Meta it can, because the ad set optimizes toward conversions inside the window. On Google Ads it changes which conversions Smart Bidding learns from.
Why did my Meta conversions drop in January 2026?
Meta removed the 7-day view and 28-day view windows on January 12, 2026. Conversions that only counted through those windows disappeared from reports.
See where it breaks
Connect your accounts. Sprites reads them side by side and shows you exactly where the numbers split.