Aug 9, 2025
Google Ads Revenue Doesn’t Match GA4 or Shopify? Check This Overlooked Setting
If your Google Ads revenue doesn’t match GA4, Shopify, or your ecommerce platform, the problem might not be tracking errors. It could be an overlooked setting in Google Ads called Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization. Here’s how to find and fix it.
Conner Crowe
Performance Marketer
Why Your Google Ads Revenue Doesn’t Match GA4 or Shopify
If you’ve ever compared revenue numbers between Google Ads and GA4 (or your ecommerce platform like Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce) and noticed a mismatch, your first thought is probably:
“Something’s wrong with my tracking.”
While broken tracking does cause mismatches, there’s another reason your numbers might be off. It has nothing to do with GA4 or your store.
It’s a built-in Google Ads setting called Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization.
What Is Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization?
Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization is a feature in Google Ads that lets you assign an incremental conversion value to certain types of customers:
New customers
High value new customers
The idea is simple. If new customers are worth more to your business over their lifetime, you can tell Google to add extra value to those conversions. This extra value is then used in Google’s bidding algorithms to help you acquire more high-value customers.
Example:
Actual order value: $32.99
Incremental conversion value for new customers: $115.96
Google Ads reports: $148.95
Why This Causes Reporting Mismatches
Inflated conversion values
Google Ads adds this extra value directly to your reported conversion value.
Impact on cross-platform reporting
While GA4 and your ecommerce platform show the actual order total, Google Ads shows the inflated number. This causes:
Higher-than-actual ROAS in Google Ads
Revenue totals that never match between platforms
The risk of unintentionally reporting inflated revenue to stakeholders or clients
How to Check If This Is Causing the Mismatch
Follow these steps in Google Ads:
Go to Tools & Settings → Conversions
Click Summary in the top menu
Find the Customer lifecycle value optimization section
Look for any incremental conversion value set for new or high-value new customers
If a dollar amount is set, that is what is padding your revenue numbers.
How to Fix It
If you want your Google Ads revenue to match GA4 or your ecommerce platform:
Set both Incremental conversion value for new customers and Incremental conversion value for high value new customers to $0.
If you still want Google Ads to optimize for high-value customers:
Keep the values in place but know your reporting will be inflated
Use audience targeting and bid adjustments instead of inflated conversion values
The Takeaway
If your Google Ads revenue doesn’t match GA4 or Shopify, it may not be a tracking bug. It could be Google doing exactly what it was told to do.
Pro tip: Always check this setting before you start troubleshooting your tracking setup. It can save you hours of unnecessary debugging.
Recent blogs
Aug 9, 2025
Google Ads Revenue Doesn’t Match GA4 or Shopify? Check This Overlooked Setting
If your Google Ads revenue doesn’t match GA4, Shopify, or your ecommerce platform, the problem might not be tracking errors. It could be an overlooked setting in Google Ads called Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization. Here’s how to find and fix it.
Conner Crowe
Performance Marketer
Why Your Google Ads Revenue Doesn’t Match GA4 or Shopify
If you’ve ever compared revenue numbers between Google Ads and GA4 (or your ecommerce platform like Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce) and noticed a mismatch, your first thought is probably:
“Something’s wrong with my tracking.”
While broken tracking does cause mismatches, there’s another reason your numbers might be off. It has nothing to do with GA4 or your store.
It’s a built-in Google Ads setting called Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization.
What Is Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization?
Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization is a feature in Google Ads that lets you assign an incremental conversion value to certain types of customers:
New customers
High value new customers
The idea is simple. If new customers are worth more to your business over their lifetime, you can tell Google to add extra value to those conversions. This extra value is then used in Google’s bidding algorithms to help you acquire more high-value customers.
Example:
Actual order value: $32.99
Incremental conversion value for new customers: $115.96
Google Ads reports: $148.95
Why This Causes Reporting Mismatches
Inflated conversion values
Google Ads adds this extra value directly to your reported conversion value.
Impact on cross-platform reporting
While GA4 and your ecommerce platform show the actual order total, Google Ads shows the inflated number. This causes:
Higher-than-actual ROAS in Google Ads
Revenue totals that never match between platforms
The risk of unintentionally reporting inflated revenue to stakeholders or clients
How to Check If This Is Causing the Mismatch
Follow these steps in Google Ads:
Go to Tools & Settings → Conversions
Click Summary in the top menu
Find the Customer lifecycle value optimization section
Look for any incremental conversion value set for new or high-value new customers
If a dollar amount is set, that is what is padding your revenue numbers.
How to Fix It
If you want your Google Ads revenue to match GA4 or your ecommerce platform:
Set both Incremental conversion value for new customers and Incremental conversion value for high value new customers to $0.
If you still want Google Ads to optimize for high-value customers:
Keep the values in place but know your reporting will be inflated
Use audience targeting and bid adjustments instead of inflated conversion values
The Takeaway
If your Google Ads revenue doesn’t match GA4 or Shopify, it may not be a tracking bug. It could be Google doing exactly what it was told to do.
Pro tip: Always check this setting before you start troubleshooting your tracking setup. It can save you hours of unnecessary debugging.
Recent blogs
Aug 9, 2025
Google Ads Revenue Doesn’t Match GA4 or Shopify? Check This Overlooked Setting
If your Google Ads revenue doesn’t match GA4, Shopify, or your ecommerce platform, the problem might not be tracking errors. It could be an overlooked setting in Google Ads called Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization. Here’s how to find and fix it.
Conner Crowe
Performance Marketer
Why Your Google Ads Revenue Doesn’t Match GA4 or Shopify
If you’ve ever compared revenue numbers between Google Ads and GA4 (or your ecommerce platform like Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce) and noticed a mismatch, your first thought is probably:
“Something’s wrong with my tracking.”
While broken tracking does cause mismatches, there’s another reason your numbers might be off. It has nothing to do with GA4 or your store.
It’s a built-in Google Ads setting called Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization.
What Is Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization?
Customer Lifecycle Value Optimization is a feature in Google Ads that lets you assign an incremental conversion value to certain types of customers:
New customers
High value new customers
The idea is simple. If new customers are worth more to your business over their lifetime, you can tell Google to add extra value to those conversions. This extra value is then used in Google’s bidding algorithms to help you acquire more high-value customers.
Example:
Actual order value: $32.99
Incremental conversion value for new customers: $115.96
Google Ads reports: $148.95
Why This Causes Reporting Mismatches
Inflated conversion values
Google Ads adds this extra value directly to your reported conversion value.
Impact on cross-platform reporting
While GA4 and your ecommerce platform show the actual order total, Google Ads shows the inflated number. This causes:
Higher-than-actual ROAS in Google Ads
Revenue totals that never match between platforms
The risk of unintentionally reporting inflated revenue to stakeholders or clients
How to Check If This Is Causing the Mismatch
Follow these steps in Google Ads:
Go to Tools & Settings → Conversions
Click Summary in the top menu
Find the Customer lifecycle value optimization section
Look for any incremental conversion value set for new or high-value new customers
If a dollar amount is set, that is what is padding your revenue numbers.
How to Fix It
If you want your Google Ads revenue to match GA4 or your ecommerce platform:
Set both Incremental conversion value for new customers and Incremental conversion value for high value new customers to $0.
If you still want Google Ads to optimize for high-value customers:
Keep the values in place but know your reporting will be inflated
Use audience targeting and bid adjustments instead of inflated conversion values
The Takeaway
If your Google Ads revenue doesn’t match GA4 or Shopify, it may not be a tracking bug. It could be Google doing exactly what it was told to do.
Pro tip: Always check this setting before you start troubleshooting your tracking setup. It can save you hours of unnecessary debugging.