Cover of the Meta says 500. Shopify says 350. field guide

Meta says 500. Shopify says 350.

Neither number is right. The ad platform over-reports because it is built to claim credit; your backend under-reports because last click hands the whole sale to whoever touched it last. This is how to find your gap in an afternoon.

  • 7 days Safari's cap on cookies set by JavaScript (WebKit Intelligent Tracking Prevention)
  • iOS 14.5 Apps must ask before tracking across other apps, since 2021 (Apple App Tracking Transparency)
  • Required Consent Mode v2 for EEA traffic, since March 2024 (Google)

What is inside: 6 steps in 4 pages

  1. Measure the gap. Compare last month's platform-reported conversions with real orders in your store. Write the percentage down.
  2. Check the purchase event. In Tag Manager, confirm it fires exactly once, carries a value, and sits on the real confirmation page.
  3. Check the consent banner. It should pass a consent signal to Google and Meta, not block them outright.
  4. Move key events server side.
  5. Pick one source of truth.
  6. Judge spend on blended numbers.

Go deeper: The tracking gap, explained