Google Analytics Audit Test #

77

Match Between Clicks in Bing/Microsoft Ads to Analytics Sessions

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding where your traffic is coming from and assigning appropriate credit.

Industries:

All

Checks For:

Accuracy

How accurate is your recent data?

Insight Category:

Attribution

Can you tell which marketing efforts are working?

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Background

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test compares clicks reported in Microsoft Ads with sessions recorded in Google Analytics for Bing/Microsoft ad traffic. A significant gap between these numbers may indicate issues such as:

  • Missing or broken UTM parameters
  • Stripped msclkid (Microsoft click ID)
  • Auto-tagging not enabled
  • Landing page redirects that lose tracking parameters
  • Google Analytics not firing fast enough before user exit

If Microsoft Ads clicks aren’t translating to sessions, performance reporting and ROI analysis in Google Analytics will be inaccurate.

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Google Analytics audit test results.

How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In Microsoft Ads, pull click counts by campaign for a recent 7–30 day window.
  • In Google Analytics > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, filter by:
    • Session source/medium = bing / cpc or microsoft / cpc
    • Compare the number of clicks (Microsoft Ads) with sessions (Google Analytics).
    • A session count that is less than 60–70% of the clicks suggests tracking loss.

Automated, Free Audit

Run our Instant Audit to check for accurate attribution of your Bing/Microsoft Ads campaigns in Google Analytics.

Unsure how to evaluate or fix your Bing/Microsoft Ads attribution in Google Analytics? Hire a pro.

How To Fix

  • In Microsoft Ads, confirm that auto-tagging is enabled so the msclkid is appended to all URLs.
  • If using manual UTMs, make sure all links include:
    • utm_source=bing
    • utm_medium=cpc
    • utm_campaign=...
  • Ensure that landing page URLs and redirects preserve query parameters like msclkid.
  • Use Google Tag Assistant, Google Analytics DebugView, or manual testing to verify that Google Analytics fires properly on ad landing pages.
  • Optimize page load time and ensure Google Analytics loads early enough to capture the session before a user bounces.
  • Hire a pro to repair your tracking and align Google Analytics with your Microsoft Ads click data for accurate performance measurement.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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