Zinn® AdsZinn® Ads case study
Case study: Google Ads counted about 54 of our 164 plugin trials
On 20 October 2026 we found Google Ads had credited about 54 of 164 real trials of our own WordPress plugin. Here is why, and how Zinn® Ads now catches it.
What did we find?
Page Builder Sandwich is our own WordPress plugin, sold through Freemius and advertised with Zinn® Ads. On 20 October 2026 we compared its real trials with what Google Ads had credited to our ads.
- 164 real trials in our own records
- About 54 of them credited by Google Ads
- About 149 of the trials began with an ad click; 86 of those had lost their ad click id
- Every conversion we uploaded to Google Ads read accepted, so nothing looked wrong
- Google's bidding saw about a third of the real result
Why were the trials lost?
Visitors clicked our ad, went to Freemius's checkout, came back and clicked through again. That later click had no ad click id and replaced the one that did, so Google could not match the trial. Our sites now keep the ad click, and Zinn® Ads measures the gap daily.
Why did nothing look wrong?
Google Ads accepted every upload. An accepted upload only means Google received it, not that it matched a click, so the gap showed only when Zinn® Ads counted real trials against Google's credit.
How does Zinn® Ads find the same problem in your account?
The Zinn® Ads tracking fix assistant looks for the causes we found here, such as lost click ids and checkout round-trips, and tells you which one applies and how to fix it.
What does the autopilot do while the count is wrong?
While your tracking is flagged as unreliable, the Zinn® Ads autopilot does not judge, cut or pause campaigns on the network's numbers, because those numbers would mislead it.
How does Zinn® Ads catch this in your own account?
Connect your checkout
Connect Freemius, Stripe or Paddle by signed webhook, so every real trial and sale reaches Zinn® Ads.
Step-by-step guide: Count Freemius trials and sales in Google Ads
Compare real results with the network's count
Each day the tracking truth check sets your real trials and sales beside what the ad network credited, per checkout provider.
Step-by-step guide: Check your ad tracking and fix what is broken
Find the cause
When the two disagree, the fix assistant names the likely cause and the steps to fix it.
Step-by-step guide: Check your ad tracking and fix what is broken
Recover what was missed
Real trials and sales the network missed are matched back to their clicks and sent to it, so bidding learns from the real result.
Step-by-step guide: Check your ad tracking and fix what is broken
Frequently asked questions
Is this your own data?
Yes. The figures are from our own plugin, Page Builder Sandwich, and the Google Ads account Zinn® Ads runs for it, counted on 20 October 2026.
Which checkouts does Zinn® Ads connect to?
Freemius, Stripe and Paddle, each by a signed webhook that Zinn® Ads checks before it counts anything.
Will the autopilot act on numbers it cannot trust?
No. While the network's count disagrees with your real results, the Zinn® Ads autopilot holds its decisions for those campaigns.
Does this happen only with Freemius?
No. Any checkout on another site can lose the ad click id when the buyer comes back and clicks again. Freemius is where we measured it, and Zinn® Ads checks every connected checkout the same way.
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Host with Zinn Digital® and the click shield is free
On our hosting the click-fraud shield runs on the server, with nothing to install and nothing to pay.
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