The "False Boom" of Facebook's Ad Backend Data Anomalies

Have you ever had the frustrating experience of opening your Facebook ads backend and seeing 10 "purchases" today, thinking you've had a great day? But when you switch to Shopify, there are only 5 actual orders. Half of the data has disappeared into thin air? Half of the data has disappeared into thin air, and the Facebook Ads backend has a data anomaly? What's going on?

This situation of Facebook Pixel reporting much higher purchases than Shopify's actual order numbers is a pain in the heart of countless cross-border sellers. It not only prevents us from accurately calculating the ROAS of the ads, but also misleads our judgment on the effectiveness of the ad campaigns and leads to wrong budget allocation. Why this "false prosperity"? In this article, we will analyze the reasons behind and provide practical solutions.

(In preparation for a Shopify store? Tutorial here ➡️Shopify to open a storeYou can also directlyLogin to start registrationOh!)

Why do Facebook ad backend data anomalies exist?

The first and most important context is that we are becoming more and more demanding of privacy protection.

Data inconsistency is no accident and is usually caused by a combination of several core reasons. Let's break them down one by one.

1. User behavior: uncontrolled "thank you page" refreshes

This is the most common and overlooked reason. When a customer completes a purchase, they are redirected to Shopify's "Thank You" page (the order confirmation page). It's on this page that our Facebook Pixel Purchase Event is triggered.

Imagine that:

• The customer refreshes this page in order to save the order information.
• The customer bookmarks this page and revisits it a few days later to check the logistics information.
• The customer came back to this page via the link in the purchase confirmation email.

Every visit or refresh to a Thank You page could cause the browser to trigger the Pixel again, sending a "buy" signal to Facebook. If a customer refreshes 3 times, you could have 2 more "ghost orders" in your ads feed. (Of course, a very small percentage of users will do this, but if they buy and then pull out, the order will be triggered the next time they cut to that browser.)

2. Technical duplication: browser Pixel and CAPI "double reporting"

With the tightening of the iOS 14.5 privacy policy, Shopify's official Facebook & Instagram channel apps have defaulted to the "highest" tracking standard of concurrent use in order to track data more accurately:

• Browser-side Pixel: Sends data directly through the user's browser.
• Server-side CAPI (Conversion API): Send data directly to Facebook servers through Shopify servers for greater stability and resistance to interference.

Facebook was initially designed to be a platform that would be used to create a new website through a program called event_ID parameter to recognize and merge (de-duplicate) the same event from both channels. However, in some cases, theThis de-duplication mechanism may be delayed or malfunctioning, resulting in a real purchase being reported twice (once from the browser and once from the server), resulting in inflated data.

3. The attribution window: Facebook's "time gap" with Shopify

Facebook counts conversions that occur within their "attribution window" (e.g. 7 days after the click). Shopify, on the other hand, shows the date the order was actually created. An example:

A customer clicks on your ad on Monday, but doesn't complete the purchase until Friday. In Facebook's reporting, this purchase is attributed to Monday's ad campaign. What you see in the Shopify backend, on the other hand, is a new order from Friday. If you only compare the data from Friday, you'll see that Facebook has an additional "not found" purchase.

4. App conflicts: "accidental assists" by third-party applications

Many Shopify sellers install plugins for Post-purchase Upsell or Thank You page beautification. Some poorly designed apps may re-trigger a purchase event after the user has completed the original order, or interfere with Shopify's original tracking logic, resulting in duplicate reports.

Official Logic and Solutions: How to Calibrate Your Data Compass

Knowing the cause, we can treat the problem. Please follow the steps below to troubleshoot and fix.

1. Check your Pixel settings: make sure it's a unique source!

This is the most important first step. Make sure your Pixel code is installed through only one channel. The best practice is:

• Use only the official Shopify App: Set up your Pixel ID in the "Facebook & Instagram" sales channel in the Shopify backend.
• Remove all manually added codes: Check your theme files (especially theme.liquid), make sure you haven't manually pasted any Facebook Pixel base code or event code. Duplicate code is the number one culprit for duplicate stats.

2. Diagnosis using Facebook Event ID

In your Facebook Events Manager, find the "Purchase" event and click on it to view the details. Check that each event has a unique event_IDShopify's official integration automatically generates and sends this ID for each order. if you find a large number of orders without event_ID of purchase events, or multiple events with the same ID, indicates that your de-duplication mechanism isn't working properly, most likely caused by old code added manually or an incompatible App.

3. The Ultimate Weapon: Adding Anti-Refresh Scripts to the Shopify Backend (Advanced Tips)

In order to completely solve the problem of duplicate counts due to users refreshing the "thank you page", we can put a small piece of code in the Shopify backend to make sure that the purchase event is only triggered when the customer arrives at the page [for the first time].

1. Go to Shopify backend -> Settings -> Checkout.
2. Find the "Order status page" -> "Additional scripts" input box.
3. Paste in the following code in its entirety:

if (Shopify.checkout.first_time_accessed) {
  // Paste your tracking code here, e.g. Facebook Pixel's Purchase event code.
  // If you're using the official Shopify integration, this will be handled automatically.
  // But this code can be used to wrap other scripts that need to be triggered all at once, such as affiliate marketing scripts, etc.
  // For fixing FB Pixel, the key is to make sure that Shopify's own logic only runs once.
  // The script itself prevents secondary triggers due to refreshes.
}
</script

take note of: Shopify's modern integrations already attempt to handle this issue internally, but adding this script as a layer of "insurance" can more completely eliminate repeat triggers caused by page refreshes, especially in complex store environments.

Pitfall Avoidance Guide and Best Practices

• Trust Shopify's Revenue FiguresAlways use Shopify's backend sales when calculating your final financial statements and ROAS. It's your only Source of Truth.
• Using Facebook data as a "trend" reference: Instead of obsessing over every number Facebook reports, use it to determine macro trends in ad campaigns, which material is more popular, and which audience segments are clicking more.
• Regularly review third-party apps: Keep a close eye on your Facebook data for unusual fluctuations whenever you install a new app, especially one that works on checkout or thank you pages.

For sellers with extremely demanding data tracking requirements or stores with a large number of complex apps installed, manual troubleshooting can be very time-consuming and error-prone. At this point, consider automating the management and fixing of these issues with specialized Pixel tracking and attribution analytics apps, which often provide finer-grained control and more accurate data reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)