The default Google Ads report is engineered to make an account look busy, not to survive scrutiny. It opens with impressions and clicks — big, friendly numbers that climb with spend and say almost nothing about whether the money worked. A report that survives an audit starts from a sharper question: which of these numbers would I stake the renewal on?
Why the default report misleads
Clicks and impressions are inputs. They measure how much you bought, not what you got. And the platform’s conversion value is counted on its own generous terms, across its own windows — so it routinely runs ahead of what actually reached the CRM. Report it unreconciled and you’ll spend the QBR defending arithmetic instead of strategy.
What’s worth reporting
| Metric | Report it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Conversions (clearly defined) | Yes | The outcome — but define exactly what counts |
| Cost per conversion | Yes | Efficiency the client actually feels |
| Conversion value / ROAS | Yes, reconciled | Only after you’ve checked it against the CRM |
| Search impression share | Sometimes | Useful for a budget case, not a headline |
| Clicks / CTR | Context only | A means to the end, never the end |
| Impressions | Appendix | Reach, not results |
What to contextualize or cut
- CTR — great for diagnosing creative, misleading as a success metric.
- Impression share — a lever for arguing budget, not proof of performance.
- Auto-applied recommendations — note when Google changed settings on its own; it moves the trend and you’ll want the receipt.
Reconcile to a number the client trusts
An audit-ready checklist
- Define what a conversion is, in writing, on the report itself.
- Use one attribution window and name it beside the number.
- Split brand from non-brand so brand doesn’t flatter the total.
- Reconcile conversion value to the CRM before it hits a slide.
- Note any auto-applied changes that moved the trend.
Do this and the Google Ads section stops being the part of the report you brace for. It becomes the part you can defend line by line — the only kind of reporting that keeps a client. Maven reconciles Google Ads conversions against your CRM automatically, so “where did this come from?” has a five-second answer.
Jamie Isabel
Founder at Maven
