> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getadloop.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Consent and data gaps

> Why Ads clicks and GA4 sessions never match in the EU, and why that's not a bug.

The single most common false alarm in EU ad accounts: *"Google Ads shows 10 clicks but GA4 only 3 sessions — my tracking is broken!"* Usually it isn't. AdLoop's analysis tools understand this; here's the background.

## The mechanics

* **Google Ads counts every click.** No consent needed; a click is a click.
* **GA4 only records users who accepted analytics cookies.** Visitors who reject or ignore the consent banner are invisible to GA4.
* In EU traffic, 30–70% of users typically decline. A clicks-to-sessions ratio of 2:1 to 5:1 is **normal**, not broken tracking.
* Conversion counts are affected the same way: your true conversion rate is likely higher than GA4 reports.

## What AdLoop does about it

The cross-reference tools (`analyze_campaign_conversions`, `attribution_check`) factor consent gaps into their analysis and say so in their insights, so your AI doesn't misdiagnose normal EU consent behavior as a tracking bug. Genuine tracking issues (zero sessions across all traffic sources, missing events, paused GTM tags) are still flagged, and the three-way tracking audit pinpoints them.

## When to actually worry

* GA4 shows **zero** sessions from paid traffic while organic looks normal: check UTM parameters and GA4 filters.
* Events fire in the browser but never arrive in GA4: run the tracking audit (`audit_event_coverage`) across your website code, GTM container, and GA4.
* Sites with Google Consent Mode v2 send cookieless pings even without consent, which narrows the gap; if your numbers are closer than expected, that's likely why.