As of April 2021, Apple iOS users can block Facebook Ads tracking, causing some Facebook Ads data to be incomplete.
This data is incomplete within Facebook Business Manager, and within all other platforms that pull Facebook Ads data (like AgencyAnalytics).
If you're not seeing the data you expect within AgencyAnalytics, check directly in Facebook Business Manager using the exact same date range and filters. It's very likely that Facebook is blocking your access to the same data in Business Manager.
To help AgencyAnalyics users, we've implemented some filters and settings allowing you to access the most data possible.
The steps below will help you quickly solve most issues. For a deeper overview of this situation (including how to solve the problem), read our blog post here.
Facebook's missing data
Within Facebook Business Manager
In general, Facebook Ads data is missing or incomplete when looking at ad campaigns (or ad sets) that use multiple different attribution windows.
In these situations, Facebook Business Manager will refuse to give you sum totals:
Facebook Business Manager will also tell you that your data "may not include" some users, or that "statistical modelling may be used" for your data.
Within AgencyAnalytics and other reporting platforms
Since you cannot access this data within Facebook Business Manager itself, not all reporting platforms (like AgencyAnalytics) can access it.
Similar to how Facebook Business Manager reports "-" when refusing to give you some data, our widgets will also show missing data if Facebook refuses to provide it.
Using AgencyAnalytics filters to access missing data
Even though Facebook is blocking your data, you can often access it under certain circumstances. We've implemented two filters to allow you to do so: The unified attribution setting type and attribution window filtering.
The unified attribution setting type
The "Unified" attribution setting type is enabled by default, as it allows you to access data that includes Apple users. Alternatively, users can choose the "Account" attribution setting type, however this can cause Facebook to show lower numbers for conversion-related metrics (since Apple users are removed from the data).
To access this setting on your Ads > Facebook Ads dashboards, click the settings button at the top right then select "Filters".
The unified attribution setting is also available in Facebook Ads widgets for reports and custom dashboards (simply open the widget's settings > "Data" to access it).
When using Facebook's unified attribution setting type, Facebook may not allow you to view aggregates (i.e. sum totals) for some metrics, including metrics related to app installs, purchases, and some engagements.
For example, an AgencyAnalytics stat widget (which shows sum totals) may not align with what is shown in a table widget, due to Facebook choosing to report these two figures differently or block some data.
This is the exact same data that is blocked in Facebook Business Manager (as shown in the Business Manager screenshot earlier in this article).
Importantly, our attribution window filtering (below) will usually allow you to overcome this blocked data.
Attribution window filtering
AgencyAnalytics also allows users to filter for ad campaigns (or ad sets) that use one specific attribution window.
As mentioned earlier, Facebook refuses to give you access to data when looking at multiple different attribution windows. So to overcome this, users can simply choose one specific attribution window from our filter.
This filter is available via the settings button at the top right of your Facebook Ads dashboard, or when editing a report or custom dashboard widget.
Provided you've chosen the attribution window used for the ad campaign(s) you're running, Facebook will give you the sum totals for all metrics.
Note that if you're running ads campaigns with different attribution windows, you'll need to report on each window separately.
To quickly see which attribution window is being used for your ad campaigns, enable the "attribution setting" metric on your Ads > Facebook Ads dashboard. The table will show the exact attribution window used for each ad campaign or ad set.
How to set up filters quickly for reporting
We recommend users configure the above filters by going to Ads > Facebook Ads in their campaign's left side menu (then using the settings button at the top right to apply filters).
Once configured, you can then quickly add exactly what you see to a report via the "add to report" option (under the "export" button at the top right).
You can also add any widget to the custom dashboard via the "add to dashboard" option (via "..." on any widget).
When added, those widgets will use the exact same filtering that you've applied to the Ads > Facebook Ads dashboard.
💬 Need additional help?
If you've tried the above and still can't get AgencyAnalytics to match what you see at Facebook Business Manager, please reach out to our friendly customer support team.
When you get in touch with us, make sure to send some fullscreen screenshots from Facebook Business Manager to help us understand exactly what you're expecting to see. Our team will be happy to work through your situation with you!
