Glossary /
Source of Truth
Efficiency & cost
Source of Truth
The single agreed dataset and definitions everyone trusts — and why every ad platform claims to be it.
Attribution & Measurement
Unit Economics
Data Governance & Nomenclature
Creative & Delivery
Audiences & Targeting
Mobile & Privacy
Source of Truth in marketing data is the one agreed dataset and set of metric definitions that the whole team trusts and reports against, especially in QBRs and exec reviews.
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What is Source of Truth?
A source of truth is less a tool than an agreement: this is the dataset we report from, and these are the definitions of conversion, ROAS, and spend that we all mean when we say those words. When it exists, a QBR is a conversation about performance. When it doesn't, the QBR becomes an argument about whose numbers are right. The problem is that every ad platform claims to be the source of truth — and self-attributes generously. Google counts conversions it influenced, Meta counts the same conversions it influenced, and the totals overlap and overstate. Add GA4 and the CRM and you have four "truths" that don't reconcile. A real source of truth requires deciding, deliberately, which dataset is authoritative and applying consistent definitions across every channel. It's an organizational decision as much as a technical one — and it only holds if the underlying data is normalized so the same metric means the same thing everywhere.
How Source of Truth differs across ad platforms
Google Ads
Reports conversions using its own attribution and counts touches it influenced, so its totals overlap with other platforms' claimed conversions.
Meta Ads
Self-attributes the same conversions through its own view-through and click windows, double-counting against Google and inflating the combined picture.
GA4
Applies its own attribution model and session logic, producing yet another conversion total that rarely matches either ad platform or the CRM.
Common Source of Truth misconceptions
The ad platform's dashboard is the source of truth.
Each platform self-attributes and counts only what it can see, so no single platform dashboard reconciles with the others. None is neutral enough to be the authoritative total.
A source of truth is a technical artifact you can buy.
It starts as an agreement — which dataset is authoritative and how metrics are defined. Tooling enforces that agreement, but without the decision and consistent definitions, no tool delivers one.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Source of Truth in simple terms?
It's the one dataset and set of definitions your team agrees to trust and report from. When everyone pulls the same numbers with the same meaning, you debate performance instead of arguing about whose figures are correct.
How does Source of Truth work?
Why does Source of Truth differ across ad platforms?
How does Clarisights report on Source of Truth?
Attribution & Measurement
Unit Economics
Data Governance & Nomenclature
Creative & Delivery
Audiences & Targeting
Mobile & Privacy
Source of Truth in marketing data is the one agreed dataset and set of metric definitions that the whole team trusts and reports against, especially in QBRs and exec reviews.
?
?
What is Source of Truth?
A source of truth is less a tool than an agreement: this is the dataset we report from, and these are the definitions of conversion, ROAS, and spend that we all mean when we say those words. When it exists, a QBR is a conversation about performance. When it doesn't, the QBR becomes an argument about whose numbers are right. The problem is that every ad platform claims to be the source of truth — and self-attributes generously. Google counts conversions it influenced, Meta counts the same conversions it influenced, and the totals overlap and overstate. Add GA4 and the CRM and you have four "truths" that don't reconcile. A real source of truth requires deciding, deliberately, which dataset is authoritative and applying consistent definitions across every channel. It's an organizational decision as much as a technical one — and it only holds if the underlying data is normalized so the same metric means the same thing everywhere.
How Source of Truth differs across ad platforms
Google Ads
Reports conversions using its own attribution and counts touches it influenced, so its totals overlap with other platforms' claimed conversions.
Meta Ads
Self-attributes the same conversions through its own view-through and click windows, double-counting against Google and inflating the combined picture.
GA4
Applies its own attribution model and session logic, producing yet another conversion total that rarely matches either ad platform or the CRM.
Common Source of Truth misconceptions
The ad platform's dashboard is the source of truth.
Each platform self-attributes and counts only what it can see, so no single platform dashboard reconciles with the others. None is neutral enough to be the authoritative total.
A source of truth is a technical artifact you can buy.
It starts as an agreement — which dataset is authoritative and how metrics are defined. Tooling enforces that agreement, but without the decision and consistent definitions, no tool delivers one.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Source of Truth in simple terms?
It's the one dataset and set of definitions your team agrees to trust and report from. When everyone pulls the same numbers with the same meaning, you debate performance instead of arguing about whose figures are correct.
How does Source of Truth work?
Why does Source of Truth differ across ad platforms?
How does Clarisights report on Source of Truth?
See Viewable Impression across every channel in one report
See Viewable Impression across every channel in one report
See viewability and vCPM across every platform—display, video, programmatic— in one normalized report, instead of reconciling vendor numbers by hand.
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