Report API click type attribution doesn't match Adwords UI

[pe...@draper.ai]

I am attempting to generate a report which tells me which Final URLs users are landing aggregated by click type (sitelinks, headline, etc). I am pulling a FINAL_URL_REPORT using the following query:

SELECT ClickType, EffectiveFinalUrl, Impressions, Cost, Clicks, Ctr, AverageCpc
FROM FINAL_URL_REPORT  
DURING 20180320,20180320

This query returns all the unique (final url, click type) pairs. When I add up all the clicks across the rows I get a number that matches the total clicks on the AdWords web console.

However, when I add up all the clicks across the rows with click type "Sitelink" I get a number that is much lower than what is shown on the AdWords web console for total clicks for all sitelink extensions. What is also interesting is that when I add up the total number of impressions across the rows with click type "Sitelink" it does match up with the number on the AdWords web console.

Am I using the FINAL_URL_REPORT incorrectly or is there a bug on the web console/API?

My goal is to get the true total number of clicks aggregated by unique final url + click type.

[Milind Sankeshware (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Peter,

Could you please share the client customer id for which you were facing an issue? Also, please share the screen-shot of the AdWords UI for cost stats discrepancy. Since ads that serve can be attributed to multiple click types, metric fields may be double-counted and thus totals may not be accurate, especially for Display network campaigns. You could choose 'Reply privately to author' option while responding. 

Thanks,
Milind, AdWords API Team.

[Milind Sankeshware (AdWords API Team)]

Hi Peter,

You could use API report placeholder feed item report. It includes all statistics at the feed-item level (e.g., a single sitelink). If other segment fields are used, you may get more than one row per feed item. The stats in the row for sitelink X show all clicks and costs when X was shown. This includes headline clicks on X, as well as clicks on other sitelinks and other ad extensions (e.g., a call extension) when X was also shown. Also included are the costs accrued by all clicks. To see the clicks/costs/etc. for just sitelink X, use segment "IsSelfAction", and look at the "This extension" rows. To see a breakdown by type of click (e.g., headline vs. sitelink), use segment "ClickType". Let me know if you have further questions.