When Meta and your MMP disagree on the same install
A practical way to read conflicting credit without declaring one report “wrong” on day one.
App teams in Malaysia often open two tabs: the Meta Ads interface celebrating a cheap install, and the MMP showing a different winner for the same user. The instinct is to pick a side. In audits we start somewhere quieter.
Separate timing from identity
First ask whether the conflict is about when credit is claimed or who receives it. View-through windows, click lookbacks, and delayed postbacks create timing gaps that look like identity fights. Export both timestamps before arguing about the channel name.
Check organic bleed
Users who would have installed anyway still get stamped by whichever paid impression loaded last. If D1 and D7 retention for that cohort looks like organic baselines, treat the paid claim cautiously even when the network UI is confident.
Write the conflict down
A one-line conflict log — “Meta claims X, MMP last click says Y, retention resembles Z” — keeps Friday meetings shorter than another round of screenshots. That habit is the seed of a full channel map.
If you are preparing for an audit, bring both exports for the same calendar window. Matching dates matters more than matching vanity metrics.