I've been devouring threads on here as of a few days ago so I'm not exactly sure where I read this, but...
I seem to remember reading that if two networks (lets say network A and network B) have the same offer, running a test using network A may potentially yield different results than running the same test using network B.
Thinking through this, I can't seem to figure out why that might be with the exception of one of the networks being dishonest about stats.
Who knows, I could have been making things up as I was reading. Any insights?
This happens really often. Not sure about foul play, although I see how that can be the case, but I think that it usually has something to do with links, fraud detection systems and tracking different networks have in place. Increased latency and stuff... And then there is the relationship with advertisers. One network will have better relationship, usually because collectively they send higher quality of leads, and subsequently get paid for more leads overall.
Whatever is the reason, in my experience variance between networks can be as high as 30%. It might be worth noting here that some verticals tend to show more divergence between networks - adult dating notoriously showing the highest percentages according to my data. Again, this is my personal experience, it will be interesting to see what are other people saying here.
Most times it's not the networks scrubbing.
It's a mix of tracking platform / server location / relationship with advertiser ( advertiser scrub ) etc.