The 'Trends & Journeys' dashboard is used to compare campaign results and spot trends, which makes it easier to spot optimization opportunities.
How to get there?
Just as in all other reports, you can select the desired attribution model and window in the top bar. You can access the Trends & Journeys report via the left menu.
Or via the Paid Performance table when you select the magnifying glass.
How to use it?
In the upper-left corner of the graph, it is possible to configure the following settings:
• Selection of specific channels and campaigns;
• Choice of dimension, including campaign, ad set/ad group, ad, or creative level;
• Adjustment of graph granularity.
Beneath the dimension and granularity dropdowns, the metric displayed on the Y-axis (vertical axis) can be selected.
Based on the selected settings, the example below displays:
• The number of orders per platform (Meta, Bing, and Google);
• Data at the channel dimension level;
• Daily granularity;
• Attribution configured with the MTA model, a 7-day attribution window, and session date as the attribution mode.
Compare different metrics
When the 'show totals' option is enabled below the dropdown, multiple conversion metrics can be visualized within the graph. In the example below, the graph illustrates spend, total orders, and blended ROAS for the selected campaigns over time.
Below the trend chart, campaigns, ad sets, or ads can be sorted by any available metric. Items can also be shown or hidden in the chart, following a similar interaction pattern as used in Creative Studio.
Benchmarks
Performance can be compared with other ad groups, or custom benchmarks can be created to enable deeper insights.
This functionality supports answering key performance questions such as:
How do branded campaigns perform compared to non-branded campaigns?
What is the CPM trend for various top-of-funnel campaigns (e.g., YouTube versus Meta)?
How is the ROAS of a specific group of ads evolving compared to the overall channel performance?
Several default benchmarks are available within the platform:
• All channels/campaigns/adsets/ads/creatives (based on the dimension that is selected): this will add a comparison line in the chart based on all the data from the dimension you've chosen.
• Selected channels/campaigns/adsets/ads/creatives: this will add a comparison line in the chart based on the aggregate of the dimension you've selected in the cards
• Compare period: Adds a comparison line to the chart, based on the selected dimension and the comparison period defined at the top of the page in the settings.
Additionally, a custom benchmark can be created by selecting 'Add new benchmark'.
This will open the configuration screen shown below. Once the benchmark is created, it will be saved for future use.
i) Name - Save the benchmark under a specific name.
ii) Filters - Define a subset of ads to include.
iii) Compare period - Display data from the comparison period instead of the selected period.
To demonstrate the use of benchmarks in the Trends Analyzer, consider the following example:
'How does the ROAS trend of Google campaigns compare to that of Google Fashion campaigns, and to Meta campaigns?'
The data is first filtered to include only Google campaigns.
Two benchmarks are then created: one for Google campaigns containing “FA” and another for Meta campaigns containing “beauty”.
After these steps, the graphs for all three can be analyzed.
The results show that performance for Google Fashion closely mirrors overall Google campaigns, while Meta performance is similar but shows greater fluctuations.
Benchmarks can also be compared to individual Google campaigns by deselecting the Total option. In the example below, the top three Google campaigns by number of orders are compared against the benchmarks.
Journeys
Navigate to the Journeys tab to visualize the customer journey leading to the specified goal at the top of the page. The chart displays the number of different touchpoints/channels based solely on clicks and does not change when a different attribution model is applied.
The Journeys view helps identify where in the customer journey a specific channel contributes most - whether it's at the beginning, middle, or end of the path to achieving a goal.
The screenshot below illustrates the different stages of the customer journey. By default, the data is based on ad channels, but it can be adjusted to include all sources by selecting a different option from the dropdown next to Ad Channel.
How to read this?
74,22% of your customers have a first touchpoint with Google Ads;
72,91% of your customers will place an order after this touchpoint.
Below the Customer Journey Analyzer, the Ad Channel Overlap visualization provides insight into how paid channels work together to achieve the selected goal. In the example below, 582 orders include at touchpoint with both Google Ads and Meta, indicating overlap in the customer journey across these two channels.
Channels can be included or excluded from the view by selecting or deselecting them in the left-hand panel.
Reach & Frequency
Within the Reach & Frequency tab, it's possible to get insights into the reach and frequency of your campaigns. The channel and campaign can be chosen using the available filters.
Reach
Reach indicates the number of unique individuals exposed to a specific advertisement or piece of content at least once within the selected date range. For example, a reach of 50,000 means 50,000 distinct people saw the ad, regardless of frequency.
Frequency
Frequency represents the average number of times each person within the reach has been exposed to the ad during the selected date range. For example, a frequency of 3 indicates that each individual saw the ad an average of three times.
Why are both reach and frequency important?
Effective marketing requires balance:
High reach with low frequency may lack impact.
High frequency with low reach risks oversaturation and wasted spend.
The right mix depends on the goal—awareness campaigns often prioritize reach, while retention or conversion campaigns benefit from higher frequency.
Why can’t reach be summed from ad to campaign level?
Because individuals may see multiple ads within the same campaign.
Example:
Person A sees Ad 1, Ad 2, and Ad 3
Person B sees Ad 2
Person C sees Ad 3
Summing ad-level reach gives 5 (1 + 2 + 2), but only 3 unique people saw the campaign. Campaign-level reach counts unique individuals, not impressions per ad.
Daily vs. Last 90 Days Reach & Frequency
Daily Reach/Frequency shows how many unique individuals saw the ad on a specific day (e.g., 01-01-2024), and how often they saw it on average that day.
Last 90 Days Reach/Frequency reflects how many unique individuals saw the ad at least once over the past 90 days, and the average number of times each person saw it in that period.
These metrics are calculated per ad, ad set, campaign, or channel level. When multiple dates are selected, averages are used to show a single value.
Why can't daily reach be summed to calculate total reach?
Because reach counts unique individuals, not total exposures. A person reached on multiple days is still one individual.
Example:
Person A sees the campaign on three separate days
Person B sees it once
Summing daily reach gives 4, but only 2 unique people were reached—so the correct reach over the full period is 2.
Why can’t frequency be averaged from daily values?
Because daily frequency is based on per-day averages, not cumulative exposure.
Example:
Person A sees the ad 4 times across three days
Person B sees it once
Averaging daily frequencies gives 1.33, but the correct overall frequency is 5 views ÷ 2 people = 2.5.