Facebook Ads Data Connector User Guide
Facebook Ads is a powerful advertising platform that allows businesses to reach their target audience on Facebook, Instagram, and across the web. This guide will walk you through how to connect your Facebook Ads account to Power My Analytics, create reports in Data Studio, and understand key metrics and considerations when working with Facebook Ads data.
Prerequisites
Before connecting Facebook Ads to Power My Analytics, ensure you have:
- Ad Account Analyst access to the Facebook account you want to connect
Adding Facebook Ads as a Data Source
To add Facebook Ads as a data source in Power My Analytics:
- To add the correct Facebook account, you must be logged in to that account in your browser. Open an Incognito window in your browser to log into the correct Facebook account before connecting with Power My Analytics.
- Navigate to your Hub and select Sources from the menu.
- Click + Add new source and choose Facebook Ads from the gallery.
- Sign in to your Facebook account to authenticate.
- Grant Facebook business access: Select "Opt in to all current and future Businesses". Click Continue.
- Grant Facebook page access: Choose "Opt in to all current and future Pages". Click Continue.
- Grant Instagram account access: Select "Opt in to all current and future Instagram accounts". Click Continue.
- Finalize permissions: Click Save, then click Got it.
Power My Analytics' former Instagram Ads data connector has now been merged into the Facebook Ads data connector, and Instagram advertising data is provided through the Facebook Ads connector.
Creating a Data Studio Report
To create a Data Studio report using your Facebook Ads data:
- After adding Facebook Ads as a data source in the PMA hub, navigate to Reports > Data Studio
- Select Facebook Ads under Create Data Studio Report (opens official Data Studio application in new window)
- Data Studio configuration:
- Step 1:
- Name your data source (e.g. "Facebook Ads - Organization Name")
- Choose your Power My Analytics hub from the dropdown
- Optional: Leave "Use report template for new reports" checked for PMA demo template
- Click Next
- Step 2:
- User Account: Select Facebook Ads account (real data) or "Sample Account" (sample data)
- Click Next
- Step 3:
- Choose Ad Accounts, Action Attribution Setting, Attribution Window, and Currency for your reports (see Choose an Attribution Window below)
- Optional: Check Allow "Ad Accounts" to be modified in reports, Allow "Action Attribution Setting" to be modified in reports, or Allow "Attribution Window" to be modified in reports so report editors can change these settings in the report
- Click Connect (top right) to complete the data source configuration
- Step 4:
- Click Create Report (top right)
Note: If you need to configure the setting "Is Campaign using SKAdNetwork?" to "true" when creating a report, please submit a support ticket to PMA and we will assist you.
Choose an Attribution Window
The Attribution Window setting lets you report Facebook Ads conversions on one fixed attribution window, such as 7 Day Click or 1 Day Click + 1 Day View, for every ad set in your report. You'll find it next to Action Attribution Setting in your Facebook Ads configuration in Data Studio, the Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel add-ons, and Data Builder.
Attribution Window options
Option | What it reports |
Adset Attribution Setting (Default) | Conversions as attributed by your Action Attribution Setting. With that setting on its default, each ad set uses its own attribution setting from Facebook Ads Manager. |
1 Day Click | Conversions within 1 day after someone clicked your ad |
7 Day Click | Conversions within 7 days after someone clicked your ad |
28 Day Click | Conversions within 28 days after someone clicked your ad |
1 Day View | Conversions within 1 day after someone viewed your ad without clicking |
7 Day View | Conversions within 7 days after someone viewed your ad without clicking (see 7-day and 28-day view windows below) |
28 Day View | Conversions within 28 days after someone viewed your ad without clicking (see 7-day and 28-day view windows below) |
1 Day Click + 1 Day View | The 1-day click and 1-day view windows added together |
1 Day Click + 7 Day View | The 1-day click and 7-day view windows added together |
7 Day Click + 1 Day View | The 7-day click and 1-day view windows added together |
7 Day Click + 7 Day View | The 7-day click and 7-day view windows added together |
28 Day Click + 1 Day View | The 28-day click and 1-day view windows added together |
28 Day Click + 7 Day View | The 28-day click and 7-day view windows added together |
How Attribution Window works with Action Attribution Setting
- Attribution Window on its default: your Action Attribution Setting decides how conversions are attributed. Default (Adset Attribution Setting) uses each ad set's own attribution setting; Account Attribution Setting uses your ad account's attribution setting.
- A specific Attribution Window selected: conversion metrics use that window for every ad set, whatever each ad set's own attribution setting or your Action Attribution Setting is. Because every ad set reports on the same window, campaign and account totals add up even when your ad sets use different attribution settings in Ads Manager.
- Metrics that follow the Attribution Window: conversion and action metrics (such as Purchases, Leads, Adds to Cart, custom conversions, and custom events), conversion values, purchase ROAS, Video Plays, ThruPlays, Cost per ThruPlay, and unique action metrics.
- Metrics that do not: Meta does not attribute outbound click metrics (Outbound Clicks, Unique Outbound Clicks, and their CTR and cost-per metrics) or video watch metrics (video watched to 25%, 50%, 75%, 95%, and 100%, 30-second video plays, and average watch time) to an attribution window. These always follow your Action Attribution Setting.
Things to know before you choose a window
- Combination options add two windows together. Metrics that can't be added across windows read 0 when you choose a click + view option. This includes unique metrics (such as Unique Purchases) and Cost per ThruPlay.
- Older dates may read 0. Windowed metrics read 0 for dates Power My Analytics last synced before October 26, 2026, when the Attribution Window setting was added. Each daily data sync refreshes your most recent 28 days, so this typically affects dates before late September 2026. To fill in those dates, backfill your Facebook Ads data source for the date range you need. A backfill restores windowed data as far back as Meta provides insights for your ad account, except the 7-day and 28-day view windows described below.
7-day and 28-day view windows
On January 12, 2026, Meta stopped returning the 7-day view and 28-day view attribution windows through its API and did not name a replacement. For details, see Meta's announcement.
The 7 Day View, 28 Day View, 1 Day Click + 7 Day View, 7 Day Click + 7 Day View, and 28 Day Click + 7 Day View options use the 7-day and 28-day view data that Meta still returns today. Keep in mind:
- These options work today, but Meta may stop returning this data without notice. If that happens, the view portion of these options will read 0.
- A backfill can't restore 7-day or 28-day view data for older dates, because Meta no longer provides it.
- For reporting you can rely on long term, choose a click window, 1 Day View, or a click + 1 Day View option.
Key Reports and Fields
Popular metrics and reports for Facebook Ads include:
- Performance Overview Metrics: Reach, Impressions, Frequency, CPM, Amount Spent
- Campaigns (Performance) Metrics: Reach, Impressions, Amount Spent
- Ad Sets (Delivery) Metrics: Reach, Frequency, Cost per 1,000 People Reached, Impressions, CPM
- Ads (Engagement) Metrics: Post Reactions, Post Comments, Post Saves, Link Clicks, Page Likes, CPC
- Video Engagement Metrics: Video Plays, ThruPlays, DMA, 25%, 50%, 75%, 95%, 100%, Average Play Time
- App Engagement Metrics: Mobile App Installs, Cost Per App Installs, App Installs, Cost Per App Installs, Post Reactions, Post Comments, Post Saves, Post Shares
- Offline Conversions Metrics: Offline Purchases, Offline Purchases Conversion Value, Cost per Purchases, Offline Leads, Cost per Leads, Offline Other Conversions, Cost per Offline Other Conversions
- Locations Metrics: Reach
- Designated Market Area Metrics: Impressions, Link Clicks
- E-Commerce Pixel Events Metrics: Website Content Views, Website Adds to Wishlist, Website Adds to Cart, Website Checkouts Initiated, Website Adds of Payment Info, Website Purchases, Website Purchases Conversion Value
- Lead Generation Pixel Events Metrics: Landing Page Views, Website Content Views, Website Registrations Completed, Website Searches, Website Leads, Website Leads Conversion Value
- Hourly Breakdown Metrics: Reach, Impressions, Amount Spent
- Device Breakdown Metrics: Reach, Impressions, Amount Spent
- Live Pixel Events Metrics: Live Landing Page Views (hourly), Live Content Views (hourly), Live Leads (hourly), Live Adds to Cart (hourly), Live Purchases (hourly)
- Actions Metrics: On-Facebook Purchases, Website Purchases, Offline Leads, Website Leads
- Boosted Posts: The boosted posts associated with the campaign
- Custom Conversions
- Custom Events
For a complete list of available Facebook Ads fields, refer to the Schema Explorer.
Limitations and Important Considerations
The Facebook Ads connector has specific limitations related to backfilling, historical data availability, reach reporting, unavailable data, and working with ad image fields. It also provides workarounds for features such as custom events, custom metrics, breakdowns by objective, and result rate reporting.
For full details on all Facebook Ads connector limitations, workarounds, and considerations, see Facebook Ads Data Connector Limitations.
Troubleshooting
Follow the instructions in Troubleshooting Facebook Ads for information on issues that may affect the Facebook Ads connector.