number discrepancy between page evar and list variable

[aellis82]

Hi, 

any help with this is much appreciated.

We have been using evar #5 to collect data from a page. Recently we noticed that we had 2 elements on that page calling the same evar #5 and as a consequence found the clash caused the data for only one of those elements to be picked up in the SiteCatalyst Custom Conversion report. As a work around and to prevent confusion over evar management and potential confusion we trialled a move to a list variable approach as it seemed more sensible.

The listvar uses a pipe "|" to separate the data that would otherwise be pushed to evar #5 into separate entries in the list report. The data gets added to the list using Javascript in Tag Management in an addition to the s_code.

We wanted to be sure the data was reliable, and checked the numbers in the following reports:

- Pages report

- Custom Conversion report (evar #5)

- List Variables report (list1).

Initial signs were good, the data looked the same across all 3, however after applying metrics to the reports we quickly noticed a vast discrepancy in the numbers. Standard metrics such as Unique Visitors look consistent across all 3, which is good. However, Custom Event metrics such as the number of applications started do not, with much higher numbers being recorded in the list variable report.

I have attached the admin config of the evar and list variable in the hope that this will provide an answer.

I'm just really confused why the 3 reports don't show the same data and wondered if somebody could help shine some light on potential reasons why.

thanks, Andrew

[aellis82]

It would help if I attached the list evar admin config...

thanks

[Gigazelle · Accepted solution]

Hi Andrew,

Your issue can safely be 100% credited to differences in allocation.

• Custom events in the pages report use linear allocation, meaning custom events are divided evenly between all pages seen in the visit. This makes numbers appear much lower, as they are spread out across all pages.
• Since the eVar uses last allocation, only one of the values is going to receive credit for each event. It will be higher than the pages report, but not quite as much as the list var report.
• The list var uses full allocation, meaning that all values set prior to the conversion event receive full credit. If you're setting multiple values in the same image request, these are the numbers you want to use since they are by far the most accurate.

[aellis82]

Gigazelle wrote...

Hi Andrew,

Your issue can safely be 100% credited to differences in allocation.

• Custom events in the pages report use linear allocation, meaning custom events are divided evenly between all pages seen in the visit. This makes numbers appear much lower, as they are spread out across all pages.
• Since the eVar uses last allocation, only one of the values is going to receive credit for each event. It will be higher than the pages report, but not quite as much as the list var report.
• The list var uses full allocation, meaning that all values set prior to the conversion event receive full credit. If you're setting multiple values in the same image request, these are the numbers you want to use since they are by far the most accurate.

Hi @Gigazelle,

thanks so much for your response.

Given this is the case, I have applied the applications started metric (custom event) to a particular landing page entry in the pages report and I would like that number to be the same as the applications started metric applied to the same page in the list report. Is that possible, and if so, how?

The worry I have is that the number being reported by our backend systems (outside of sitecatalyst) matches the application started custom event data in sitecatalyst. However, the number in the list report is wildly different from this number. Using the list evar is currently not an option because of the inconsistency of the data but I would really like it to be an option.

regards, Andrew