The Visibility Crisis in Mobile Advertising

Modern brands invest heavily in mobile-first campaigns across Instagram, TikTok and other social platforms. But many are discovering a surprising blind spot: Even with advanced tools like Google Analytics in place, most mobile clicks from social ads never show up.

This is exactly what a leading global fashion and lifestyle brand encountered — and it’s a challenge thousands of marketers are quietly battling and most don't know it can be fixed.

The Real Reason Meta Ads Conversion Rates Are Low on Mobile

Advertisers often assume low mobile conversion rates mean users aren’t engaging, but the real culprit is often in-app browsers. You simply can't see your conversion rate.

Instagram and Facebook’s built-in browsers suppress referrer data, block scripts and prevent GA events from firing — making conversions vanish from reports. The customer journey is not being measured and you have no visibility into the actual performance of your campaign.

Why Google Analytics Isn’t Tracking Instagram and TikTok Ads

This fashion brand ran mobile ad campaigns focused on Instagram and TikTok to drive awareness and in-store visits. Engagement was high. But in Google Analytics? Only ~10% of the expected traffic showed up. So why such low visibility?

Brands are realizing that Google Analytics isn’t tracking Instagram ads correctly when clicks open in the Instagram browser instead of Safari or Chrome.

The rest of the traffic? Lost in the in-app browser black hole, making it impossible to:

• Measure ROI of paid social
• Attribute traffic by channel or creative
• Optimize ad spend

If your Meta, TikTok and other social media ad traffic isn’t showing in GA, it’s likely because the social media browser strips referrer data and blocks tracking scripts.

Why? Because in-app browsers:

• Suppress referrer data
• Block GA and tag scripts
• Don’t preserve cookies for cross-session tracking

In short: they break marketing attribution.

Stop Facebook and TikTok Links from Opening in the App Browser

To solve the issue, the fashion brand turned to URLgenius, a platform known for SDK-free app deep linking with a powerful hidden feature: smart browser routing.

Wondering why your Meta or TikTok ad isn’t tracking conversions? The culprit might be the in-app browser — when links open inside Facebook or TikTok, analytics and tracking often break.

URLgenius detects the app environment and routes the user to Safari or Chrome, the device’s default browser, instead of the embedded one.

Restore Conversion Tracking with Smart Browser Routing

Once implemented, the brand saw immediate improvements:

• Full traffic visibility in GA
• Restored conversion tracking
• Data-driven creative and budget decisions
• Better alignment across marketing and analytics teams

No SDKs. No code changes. No delays.

The Takeaway: If You Can’t See Your Traffic, You Can’t Optimize It

With tighter budgets and higher stakes, brands need to make every click count. If your social ad traffic isn’t showing up in analytics, the in-app browser is likely to blame.

URLgenius helps brands regain control over mobile link behavior — improving tracking, attribution, and results.

Want to Fix This Too?

Start by testing one of your campaign links in the URLgenius Link Composer.

Or, contact us at info@urlgeni.us to learn how to fix your tracking with zero code and not technical resources required.

Check out these additional posts on measuring social media ROI via Google Analytics and why linking out to external browsers is key:

• What Is an In-App Browser — and How Does It Kill Your Ad ROI?
• Why Your Facebook Ads Aren’t Converting — And It’s Not Your Targeting