Problem
4 of 5 online bookings in this period arrived without a reference that resolved to an ad or a search. Those bookings stay unknown source.
Diagnosis
1 of 5 online bookings arrived with a reference, so the booking form and the export can carry one. The 4 without a resolved source either came from visitors with no captured visit (direct traffic, or consent not given), went through a path that drops the reference, or carried one that did not resolve (0 did); the data does not say which. Sales from those bookings cannot be linked to the marketing that brought them.
Exact proposed change
For bookings without any reference, ask the booking provider to add a hidden custom field on the booking form and to include it in the export, so the site can pass the opaque visitor reference. For references that did not resolve, keep time of day on both sides and resolve conflicting customer references in the import variance list.
Limitations
Counts cover online bookings only (80% without a resolved source). Phone and walk-in bookings never carry a reference and are not part of this task. Google Ads conversion settings were not checked; there is no Ads connection to read them from.
Guardrails
No customer names, emails or phone numbers go into the reference or the URL. Only an opaque code.
Evidence
- Online booking B-7001 carried reference touch_001.source row: booking:B-7001. Captured 2026-10-14.
- Online booking B-7002 carried no reference.source row: booking:B-7002. Captured 2026-10-14.
- Online booking B-7004 carried no reference.source row: booking:B-7004. Captured 2026-10-14.
- Online booking B-7008 carried no reference.source row: booking:B-7008. Captured 2026-10-14.
- Calculation source_coverage_count v1: 20% (1 of 5)source_coverage_count@v1:2026-09-19:2026-10-16. by booking date. 1 of 5.