Why does a percentage change look wrong?
How the green and red % badges on the Analytics page are calculated, and the common cases where they look odd.
Most cards on the Analytics page have a green (up) or red (down) badge with a percentage. Most surprises come from how that number is calculated.
How the badge is calculated
The badge compares the selected range with the period of the same length just before it:
(this period − previous period) ÷ previous period × 100, rounded to a whole percent
On the KPI cards, the text next to the badge names the previous period, such as "From previous 30 days" or "From yesterday". For the full list, see How do I choose a date range?
"My conversion rate went up by 1 point, but the badge says 50%"
The badge shows a relative change, not a change in percentage points. For a rate, that means:
| Previous | Now | Badge |
|---|---|---|
| 2.0% | 3.0% | 50% up |
| 4.0% | 3.0% | 25% down |
| 10.0% | 10.4% | 4% up |
To see the change in points, compare the two rates yourself.
"The badge says 0%, but the number clearly changed"
The badge shows 0% in three cases:
- The previous period had nothing to compare against. If it had zero views, conversions or revenue, a percentage can't be worked out, so the badge shows 0% rather than an infinite rise. This is common for a new store or a funnel launched recently.
- The change rounds to 0. A change of less than half a percent shows as 0%.
- The previous period is more than 12 months ago. The Checkout and Funnel tabs only hold 12 months of history. If a custom range starts close to that limit, the period before it falls outside the history and those badges show 0%.
"Today is always red"
Today is compared with all of yesterday. At 10am UTC, Today has ten hours of data and yesterday has 24, so totals such as conversions, views and revenue nearly always look down. Rates such as Conversion Rate are a fairer comparison early in the day. See What does 'Today' mean?
"Last 3 months is red, even though this month is going well"
Last 3 months and Last 6 months include the current month so far. Early in a month, that month is only partly counted, while the previous period is made of complete months. The comparison evens out as the month goes on.
"Unaccepted Upsell Rate is green, but that's bad"
On the Checkout tab, every badge is green when its number went up and red when it went down. Green doesn't mean good. For Unaccepted Upsell Rate, a green badge means more buyers ignored your offer.
"The badge doesn't match what I worked out"
The badge is calculated from unrounded figures, while the card shows a rounded one, so working it out from the card can be off by a point. The figures can also be up to about five minutes old. Click the refresh button next to the date picker for the latest numbers. Today's hourly charts can take up to five minutes to catch up even after a refresh.