Is AdWords the same as AdSense?

No. AdWords is the old name of Google Ads, renamed on 24 July 2018. AdSense is a separate Google product for publishers who show ads on their own sites. Advertisers buy ads in Google Ads, and publishers earn from them through AdSense.

Do I need AdSense to advertise my store on Google?

No. Google Ads is the advertiser program, and it is where you buy ads. AdSense is for publishers: sites that want to earn by showing ads. A store that advertises needs a Google Ads account, and can use GA4 to cross-check its conversions.

Where do I see which ad led to a sale?

In Google Ads conversion reports and in GA4. Google Ads counts a conversion inside a conversion window, 30 days after a click by default. GA4 uses its own attribution settings, with a 90-day default lookback for most key events. Compare both with Shopify orders.

AdSense vs AdWords (now Google Ads): who pays, who earns

AdWords is the old name of Google Ads, for advertisers who pay for ads. AdSense is a separate Google product for publishers who earn from showing them, so attribution questions belong to Google Ads and GA4.

By Joris van Huët, Founder & CEOPublished 2026-10-015 min read

Run the numbers for your store: the free break-even ROAS calculator.

AdWords and Google Ads are one product under two names: Google Ads Help says "On July 24th, 2018, Google AdWords became Google Ads." AdSense is a different product for the other side of the ad, the publishers who show ads on their own sites. If you sell on Shopify and want to know which ads led to orders, your questions belong to Google Ads and GA4, not to AdSense.

No. Google announced the change on 27 June 2018 as "Google AdWords is becoming Google Ads", one of three new brands alongside Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager. Google Ads Help gives the reason: the new brand "represents the full range of campaign types available today, including Search, Display and Video." Your account address moved from adwords.google.com to ads.google.com, and Google says the change "will not impact your campaign performance, navigation, or reporting." AdSense is not one of the three brands the announcement names, and Google's Help Center still uses the name.

Who uses which, and where does the money go?

AdSense Help draws the line in two sentences: "Google AdSense is for publishers." and "The Google Ads program is for advertisers." An advertiser pays in Google Ads. A publisher earns through AdSense. They meet at the ad itself: Google Ads says your ads "may show on AdSense sites when you run a Display Network campaign", and AdSense Help says AdSense "delivers ads served by Google Ads to your site".

Google publishes the split. Publishers "receive 80% of the revenue, after the advertiser platform takes its fee", and "when advertisers use Google Ads to purchase display ads on AdSense, publishers keep about 68% percent of the revenue." For illustration: if EUR 100 of your Display spend is served on AdSense sites, Google's 68% puts about EUR 68 with those publishers (100 x 0.68 = 68).

What does each one measure?

AdSense sits on the publisher's side. Google pays publishers "based on user clicks on ads or on ad impressions, depending on the type of ad". Neither of those is an order in your store.

Google Ads sits on the advertiser's side. A conversion, such as a purchase, counts only inside a conversion window after the ad interaction: 30 days after a click and 1 day after a view by default. The windows of Google and four other platforms are side by side in one table.

Where do attribution questions belong?

Attribution is credit: which ad gets the purchase. It lives in two places.

Google Ads. Data-driven attribution "is the default attribution model for most conversion actions" and gives credit "based on how people engage with your various ads". The same model in plain terms is on this site.
GA4. Its attribution settings hold a reporting attribution model and a lookback window, 30 days for acquisition key events and 90 days for all other key events. Its key events "are the primary source for creating conversions that can be shared with Google Ads".

One trap if a site of yours also shows ads: GA4 defines Total revenue as "purchases + in-app purchases + subscriptions + total ad revenue - refunds". Publisher earnings that reach GA4 sit inside it, so work out ROAS from Purchase revenue, not Total revenue.

How do you check which side you are on?

Follow the money. If Google charges you for ads, you are in Google Ads. If Google pays you for ads on your site, you are in AdSense, which is "free of charge" to join.
Read your Google Ads window. Open Goals, Conversions, Summary, then Edit settings on your purchase action. Note the click-through window and the attribution model.
Read your GA4 settings. Open Admin, Events, Attribution settings. Note the reporting attribution model and the lookback windows.
Compare with Shopify. For one closed week, put Google Ads purchases next to Shopify orders by order date. A gap is normal, and the reasons it appears are definitional. The pass is a gap that stays steady week to week. The fail is a gap that jumps after you change a window, a model or a tag, and that change is where to look first.

Sources, 30 September 2026: Google AdWords is now Google Ads (Google Ads Help, 2026); Introducing simpler brands and solutions for advertisers and publishers (Google, 27 June 2018); Difference between AdSense and Google Ads (Google AdSense Help, 2026); How AdSense works (Google AdSense Help, 2026); AdSense revenue share (Google AdSense Help, 2026); AdSense, in the Google Ads glossary (Google Ads Help, 2026); About conversion windows (Google Ads Help, 2026); About data-driven attribution (Google Ads Help, 2026); Select attribution settings (Google Analytics Help, 2026); Analytics dimensions and metrics (Google Analytics Help, 2026).

Frequently asked questions

Is AdWords the same as AdSense?
No. AdWords is the old name of Google Ads, renamed on 24 July 2018. AdSense is a separate Google product for publishers who show ads on their own sites. Advertisers buy ads in Google Ads, and publishers earn from them through AdSense.
Do I need AdSense to advertise my store on Google?
No. Google Ads is the advertiser program, and it is where you buy ads. AdSense is for publishers: sites that want to earn by showing ads. A store that advertises needs a Google Ads account, and can use GA4 to cross-check its conversions.
Where do I see which ad led to a sale?
In Google Ads conversion reports and in GA4. Google Ads counts a conversion inside a conversion window, 30 days after a click by default. GA4 uses its own attribution settings, with a 90-day default lookback for most key events. Compare both with Shopify orders.

Go deeper: Causal attribution, explained.

Sixty-second versions of these ideas: Causality Engine on YouTube Shorts.

Keep reading

Terms in this article

Browse the full glossary

Did AdWords turn into AdSense?