Daily is enough for almost every reporting decision, because the underlying platforms revise their own figures for days afterwards. Syncing hourly mostly re-imports numbers that have not settled, and creates the impression of precision that the source data does not actually support.
Why does more frequent syncing not help?
Because the platforms themselves are not final. Ad platforms continue adjusting conversions and deduplicating reach for days after the event, so a figure pulled an hour after it happened will be a different figure tomorrow.
Importing it twenty-four times a day does not make it more accurate. It makes a provisional number look settled, and invites decisions on data that is still moving.
Which sources settle slowest?
They differ enough to matter when comparing.
Comparing a settled month with a partial one is the most common reporting error this causes, and it always flatters the settled period.
- Search Console aggregates on its own schedule, and recent days are routinely incomplete.
- Ad platform conversions revise as attribution windows close.
- Organic reach and video views are often deduplicated after the fact.
What matters more than frequency?
Knowing the state of the data. A report that says when each channel last synced can be trusted, because a stale figure is visible rather than silent.
The failure mode worth designing against is a connection that expired days ago while the dashboard kept serving the last numbers it had. Nothing looks wrong until someone notices a flat line.
When is faster genuinely useful?
During an active launch, where spend is being adjusted the same day. There the value is operational rather than analytical — you are watching pacing, not measuring outcomes.
Even then, the platform's own dashboard is usually the better tool. Cross-channel reporting is for reading performance together, and that question rarely changes hour to hour.
Frequently asked questions
- How long until a day's data is final?
- It varies by platform and metric, but allow a few days before treating a figure as settled. Conversion data with long attribution windows takes longest.
- Should I report on yesterday?
- Only with a note that it is provisional. Reporting on complete periods avoids the awkwardness of a number that changes after it has been sent.
- Does NexPulse show sync status?
- Yes. Sync progress is shown in real time while it runs, and each connection reports when it last synced.