# Case Study: Ten Things Wrong, None Visible From Inside the Advertising Platform | Crank Source: https://wearecrank.com/case-studies/games-collectables-full-audit-2026 Unverified de-duplication, basket recovery that existed only on paper, and email open rates a third of the retail norm — a full-stack audit of one account. --- Games & Collectables — 2026 Audit # Ten Things Wrong, None Visible From Inside the Advertising Platform Unverified de-duplication, basket recovery that existed only on paper, and email open rates a third of the retail norm — a full-stack audit of one account. Challenge Purchase events were being sent from both browser and server without confirmed de-duplication, basket recovery existed 'on paper' with nobody having verified it actually ran, and email open rates sat at a third of the retail norm — each one invisible until someone went looking specifically for it. Approach Verify before optimising: confirm what was actually firing, actually running, and actually reaching the platforms, rather than assuming a system set up once was still working. Outcome None of the ten issues found were visible from inside either advertising platform — reported performance could have been doubled, halved, or simply wrong, and the account had been making decisions on all of it as though it were reliable. 01 ## A measurement system nobody had verified Purchase events were being sent from both the browser and the server without confirmed de-duplication, meaning reported sales could be counted twice before any budget increase. It was also unclear whether anonymous conversions were being recorded for visitors who declined tracking, meaning reported performance may have understated reality by an unknown margin in the other direction. Validated purchases, high-value customers and database records were not being returned to the advertising platforms either, so their own optimisation was running on partial information — improving attribution quality here also improves how well the platforms can find genuinely valuable customers, not just report on them. 02 ## Activity that existed only on paper It was not confirmed whether abandoned-basket and dynamic retargeting flows existed or functioned at all, despite this being among the highest-returning activity available in the account. Email open rates of 10 to 12 per cent were recorded against a typical retail range of 30 to 40 per cent — pointing to a segmentation and database quality problem rather than a content one. Very few products carried visible reviews, affecting both buyer confidence and click-through rate in shopping results. 03 ## Structure that was never built No distinct campaign structures existed for acquisition, retention or cross-sell across either advertising platform — budget could not be directed at growth as opposed to people who were returning anyway. Product identifier completeness and category mapping were unverified across the feed, directly limiting shopping and catalogue quality. Campaigns ran a single headline, text and description combination, giving the platform nothing to optimise between. And lead volume was being optimised for without any review of downstream quality, conversion rate or eventual value. ## Ten findings, one account, none visible from the reporting alone 10-12% Email open rate, vs. 30-40% sector norm 1 Headline/description/text combination running, per campaign Unverified Whether basket recovery was actually working Unverified Whether purchase data was reaching the ad platforms Drawn from Crank's account audit conducted in 2026 for this games and collectables retailer. Client not named. ## Want to know what this looks like in your own account? These findings came from asking straightforward questions before any budget moved. We're happy to do the same for yours. [ Talk to Wearecrank](https://wa.me/447457416922?text=Help%20my%20business)[Get in touch](/contact) [← Back to all case studies](/case-studies)