What is an attribution model?

An attribution model decides how the value of a conversion is divided across the ad clicks and other touchpoints that came before it. In Google Ads you now choose between data-driven attribution and last click. The model affects which keywords and campaigns get the credit in your reporting.

Why is an attribution model important?

A fairer split: with some models, the last click is not the only one that gets credit.
Better bidding decisions: Smart Bidding uses the credited conversions to learn.
A different view of campaigns: campaigns that help early in the research phase look less valuable under last click.

Examples of an attribution model

A customer first clicks a generic ad, later a brand ad, and then buys. Under last click, the brand ad gets all the value.
Under data-driven attribution, the value is divided based on statistics from your own account.
After switching models, conversions shift between campaigns in your reporting.

How do you choose an attribution model?

Set the model per conversion action. For many accounts, data-driven attribution is the logical choice, because it takes the contribution of earlier clicks into account. Do not switch too often, because figures from different periods become hard to compare. Read more about measuring in analytics and dashboards.

Attribution model