Attribution Model

What is an Attribution Model?

Hardly anyone clicks an ad and buys immediately. Multiple touchpoints are typical: first a generic search, later a click on the brand ad, then the conversion. The attribution model decides which of these clicks gets credit for the conversion — and thus influences which campaigns look successful in your reports.

Data-Driven Attribution as the Standard

In Google Ads, data-driven attribution (DDA) is the standard model today. It distributes conversion value across the contributing clicks via machine learning — based on how much each touchpoint actually contributed to the conversion. Google has retired the former rule-based models (linear, position-based, time decay). What remains:

• Data-driven: The standard — dynamic distribution based on your account data
• Last click: The entire value goes to the last click — today mainly useful as a comparison baseline

Why Does It Matter?

The attribution model doesn't change how many conversions you have overall — but how they're distributed across campaigns. Under last click, generic upper-funnel keywords appear weaker than they are because the brand campaign claims the final click.

Pro Tip: Use the comparison report under Attribution in Google Ads to contrast data-driven attribution with last click. Keywords showing significantly more conversions under DDA are your underrated funnel entry points.