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.

Further resources

• Understanding Google Ads attribution
• Setting up conversion tracking
• Analyzing Google Ads reports