Attribution has always been one of the trickiest parts of performance marketing. Every brand wants proof that its ads are working, but surface-level reporting data never tells the whole story. For programmatic advertising, which often focuses on awareness-building, that can create problems.
If decision-making is only based on what’s easiest to track, budgets will inevitably favor channels that drive clicks and conversions. When attribution fails to show the impact of higher-funnel tactics, programmatic advertising budgets often get shortchanged—which can be an unfortunate mistake.
In this blog, we’ll break down why last-click falls short, how view-through attribution works, and how brands can use both (along with supporting metrics) to build a more complete picture of performance.
The Limits of Google Analytics and Last-Click Attribution
“Conversions” as they’re logged in the Google Analytics platform only provide insight into the final action taken by a user. While last-click attribution like this helps you see the end of a buyer’s journey, it doesn’t account for the billboard they may have seen on their way to work; a commercial that was on TV during the football game; a screen in the subway station; or any other bit of advertising that may have commanded their attention, even just for a few seconds.
Logic would indicate that since these placements cost money, there must be value to them. In prior eras, after all, almost all marketing was awareness-based—yet it still worked. The current emphasis on final actions is a phenomenon of digital marketing, and it often downplay the importance of those awareness-building techniques.
Last-click is no longer seen as the industry standard for attribution because of everything it doesn’t tell you. That means if you’re making budgetary decisions solely on what shows up in your Google Analytics conversions report, you’re ignoring every other touchpoint that shaped the outcome.
Enter View-Through Conversion Attribution
This is where View-Through Conversions (VTC) come into play. VTC is an attempt to ascribe value to passive ad consumption: It reflects the impact of advertising that doesn’t trigger an immediate click but builds awareness that later leads to action.
Take, for example, a programmatic connected TV ad. Without a QR code or a custom URL to track direct action, all an advertiser may know initially is that their ad was shown to a user. We may have some information about what show they were watching or which app they were streaming from—but not whether the ad “worked.”
View-through conversions attempt to answer that mystery by providing insight into how memorable your brand is, but the data still requires interpretation. The methodology usually looks like this:
- The demand-side platform (DSP) records the IP address where a video ad was served
- A tracking pixel on the brand’s site monitors IP addresses of inbound traffic and conversions
- Those IP addresses are cross-referenced
Based on that, can we confirm whether a viewer at that IP address eventually produced a conversion. Can we parse whether a specific person in a household of four was the person who saw the ad and then converted? No, but we’ve certainly gotten a stronger indication of the ad’s effectiveness than we could have otherwise.
Supporting Metrics Help Tell the Story
Attribution models aren’t meant to provide a perfect record of what happened. They’re tools for understanding influence, each with its own limitations. Last-click is neat and easy to read, but it undervalues channels that don’t produce direct engagement. View-through is better at reflecting the impact of awareness, but it relies on correlation and a willingness to accept that the customer journey is not always linear.
That means that brands need to consider other metrics that can bolster their VTC outputs to gain a more complete picture of impact. Some questions you’ll want to answer include:
- Is search volume increasing in geographic locations where commercials are running?
- Is direct traffic to the site increasing?
- Are search and social ads driving reduced CPAs thanks to higher engagement rates?
Anything that shows a halo effect from increased brand awareness, retention, or general activity can indicate success—depending on what your brand is trying to accomplish. For some, the value lies in paying for a channel that reduces costs elsewhere. For others, the search ads might be doing just fine on their own.
One ADM client tested the use of Display ads for one of their service verticals, and in one month of monitoring, the impact on Google and Meta performance was substantive:
- +26% click engagement with Google and Meta ads
- +28% lift in Qualified candidates from the platforms
- -19% reduction in Google/Meta platform Cost per Candidate
These metrics came with just a 3% increase in media spend on Google and Meta. Using the connectivity logic referenced earlier, we can assume that simply having a presence in view-only placements leads to higher brand retention and higher rates of engagement from relevant/highly qualified audiences.
Using Both Models Together
It isn’t a matter of choosing one or the other. There’s room to consider both simultaneously.
While the sales funnel is linear in theory, brands today should assume that every user is engaging in activities tied to all levels of the funnel at the same time. A user might be Googling on their phone while watching last week’s episode of their favorite show via Connected TV. Someone might respond to an email, then watch a YouTube video, or scroll TikTok.
This makes it crucial to cover all bases simultaneously. A last-click-only approach, where each channel must perform to its goal individually, feels tidier from an attribution perspective—but it doesn’t reflect reality.
A better way is to measure impact holistically. Assume that everything is influencing everything else, and ask whether—across all channels—you are hitting your goals.
Getting Started with VTC
The major view-only media platforms all have some sort of attribution system that will tie ad impressions to a desired action, either at the user or household level. As with Meta and Google, however, there can be an attribution bias towards the platform in use when multiple touchpoints are in play.
To manage around this, data from all platforms would be collected in a single database, cleaned, matched, and cause/effect can be identified. Unless you’re a business with access to a platform like Funnel, Tableau, or Datorama, this is much easier said than done.
Many brands are conservative with their marketing budgets, and these tend to be the most skeptical of view-through. Often they are older companies that haven’t modernized their perspective on business to keep up with technology, or who fundamentally don’t believe marketing provides value. To them, marketing must be entirely self-funding.
That’s key, because embracing VTC requires a bit of time and investment—in addition to more creativity, non-linear thinking, and faith than those brands may be comfortable with. Fortunately, cross-channel storytelling and reporting is where an experienced digital media and analytics agency can steer the way. If you think you may be in a situation similar to this, the best thing to do is reach out to an agency and seek guidance.
At the end of the day, attribution is less about assigning perfect credit and more about making smarter budget decisions. If your mix of models helps you see how all of your channels influence each other—and whether the full program is moving the business forward—that’s what actually matters.
