How attribution works

Attribution answers one question: which ads led to this sale? Clakta answers it with your own data (the visits recorded on your site and the orders your store confirmed), not with what each ad platform says about itself. The answer depends on the attribution model you choose.

What Clakta looks at

Every time a visitor comes into contact with your marketing, Clakta records a touchpoint: when it happened, the platform, and the campaign, ad set and ad when they are known. There are three kinds:

Most models only look at paid clicks. Linear is the only one that also counts visits that didn't come from an ad.

From sale to credit

When a sale arrives, Clakta:

1. Gathers every touchpoint of the customer who bought, in time order.
2. Drops the ones older than your attribution window: by default a touchpoint has to be at most 28 days before the sale.
3. Runs the attribution model you picked, which decides how to share the credit between the touchpoints left.
4. Multiplies each share by the order value. The result is the revenue credited to that touchpoint.

In every model except Triple Attribution, the credit for one order adds up to exactly 1. If no touchpoint is left, the order gets no credit and shows up as unattributed.

One purchase, five models

Follow one customer up to a purchase:

All three fall inside the default 28-day window. The example assumes a project with full attribution. In privacy-friendly projects the visitor is only remembered for one day, so a journey over a week doesn't connect (see Attribution windows).

Last Click

All of the sale goes to the last paid click before the order. Google Ads gets the full $300 and 1 conversion; Meta and the visit get nothing.

It is Clakta's default. It shows which ad closed the sale, but it ignores what created the interest: here, the Meta campaign looks like it did nothing.

First Click

The reverse: all of the sale goes to the first paid click inside the window. Meta gets the $300 and the conversion; Google Ads gets nothing.

Use it to see which campaigns bring in new customers. Campaigns that close sales, like retargeting, look worthless in it.

Linear

The sale is split equally between every touchpoint, paid or not. With three touchpoints, Meta, the visit and Google Ads get $100 and 0.33 of a conversion each.

It is the only model that counts visits without an ad, so it shows how much revenue passes through channels you don't pay for. That is also why it is a poor choice for judging ROAS: here the two ads get only $200 of a $300 sale.

Linear Paid

The same equal split, but only between paid clicks. Meta and Google Ads get $150 and 0.5 of a conversion each.

A fair way to compare paid channels when customers usually see several ads before buying. Every paid click counts the same, though, whether the person was just looking or ready to buy.

Triple Attribution

The sale isn't split: every paid channel that touched the order gets full credit. Meta gets 1 conversion and $300, and Google Ads also gets 1 conversion and $300. Added together, the channels show 2 conversions and $600 for one $300 order. The visit without an ad gets nothing.

Clakta does this on purpose: each ad platform counts the sale this way in its own reports, so this model gives you numbers you can compare with Meta's or Google's. If the same campaign touched the order twice, it still counts once.

Side by side

The same $300 order:

To choose one, see Attribution models.

Fractions of a conversion

Linear and Linear Paid split one sale between several ads, so each ad gets a fraction of a conversion. That is why a campaign can show "4.7 conversions": four whole ones plus shares of others. Revenue is split the same way. Last Click and First Click always give whole conversions.

Why Clakta and the ad platforms don't match

• Each platform only sees its own ads. Meta doesn't know the customer also clicked a Google ad, so both claim the sale.
• Platforms also count sales after an ad was only seen, without a click.
• When platforms lose data, they estimate. Clakta only counts orders your store confirmed.
• Platforms use their own attribution windows, which change their totals.

Outside Triple Attribution, Clakta counts each real order once, so its total across all channels never goes above the orders you actually received.

Changing the model is safe

The model only changes how Clakta reads your data. Clakta keeps every touchpoint whatever model you use, so when you switch, your whole history is shown again under the new model right away. Nothing is lost, and you can switch back.

Change it from the dashboard toolbar or from any Ads Manager page. The model you pick only applies to you: each teammate keeps their own. The same goes for the attribution window, which you change with the button next to the model.