What are Attribution Models in Google Adwords?

Attribution models are an essential item to consider in your Google Adwords account. But unless you’ve been working in a Google Adwords management agency, you might not be familiar with what this is. In this article, I will give a quick overview of what attribution models are, why it’s important and how to use them in your Google Adwords Account

Attribution Models Overview

Attribution models allow you to control how much “credit” each touchpoint gets for a conversion. On each customer’s journey, they might visit your website multiple times. And every visit could potentially be from a different source. The user might first visit your website from a Google Search ad, then hit the site again from a display remarketing banner ad. And finally, convert after visiting the site by typing it into their browser (otherwise known as direct traffic). Attribution models allow you to choose how much credit each of these sources will get for the conversions, depending on their place in the customer journey.

Attribution Model Breakdown from a PPC Consultant

There are currently six attribution models available in Google Adwords. Each PPC consultant might prefer a different model for each unique case.

The 6 types of Attribution Models:

1. Last Click – the Google Adwords default, this gives all the credit to the previous clicked-ad and keyword
2. First Click – the opposite of the last click, give all the credit to the first clicked ad and keyword
3. Linear– gives equal credit to all interactions
4. Time Decay – the closer the interaction is to the conversion, the more credit it will receive
5. Position-based – splits the conversions between first click, last licks, and all other touchpoints. Giving more weight to the first and previous interactions. (40% to first, 40% to clast, 20% spread out through the middle)
6. Data-Driven – Only available to the accounts with enough data, and this model will distribute the conversion based on your available account data

How Google Ads Management Agencies Use Attribution Models

To pick the right model for your business, it’s best to ask a PPC consultant’s help. Their experience in the industry will help guide how to look at your business’s conversion path. But if this is not an option, I will lay out the basics here. The closer you are to direct response marketing and the stronger our brand, the more likely you should use the last click. If most of your conversions happen in the first sessions in Google Analytics, it’s likely fair to leave the default last click option

Conversely, the less established your business is, the more likely you need to consider options that spread the conversions out between all points. If you are a completely new business and have not invested in marketing before, you may want to consider first click firmly.  For many small to midsized companies, position-based is an excellent option and paints a reasonably accurate picture of the customer journey.

Final thoughts

Attribution models are an often overlooked part of your Google Adwords account. But to get a truly accurate breakdown of your marketing funnel and bid appropriately, you must evaluate which model is right for your business. Although a Google Adwords management agency can help with his proper research and analysis, it’s possible to find the right one for your account.