Attribution Inflation
What This Page Answers
Attribution inflation happens when reported platform performance overstates the true incremental impact of ads. It often appears in retargeting, view-through-heavy campaigns, brand search, and automated campaigns that capture existing demand.
Common Causes
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Long attribution windows
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View-through credit
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Retargeting warm users
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Brand demand capture
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Returning customer conversions
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Cross-channel overlap
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Pixel duplication
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Offline imports mapped incorrectly
How To Diagnose
Compare:
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Platform ROAS vs MER
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Retargeting vs prospecting results
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Click-through vs view-through conversions
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New vs returning customer share
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Incrementality tests
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Backend revenue vs attributed revenue
Use Platform-Reported vs Blended Performance, Incrementality, and Prospecting vs Retargeting.
Practical Rule
Attribution is useful for operation. It is not proof that the ad caused every conversion it claims.