Attribution Model Comparison
See how different attribution models allocate conversion credit across your marketing channels. Input your customer journey touchpoints and compare all 5 models side by side.
Customer Journey
Model Comparison
Key Insight
Google Ads creates awareness (first-touch) while Facebook Ads closes the deal (last-touch). With last-touch only, you'd give Facebook Ads 100% credit and potentially cut budget from Google Ads, which could dry up your pipeline.
This calculation is automated by
Iceberg
See real attribution across thousands of conversions
Arktis automatically tracks every visitor touchpoint, matches ad clicks to conversions, and calculates all 5 attribution models in real-time. No manual input, no spreadsheets, just connect your ad accounts.
Start 7-day free trialHow Attribution Models Work
Marketing attribution determines which channels and campaigns deserve credit for conversions. The model you choose changes how you evaluate performance, allocate budget, and optimize campaigns. Using the wrong model can lead to over-investing in channels that only close deals while under-investing in channels that create demand.
The Real Cost of Wrong Attribution
Most ad platforms default to last-touch attribution because it makes their platform look best. Facebook shows you the conversion if their ad was the last click. Google does the same. But if a customer saw a Facebook ad, searched on Google, clicked an email, then converted through retargeting, both Facebook and Google will claim credit for the same conversion. This double-counting inflates your perceived ROAS and leads to misallocated budgets.
Why This Matters for E-commerce
E-commerce customer journeys typically involve 4-8 touchpoints across multiple channels before purchase. A customer might discover your brand through a Facebook ad, research you on Google, click an email, and finally convert through a retargeting ad. Last-touch attribution would give all credit to the retargeting ad, completely ignoring the Facebook ad that started the journey. This leads to cutting awareness budgets, which eventually reduces your retargeting audiences, creating a downward spiral.
Moving Beyond Manual Calculation
This tool simulates attribution for a single conversion. In reality, you need attribution calculated automatically across thousands of conversions with real touchpoint data. That is exactly what Arktis does: it captures every visitor interaction, connects ad platform data, and calculates multi-touch attribution in real-time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an attribution model?
An attribution model is a set of rules that determines how credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touchpoints in conversion paths. Different models distribute credit differently, which changes how you evaluate marketing channel performance.
Which attribution model should I use?
For most e-commerce businesses, time-decay is the best default. It gives more credit to recent touchpoints while still acknowledging the full journey. Use first-touch when evaluating awareness campaigns, last-touch for closing channels, and position-based when you value both equally.
What is first-touch vs last-touch attribution?
First-touch gives 100% credit to the first channel a customer interacted with. Last-touch gives 100% credit to the final channel before conversion. First-touch overvalues awareness, last-touch overvalues closing - which is why multi-touch models exist.
How does time-decay attribution work?
Time-decay gives more credit to touchpoints that occurred closer to the conversion. It uses a half-life (typically 7 days) where credit roughly halves for each half-life period back in time. This reflects the intuition that recent interactions matter more.
What is position-based (U-shaped) attribution?
Position-based attribution gives 40% credit to the first touchpoint, 40% to the last touchpoint, and splits the remaining 20% equally among middle touchpoints. It values both the channel that created awareness and the channel that closed the deal.
How does Arktis handle attribution?
Arktis automatically tracks every visitor touchpoint across all channels (ads, organic, referral, direct) and calculates attribution in real-time using your actual visitor data. No manual input needed - just install the tracker and connect your ad platforms.
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