I recently posted a video about click-through attribution. In it, I explain how I have long believed that click-through attribution requires clicks on outbound links to report conversions. Otherwise, this would be a view-through conversion.
But Meta’s documentation is vague at best, so I created a test to prove it. This is what I did…
my test
I created an engagement campaign with the following conversion location settings in my ad set:
- Conversion location: on your ad
- Participation type: After participating
- Performance goals: Maximize daily unique reach
The ad I’m using doesn’t provide an outbound link to click, just a static image with a description.
The image asks people to do the following:
- Click on the image.
- Open a separate browser window and go to a specific URL.
- Click the button on this page.
When a button on my site is clicked, it fires a custom event called “Experiment” that is unique to this test (it doesn’t fire anywhere else).
result
If click attribution requires an outbound click, Meta will count it as a view-through conversion. Instead, every reported conversion (33 in total) comes from click attribution.
This proves that click attribution can be generated by any click before a conversion. This is terrible in terms of reporting because it’s yet another black hole that cannot be captured using UTM and referral traffic.
Be sure to read my blog post about this test and what it says about click attribution.
