About data-driven attribution models in the new Search Ads 360

A data-driven attribution (DDA) model analyzes real data about user interactions, unique to your search campaign, to learn how to distribute credit for conversions across all interactions in a conversion path. This allows you to optimize your bids and determine the most efficient advertising spend for your goals.

Your attribution model is applied to reported data multiple times throughout the day, giving you reporting data in near real time. The model learns and updates each week, and adds any new campaigns, keywords, or other items you add to your channel-grouping labels to future performance data.

You can create up to five DDA models in Search Ads 360. Consider starting out with a couple of different DDA models with different channel groupings and compare the insights you gain from each.

Data requirements for a data-driven attribution model

To create a data-driven attribution model, your sample must include at least 15,000 clicks and 600 Floodlight conversions during the last 30 days. Clicks can come from any advertising platform that you've added to the new Search Ads 360, not just Floodlight. The model begins reporting data from the day it was created, but its initial learning period takes around 24 hours once a sufficient sample is available.

If the weekly number of clicks and conversions falls below these requirements, the new Search Ads 360 uses a previously generated model. If the new Search Ads 360 hasn't been able to generate a model within the previous 30 days, the DDA model applies the basic linear model and will retry the update next week.

If you create a bid strategy that uses a DDA model, during the bid strategy's learning period you might see a bit of volatility in the DDA model as both the bid strategy and DDA model adjust to each other. Usually, you'll see fewer updates to the DDA model after the bid strategy's learning period completes.

Offline conversions

You can use offline conversions uploaded from the new Search Ads 360 or Campaign Manager 360 to generate a model if the conversions are attributed to a click ID less than 60 days old. Once generated, the model is applied to offline conversions:

  • If you use the Search Ads 360 API or bulksheets to upload the conversions, the conversions must be attributed to a click ID less than 60 days old.
  • If you use the Campaign Manager 360 API to upload the conversions, the conversions must be attributed to a click ID less than 60 days old, or an encrypted user ID or mobile device ID.

Identify conversion paths

Data-driven attribution  categorizes interactions in conversion paths based on how most advertisers organize their search campaigns. For example, most advertisers have both upper funnel keywords and lower funnel keywords. Starting from this assumption, DDA can distribute credit based on whether an ad led to an upper funnel or lower funnel interaction.

Each Search Ads 360 DDA model can analyze and report on interactions leading to as many as 50 different Floodlight conversion actions. However, they cannot analyze or report on conversions tracked by Google ads conversion tracking, Google analytics, or other tracking systems.If you want to model other types of interactions, you can define custom channel groupings. For example, you might want to know how your generic, brand, competitive, and promotion keywords and product groups interact together to drive purchases and newsletter signups. To create this more complex model, you need to specify custom channel groupings when you set up a DDA model.

Floodlight conversions only

Depending on what you're trying to learn, you may want to create a model that includes only Floodlight activities related to a specific conversion funnel. However, make sure you include enough Floodlight activities to provide Search Ads 360 with sufficient data to generate the model. 

Accounting for unattributed conversions

To account for unattributed conversions, such as browser settings or application settings blocking website cookies, the new Search Ads 360 models the number of conversions and amount of conversion revenue with machine learning and historical data. Reports and bid strategies in the new Search Ads 360 use the resulting estimate to scale conversion metrics and provide a more complete picture of how your advertising drives conversions. 

Data-driven attribution models include these scaled conversions both when generating a model and when applying the model to a Floodlight column.

Include cross-environment conversions

Cross-environment conversions start on one device or browser and end in another. To get the most complete view of conversion paths, include cross-environment conversions when you report on a data-driven attribution (DDA) model or use a DDA model in a new or existing bid strategy. Cross-environment reporting is available only for ads, keywords, ad groups, and higher levels.

Frequently asked questions

How do DDA models in the new Search Ads 360 differ from those in Campaign Manager 360?

While you can create a data-driven attribution model in Campaign Manager 360, it is completely separate from a Search Ads 360 data-driven attribution model and cannot be imported into the new Search Ads 360.

Both the new Search Ads 360 and Campaign Manager 360 models can analyze paid search clicks and display clicks. However, only Campaign Manager 360 can assign credit to display activity or display impressions. For example, if a conversion path starts with a paid search click but also includes display activity, the new Search Ads 360 will report partial credit for the paid search click.

Which advertising channels are considered part of a conversion path?

When examining conversion paths, the new Search Ads 360 DDA analyzes clicks from the following channels:

  • Paid social clicks
  • Clicks from the Google Display Network if the new Search Ads 360 manages the Google Ads display campaign, and if the ad is targeted with keywords or other items that Search Ads 360 tracks through placeholder keywords.
  • Display clicks if your advertiser uses Campaign Manager 360 and uses a common set of Floodlight activities to track both paid search and display conversions.
  • Natural search clicks if your advertiser uses Search Ads 360 Natural Search reporting and you've chosen the Equal attribution option.

Can data-driven attribution models report on clicks outside of the new Search Ads 360?

No. The new Search Ads 360 only reports on clicks redirected through the new Search Ads 360. A Search Ads 360 DDA model might attribute partial credit to a display ad managed by Campaign Manager 360 and the rest of the credit to a paid search click. But because the new Search Ads 360 only reports on paid search clicks, when you view a report, you'll only see the partial credit attributed to the paid search click.

Just like other attribution models used in Search Ads 360, a Search Ads 360 DDA model does not have access to data about display or natural search impressions, so it ignores them. Only clicks are reported as potential conversion actions. 

How soon do cross-environment conversions appear in a DDA Floodlight column?

Within 24 hours of creating a DDA model, a DDA Floodlight column with cross-environment conversions enabled starts showing the effects of cross-environment conversions. The column does not include cross-environment conversions that occurred before you created the model.

Why are there more cross-environment conversions after April 2018?

In April 2018, Search Ads 360 reduced the amount of conversion data needed to detect cross-environment conversions. This change required your advertiser to include a mix of single-environment and cross-environment conversions, and may cause an increase in cross-environment conversions in reports that include dates before April 2018.

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