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Attribution is the process of determining whether a conversion was driven by exposure to an ad, and assigning credit to a given ad or ads.

Two common types of attribution include last click attribution and last view attribution. The last click method attributes a conversion to the last ad that user clicked on, and the last view method attributes a conversion to the last ad that user viewed.

Beeswax uses a combination of last click and last view attribution in reporting. 

Beeswax Attribution

When a conversion event occurs:

• In a desktop environment, we capture the user_id on the conversion event via the Beeswax cookie ID found in the header of the http call to Beeswax. In mobile apps, we receive the auction_id in the postback call.
• We search through that advertiser’s impression logs to find a click with a matching user_id for desktop or auction_id for mobile app within the event’s lookback window.
• If matching clicks are found, the conversion is attributed to the most recent matching click within the event’s lookback window.
• If no matching click is found within the lookback window, but matching impressions exist, the conversion is attributed to the most recent matching impression within the event’s lookback window.

Lookback Windows

A lookback window is the length of time an impression is able to be used for attribution.

For example, if event’s lookback window is set to 30 days, a user must convert within 30 days after viewing/clicking on an ad for the conversion to appear in reporting. If they view/click on an ad, then convert 31 days later, this is considered outside the lookback window, and the conversion is not attributed to that impression.

Custom Attribution

If you would like to implement your own attribution model using raw event data, Beeswax offers real-time and batch log data. For attribution, you will need to utilize both win logs and conversion logs. Win logs provide impression details including auction_id and user_id, and conversion logs provide all raw events, which include user_id for desktop conversions or auction_id for mobile postbacks.

To enable win and/or conversion logs, please reach out to Beeswax Support for more information.

FAQ

Q: Do I need to associate a conversion event to a line item?
A: No—conversions are attributed at either the advertiser level--meaning that a conversion event may be attributed to a click or impression from any line item within that advertiser--the campaign level, or the line item level.

Q: Why don’t I see auction_id in some of my conversion logs?
A: Auction_ID is only included in conversion logs for mobile postbacks, when the attribution provider has attributed a conversion to a specific auction_id.