Traffic numbers tell you what got attention. Attribution tells you what got paid.
The basic idea
On arrival, each visitor gets an id, stored along with where they came from. That id rides through checkout with the payment, so when your provider reports the sale, DataPenny can walk straight back to the visit.
The hard part
A buyer might see your post on Monday, search for you on Thursday, and type your address on Saturday. Which one gets the sale? That’s the attribution model:
- Last non-direct credits the latest visit with a real source. It’s the default, because a typed address rarely explains a purchase.
- First touch credits the visit that found them.
- Last touch credits the final visit.
You can switch at any time, and past sales are credited again.
When the id goes missing
Some checkouts lose the visitor. DataPenny then looks at your thank-you page, the customer’s earlier payments, any email you identified and, last of all, who clicked through to checkout just before the sale. That last kind of match is labelled estimated until proof turns up.
Sources & attribution has the full order.