Google Ads attribution models: What has changed in 2025?
Choosing the right Google Ads attribution model has long been a challenge for advertisers, and it will remain so in 2025. To measure advertising effectiveness, it's crucial to understand how customers interact with your campaigns and which touchpoints lead to conversions. Google Ads attribution models play a key role in this, as they assign value to each touchpoint in the customer journey.
The "First Click," "Linear," "Timeline," and "Position-Based" attribution models are no longer available. Instead, data-driven attribution has been automatically introduced for conversion actions. Alternatively, you can switch to the "Last Click" model, which can still be used.
In this blog post, I'll explain what attribution models are, why they're important, the different types, and provide a practical example. We'll also discuss the latest Google Ads updates and ultimately help you find the best attribution model for your Google Ads campaigns.
What is an attribution model in Google Ads?
During the customer journey, a customer encounters various touchpoints with companies before converting.
- Attribution models in Google Ads distribute the value of a conversion across these touchpoints according to defined rules.
- They help companies better understand user interactions and the impact of campaigns.
- This allows marketers to make more informed decisions and optimize campaigns.
There are two main categories: single-touch and multi-touch attribution, depending on the situation the appropriate model is chosen.
Why are attribution models important in Google Ads?
Attribution models play a key role in digital marketing, such as Google Ads. They distribute the value of a conversion across multiple touchpoints, which can be weighted differently depending on the product, purchase cycle, and goals. This allows advertising measures to be specifically optimized to better target customers and promote conversions more efficiently.
Let's imagine a customer wants to buy a new laptop. They search Google for "best laptops for students" and click on an ad from Brand A for laptop model Y. They continue browsing the website and sign up for Brand A's newsletter. Two days later, they receive an email with a limited-time 20% discount code for laptop model Y. Curious, they go straight to Brand A's website, browse further, and ultimately purchase laptop model Y.
This conversion path includes various touchpoints, each weighted differently depending on factors such as product type, purchase cycles, business goals, and campaign objectives. To best assess this, it may be useful to assign value to touchpoints differently and analyze channel performance. Google Ads offers user-friendly models to better understand the conversion path and design campaigns more efficiently. Ultimately, this helps maximize success.
Those: netscale.com
Improve campaign performance: Attribution models help identify weak marketing channels or touchpoints. These can be optimized or resources reallocated more efficiently to increase overall campaign performance.
Optimize advertising budget: They enable targeted allocation of budget to the channels that actually drive conversions, maximizing ROI.
Reach customers early: Certain models can be used to identify touchpoints that influence customers early in the buying process in order to promote conversions more quickly.
Optimize bidding processes: Insights into ad performance facilitate decisions about adjusting bids. Strong ads receive higher budgets, while weaker ones are reduced, saving time and money.
Two new Google Ads attribution models (2025)
Originally, Google Ads offered six attribution models to choose from. After several changes, there are now only two available models.
Last Click Attribution Model
Those: netscale.com
The last-click attribution model in Google Ads attributes the entire value of a conversion to the last interaction and corresponding keyword that occurred before the desired action. However, it doesn't consider the entire customer journey.
For example, a customer journey might include the following steps: generic keywords – display ads – video ads – shopping campaigns. With the last-click model, only the shopping campaign receives credit, regardless of previous interactions.
Suitable for: Companies with few touchpoints before conversion or for low-value products that do not require intensive customer consideration.
Data-driven attribution model
Those: netscale.com
The data-driven attribution model doesn't use a fixed attribution formula. Instead, Google Ads analyzes your account's historical data to determine the weighting of each interaction. This provides a more accurate picture of how different touchpoints contribute to conversions. It's also the new default model for all attribution events in Google Ads.
Example: Data from keywords, display, video, and shopping campaigns is analyzed. The model detects that 60% of customers who interact with the video campaign convert. Therefore, a large portion of the conversion is attributed to this touchpoint.
Suitable for: Companies with more complex customer journeys or high-value products that require a longer decision-making phase.
Summary of data-driven and last-click attribution models
Summary of data-driven and last-click attribution models
Advantages and disadvantages of the last-click attribution model
Advantage: Easy to implement
Disadvantages: May provide an inaccurate representation of touchpoints.
Advantages and disadvantages of the data-driven attribution model:
Advantage: Provides a more accurate representation of the customer journey.
Disadvantages: Requires a large amount of data to set up, difficult to implement.
How can I compare attribution model settings?
Amid all these changes, users need to find the fastest way to adjust their attribution model to better align with their business strategies and goals. Here's a detailed guide on how to find and change the attribution model in Google Ads.
Under "Goals", go to "Attribution" under "Summary".
Then select Model Comparison. This feature lets you see how different attribution models distribute conversion value across ads and shows you key metrics like conversions and cost/conversion. You can also edit other attributes, like the lookback window, to see what your desired results might look like.
Where do I change the attribution model of the goal
After comparing the attribution model for your campaigns, you can adjust it as follows.
- Under Goals, click a conversion action.
2. Our target here is "Contact Form." There, you can edit the attribution under the settings.
3. Select Data-Driven or Last Click from the drop-down menu.
Don’t forget to save!
What is the best attribution model for your Google Ads campaign?
Choosing the right attribution model for Google Ads is crucial, as it can significantly influence your advertising strategy and budget allocation. Here are some key factors to consider when making your decision:
Customer journey: Analyze how customers typically interact with your brand before converting. Do they involve lengthy research processes or quick decisions? Adapt the model to this reality.
Key touchpoints: Identify the touchpoints that contribute most to conversion, such as the first interaction for brand awareness, the last interaction for completion, or specific interactions in between.
Industry and product type: The industry and type of products/services influence the appropriate model. E-commerce may benefit from the last-click model, while companies with long sales cycles or high-value products prefer data-driven models.
Budget and resources: Data-driven models are often more expensive and data-sensitive. Last-click can be a pragmatic choice for limited budgets.
Testing: Experiment with different models to gain more comprehensive insights. Combining models or switching between them periodically can be helpful.
There is no one-size-fits-all attribution model. The choice depends on your specific goals and circumstances. Regularly reviewing and adjusting the model is essential to optimizing your strategy.
Do you need support? Then don't hesitate to contact me. I'd be happy to help!
