Attribution, explained by someone who lost money to it

Short, honest lessons on ad attribution for Shopify and WooCommerce stores. What it is, why the numbers never match, and what to do about it. Written by the founder, five minutes each.

Start with the basics

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The basics

Five minutes each. No jargon.

5 min

What Is Attribution?

Who gets the credit for a sale, and why the answer is usually wrong.

6 min

Attribution Models, Explained With One Order

First click, last click, linear, data-driven, order-verified.

4 min

Attribution Windows

1-day view, 7-day click, infinite: what changes in your numbers.

5 min

Server-Side vs Pixel Tracking

Why the pixel misses, what server-side fixes, what it still cannot see.

5 min

The Conversions API

What sending data back actually does to the algorithm.

4 min

Post-Purchase Surveys

What surveys catch, where they lie, how to weight them.

6 min

MMM and Incrementality

Who needs them, who does not, and what they cost.

What broke and why

The mechanics behind the wrong numbers.

6 min

iOS 14 and Signal Loss

What actually broke in 2021, and what the fixes oversell.

5 min

Why Ad Platforms Over-Report

View-through, modeled conversions, overlap.

5 min

Why Meta, Google, GA4 and Shopify Never Match

Which number to trust for which decision.

4 min

Last Click and Brand Search

How Google harvests the demand Meta created.

5 min

Ad Blockers, Consent and Cookies

How much data you lose by region and device.

Using better data

What to do once the numbers are right.

5 min

Reading Your First 14 Days

What to look at on day 1, 7 and 14.

4 min

New vs Returning Customer ROAS

Why blended ROAS hides the truth.

6 min

The Budget Reallocation Playbook

Cut, hold, scale rules using verified data.

5 min

Incrementality Tests Without a Data Team

Holdouts a Shopify store can actually run.

4 min

Agency Reporting Clients Trust

Reconciled numbers, one dashboard per client.

Deciding

Picking a tool and switching without pain.

5 min

How to Choose an Attribution Tool

The five questions that separate the tools.

4 min

Switching to TrueROAS

What changes in week one, and why your numbers look different.

3 min

Attribution Glossary

Forty terms, each linked to the page that explains it.