The difference in one journey
- Click 1Searches 'roof leak repair' and clicks an ad.
- Click 2Sees a remarketing ad days later and clicks.
- Click 3Searches your company name and clicks.
- CallCalls and books an inspection.
First click credited click 1, the search that found the customer. Last click credits click 3, the brand search. Data-driven splits credit across all three, based on patterns in your account.
Why first click went away
Google announced in April 2023 that it would retire first click, linear, time decay and position-based models. Starting in September 2023, conversion actions still on those models switched to data-driven. Rule-based models gave fixed credit by position, while data-driven learns from real paths.
What last click hides
Last click often credits brand searches, since people search your name right before calling. That makes brand campaigns look great and the searches that found the customer look weak. Cutting those early searches can shrink brand searches weeks later.
How to see the whole path
- Keep data-driven attribution for bidding.
- Check the conversion paths reports in Google Ads.
- Ask new customers how they first found you.
- Compare total leads before and after budget changes.
Good example. A roofer keeps data-driven attribution and asks every new customer how they first heard of the company. Both views guide the budget.
Bad example. A roofer cuts non-brand campaigns because last click credits brand searches. Brand searches drop the next month.
Read what attribution in ads is. Our PPC management reports brand and non-brand separately.