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Last Updated: February 23, 2023

What is a GA4 attribution model?

A GA4 attribution model is a rule or set of rules or a data-driven algorithm that is used to determine how conversion credit should be distributed to various marketing touchpoints on a conversion path.

A conversion path is a path taken by users to convert on your website and/or mobile app.

The conversion path can include both website and mobile app touchpoints.

Where you can find attribution models in a GA4 property?

You can find attribution models in a GA4 property by navigating to one of the Attribution reports (Model comparison report, Conversion paths report) and then clicking on the attribution models drop-down menu.

What are the various types of GA4 attribution models?

The GA4 attribution models can be broadly classified into the following four categories:

1. Cross-channel rules-based models.
2. Ads-preferred rules-based model.
3. Data-driven attribution model.
4. Reporting attribution model.

Types of cross-channel rules-based attribution models in GA4

Following are the various cross-channel rules-based models available in GA4:

1. Cross-channel last click
2. Cross-channel first click
3. Cross-channel linear
4. Cross-channel position-based
5. Time decay

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What is the Cross-channel last click model in GA4?

The Cross-channel last click attribution model gives 100% conversion credit to the last touchpoint on a conversion path.

This attribution model does not give conversion credit to direct visits unless the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits. 

At present, the Cross-channel last click attribution model is the only GA4 attribution model that you can export to your Google Ads account.

Following are the examples of conversion paths that show how the Cross-channel last click attribution model assign conversion credit to touchpoints:

Direct > Organic Search > Paid Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion.

Organic Search > Paid Search > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Paid Search > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoints are ignored.

Direct > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘Direct’ gets 100% credit for the conversion as the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits.

Direct > Paid Search > Organic Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘organic search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion.

What is the Cross-channel first click model in GA4?

The Cross-channel first click attribution model gives 100% conversion credit to the first touchpoint on a conversion path.

This attribution model does not give conversion credit to direct visits unless the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits. 

Following are the examples of conversion paths that show how the Cross-channel first click attribution model assign conversion credit to touchpoints:

Direct > Organic Search > Paid Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘Organic search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Organic Search > Paid Search > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘Organic search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion.

Paid Search > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoints are ignored.

Direct > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘Direct’ gets 100% credit for the conversion as the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits.

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What is the Cross-channel linear model in GA4?

The Cross-channel linear attribution model gives equal conversion credit to all touchpoints on a conversion path.

However, this attribution model does not give conversion credit to direct visits unless the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits. 

Following are the examples of conversion paths that show how the Cross-channel linear attribution model assigns conversion credit to touchpoints:

Direct > Organic Search > Paid Search > Conversion 

// Here both ‘Organic search’ and ‘paid search’ gets 50% conversion credit each. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Organic Search > Paid Search > Direct > Conversion 

// Here both ‘Organic search’ and ‘paid search’ gets 50% conversion credit each. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Paid Search > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoints are ignored.

Direct > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘Direct’ gets 100% credit for the conversion as the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits.

Email > Paid Search > Organic Search > Social > Conversion 

// Here each marketing touchpoint gets 25% conversion credit.

So ‘Email’ gets 25% conversion credit. ‘Paid search’ gets 25% conversion credit. ‘Organic search’ gets 25% conversion credit. ‘Social’ gets 25% conversion credit.

What is the Cross-channel position-based model in GA4?

The Cross-channel position-based attribution model gives 40% conversion credit to the first touchpoint on a conversion path and 40% conversion credit to the last touchpoint on the conversion path.

The remaining 20% conversion credit is distributed evenly to the remaining touchpoints on the conversion path.

However, this attribution model does not give conversion credit to direct visits unless the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits. 

Following are the examples of conversion paths that show how the Cross-channel position-based attribution model assigns conversion credit to touchpoints:

Email > Paid Search > Organic Search > Social > Conversion 

// Here ‘Email’ gets 40% conversion credit. ‘Social’ gets 40% conversion credit. ‘Paid search’ gets 10% conversion credit. ‘Organic search’ gets 10% conversion credit.

Email > Paid Search > Organic Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘Email’ gets 40% conversion credit. ‘Organic search’ gets 40% conversion credit. ‘Paid search’ gets 20% conversion credit. 

Paid Search > Organic Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘Paid search’ gets 50% conversion credit. ‘Organic search’ gets 50% conversion credit. 

Direct > Organic Search > Paid Search > Conversion 

// Here both ‘Organic search’ and ‘paid search’ gets 50% conversion credit each. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Organic Search > Paid Search > Direct > Conversion 

// Here both ‘Organic search’ and ‘paid search’ gets 50% conversion credit each. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Paid Search > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% conversion credit. The ‘Direct’ touchpoints are ignored.

Direct > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘Direct’ gets 100% credit for the conversion as the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits.

What is the Time decay model in GA4?

The GA4 Time decay attribution model gives more conversion credit to the touchpoints that occurred closer in time to the conversion. The conversion credit is distributed using 7-day half-life. 

So a touchpoint that occurred 8 days before a conversion gets half as much conversion credit as the touchpoint that occurred 1 day before the conversion. 

The time decay attribution model also does not give conversion credit to direct visits unless the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits. 

What is the Ads-preferred last click model in GA4?

The Ads-preferred rules-based attribution model (also known as the Ads-preferred Last Click model) gives 100% conversion credit to the last Google Ads click on a conversion path.

If there is no Google Ads click on a conversion path then the last touchpoint on the conversion path gets 100% credit for the conversion. 

However, the Ads-preferred rules-based attribution model does not give conversion credit to direct visits unless the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits. 

Following are the examples of conversion paths that show how the Ads-preferred last click model assign conversion credit to touchpoints:

Direct > Organic Search > Paid Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion.

Organic Search > Paid Search > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoint is ignored.

Paid Search > Direct > Social > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion. The ‘Direct’ touchpoints are ignored.

Direct > Direct > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘Direct’ gets 100% credit for the conversion as the conversion path is made up entirely of direct visits.

Email > Paid Search > Organic Search > Conversion 

// Here ‘paid search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion.

Email > Social > Organic Search > Direct > Conversion 

// Here ‘organic search’ gets 100% credit for the conversion as it is the last non-direct touchpoint on the conversion path.

What is the Data-driven attribution model in GA4?

The data-driven attribution model in GA4 assigns conversion credit to marketing touchpoints on a conversion path based on how the addition of each touchpoint to the conversion path changes the estimated conversion probability.

Note: The data-driven attribution model is specific to each conversion event.

What is the Reporting Attribution Model in GA4?

GA4 uses the reporting attribution model to calculate conversion credit in all of your GA4 reports and also within the conversions reports of any linked Firebase projects.

By default, GA4 uses the cross-channel data-driven model as the reporting attribution model.

Google also recommends that you use the cross-channel data-driven model as the reporting attribution model:

However, you can change the reporting attribution model to any one of the following models:

1. Last Click
2. First Click
3. Linear
4. Position-based
5. Time decay
6. Ads-preferred last click

Note(1): Changing the reporting attribution model will apply to both historical and future data in your GA4 property. These changes will be reflected in GA4 reports with conversion and revenue data. User and session data will remain unaffected.

Note(2): The Attribution reports (Model Comparison and Conversion Paths) are not affected by any change to the reporting attribution model.

To learn more about changing the reporting attribution model in GA4, check out this article: How to Change Attribution Models in GA4 (Google Analytics 4)?

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