Attribution
Build attribution models that give credit for conversions to marketing channels, and compare the models side by side.
Last reviewed September 28, 2026
Data → Data Preferences → Attribution: your attribution models, a side-by-side comparison, and the sources that attribution reads.
Attribution gives credit for each conversion to the marketing touches that came before it. An attribution model sets which conversions count, how Vendo divides the credit, how far back it looks, and which channels can get credit. The channels come from a Channel Grouping computed property.
The Attribution page
The page has 3 tabs:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Models | Your attribution models, with the Method, Lookback, number of Conversions and Version of each |
| Compare models | The credit that 2 to 4 models give to each channel for the same conversions and dates |
| Settings | The sources that attribution reads, and how their events are used |
Click New model to make a model. Click Create with AI to describe the model in plain English and let the Agent write a draft.
Set up attribution
Before you start, connect a source with visit or click events and a source with conversion events. Make sure that you have a Channel Grouping. The first model can set up the Default Channel Grouping for you.
- Go to Data → Data Preferences → Attribution.
- Click the Settings tab.
- For each source that has marketing touches, click Add source.
- Check the Campaign evidence fields and the Interaction types of the events (see below).
- In the status list, select Enable.
- Click Save settings.
- Click New model and fill in the model (see below).
- Click Save version.
- To see the result, use Preview journeys in the model, or the Compare models tab.
Settings
The Settings tab controls which sources attribution reads. Each model selects its own conversions.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Status | Enable or Disable. When the status is Disable, models do not calculate. The default is Disable. |
| Add source / Remove | Adds a connected source as journey evidence. Its events can then become touches. |
| Excluded touchpoint events | Events of the source that never become touches |
| Campaign evidence | The event properties that your Channel Grouping rules read, for example utm_source or gclid. When you add a source, Vendo selects the fields of the Default Channel Grouping. Click Select fields used by Default Channel Grouping to select them again. |
| Interaction types | The type of each event: Visit, Click, Non-click or Self-reported. Vendo suggests a type from the event name. Check the suggestions. |
If you add more than one source, set up customer identity in Customer 360. Otherwise the events of one customer from different sources do not join. The page shows Set up customer identity before combining sources. until identity is set up.
Each save makes a new settings version.
Attribution models
A model has these settings.
General
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The name of the model, up to 120 characters | New attribution model |
| Channel Grouping | The computed property that sorts touches into channels | Default Channel Grouping |
| Description | Optional, up to 500 characters | None |
| Attribution method | How Vendo divides the credit (see below) | Linear |
| Lookback window | The number of days before a conversion in which a touch can get credit: 1 to 365 | 30 days |
| Decay half-life | Time decay only. The number of days after which a touch gets half the credit | 7 days |
The model always uses the current rules of its Channel Grouping. When you change the Channel Grouping, the model uses the new rules.
The reporting timezone comes from your workspace settings. The model editor does not have a timezone setting.
Attribution methods
| Method | How it divides the credit |
|---|---|
| First touch | All credit to the first touch |
| Last touch | All credit to the last touch |
| Linear | Equal credit to each touch |
| U-shaped | Most credit to the first and last touches, the remainder to the touches between them |
| Time decay | More credit to touches nearer to the conversion |
| Participation | Full credit to each touch. The total can be more than the number of conversions. |
For more information, see Attribution Models.
Channel credit
For each channel of the Channel Grouping, select how the channel gets credit:
| Choice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Include | The channel can get credit |
| Fallback only | The channel gets credit only when the journey has no Include touch. This works like “last non-direct click”. |
| Exclude | The channel never gets credit |
By default, the Direct channel is Fallback only and all other channels are Include. When you select a different Channel Grouping, the choices go back to this default.
A conversion with no touch that can get credit shows as Unattributed. For example, the journey has only excluded touches, or no touch is in the lookback window.
Evidence eligibility
Select which touches can get credit in this model:
- Visits: page and landing visits.
- Clicks: ad, link and message clicks.
- Include non-click interactions: email opens and sends, SMS opens, impressions and views.
- Self-reported answers: answers from your survey event. Set the Self-reported credit share (0 to 100%).
By default, Visits and Clicks are on. Select at least 1.
Conversions
Add 1 or more conversions. For each conversion, select:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Conversion event | The event that is a conversion |
| Value from | Event property or Customer property |
| Value property | The property that holds the value. It is necessary. |
| Conversions | All, First available (the first conversion of each customer) or Repeat (the conversions after the first) |
Click + Add conversion to add another conversion.
Versions
Each Save version makes a new version. Earlier versions do not change. Select a version in the version list to see it. To make a new model from this one, click Duplicate.
When you change the rules of the model’s Channel Grouping, Vendo saves a new model version with the new rules.
See the results
Saving a model does not calculate it. Vendo calculates a model when you ask for a result.
Preview journeys
In the model, the Sample customer journeys section shows how the unsaved settings give credit to real journeys. Select a Conversion and a Date range, then click Preview journeys. The table shows each conversion, its journey, its value and the credit of each touch.
Compare models
- Click the Compare models tab.
- Select a conversion.
- Select the date range. The default is the last 30 days.
- Click Add model to add up to 4 models.
- Click Compare.
The table shows the credited value of each channel for each model, and the difference from the first model.
You can compare only models that use:
- The same conversions, with the same value properties.
- The same reporting timezone.
- Methods that you can add up. You cannot compare Participation with the other methods.
To make a model that you can compare, click Duplicate on a model and change the copy.
If the models use different Channel Grouping rules, the table shows only the total.
A comparison can take some minutes. If it does not complete in about 5 minutes, the page shows “The attribution job is still running. Check Data logs for progress.” You can check the result later without a new calculation.
How Vendo builds the touches
- Vendo reads the events of the sources on the Settings tab and removes the excluded events.
- Vendo groups the events into sessions with the rules on the Sessions page in Data Preferences. The default gap is 30 minutes. Touches in the same session count as 1 touch, but a click with a click ID or a new campaign makes a new touch.
- The Channel Grouping of the model puts each touch into a channel. A touch that no rule matches goes into the catch-all channel (Other by default).
Channel Grouping rules for attribution
A Channel Grouping that a model uses must:
- Be a Classifier, not a Formula.
- Describe Events.
- Have AI Assisted Categorisation turned off. Attribution uses only rules.
- Use these condition types only: matches exactly, contains, begins with, is in list, is set, is not set and the regex conditions.
Its catch-all channel must have a name that is different from the other channels. A Direct channel is optional.
The Default Channel Grouping puts paid media first: Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Twitter Ads, Microsoft Ads and Other Paid Ads. Then come Email, SMS, Push Notifications, Affiliate and AI Assistants. After them come organic search and social, Referral, and last Direct. The first channel whose rules match wins. Matching is case-sensitive.
Where attribution results go
- Compare models and Preview journeys show the results in the app.
- Each calculation writes its result to tables in your dataset. The tables that start with
attribution_summary_andattribution_comparison_summary_are kept for 760 days. - When you create a model with AI, the Agent writes a draft in the AI panel. You click Apply, then Save version.
Attribution on conversion destinations
The conversion destinations for Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads, Snap Ads, Microsoft Ads, Pinterest Ads, LinkedIn Ads and X Ads have an Attribution section.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Attribution Model | Selects which credit Vendo sends: Participation, Linear, U-Shaped, First Click, Last Click or Time Decay | Last Click |
| Lookback Window | 28 days, 14 days, 7 days or 1 day | 7 days |
These destinations do not use the models on the Attribution page yet. They use the results of the click-based attribution in Measurement. The Axon Ads destination has its own Attribution Model, Lookback Window (hours) and Attribution Share fields.
For the steps on each platform, see the export conversions pages for Google Ads, Meta Ads, Microsoft Ads, TikTok Ads and Snap Ads.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| ”Create a Channel Grouping first.” | The workspace has no Channel Grouping | Click Set up default Channel Grouping, or make one in Data → Computed Properties |
| ”Attribution needs a Classifier that sorts events into channels, not a Formula.” | The selected property is a Formula | Select a Classifier that describes events |
| ”…Turn off AI assisted categorisation on this grouping before selecting it.” | The Channel Grouping uses AI | Turn off AI Assisted Categorisation on the property |
| ”…uses ”…” on ”…”, which attribution does not support yet.” | A rule uses a condition type that attribution cannot read | Change the rule to a supported condition type |
| ”This Channel Grouping needs event fields that are not enabled in Attribution Settings.” | The rules read a property that is not in Campaign evidence | On the Settings tab, select the missing fields and click Save settings |
| ”Attribution v2 is disabled for this account” | The status is Disable | On the Settings tab, select Enable and click Save settings |
| Save version is not available | The name is empty, the Channel Grouping is not ready, or a conversion has no value property | Complete the model |
| You cannot compare 2 models | The models have different conversions, value properties or timezones, or you mixed Participation with another method | Click Duplicate on 1 model and change the copy |
| ”This comparison exceeds its BigQuery scan limit.” | The date range reads too much data | Select a shorter date range |
| Many conversions are Unattributed | No touch is in the lookback window, or all touches are excluded | Make the lookback window longer, or change the channel credit choices |