Glossary · Attribution
What is last-touch attribution?
Last-touch attribution is an attribution model that gives 100% of the credit for a conversion to the source of the last visit before it happened.
It's the default in many ad platforms and was the default in Universal Analytics (as "last non-direct click"), which is why so many reports quietly use it.
Also called: Last-click attribution, Last non-direct click
Updated
How does last-touch attribution work?
Credit(last session's source before conversion) = 100%
A common variant is last non-direct click: if the final visit was direct (typed URL, bookmark), credit passes to the last visit that had a known source. The reasoning is that a direct return visit is the result of an earlier channel, not a channel itself.
Last-touch attribution example
A visitor discovers you from a podcast mention (direct, untagged), reads two blog posts from Google over the next week, and finally clicks a branded search ad to sign up and pay $49. Last-touch credits $49 to the branded ad. Last non-direct click does the same. The podcast that started it all gets nothing, and the ad looks like it has fantastic ROAS — on people who were already searching for you by name.
Why last-touch attribution matters
It's simple, needs no long-term memory of the visitor, and correctly identifies what closes sales: pricing-page visits, retargeting, branded search, email nudges. For short, single-visit purchases it's often close enough to the truth.
Limits of last-touch attribution
- Over-credits closers. Branded search and retargeting take credit for demand other channels created.
- Under-credits discovery. Content, SEO and word of mouth rarely land the final click.
- Encourages bad budget moves. Shifting spend toward the last click starves the channels that fill the funnel — and the closers dry up later.
- Long cycles break it. For B2B purchases with weeks of research, the last touch is a small slice of the story.
How VisitTrack shows last-touch
VisitTrack credits payments to first touch by default, and its Revenue tab shows the same revenue under last touch, linear, time decay and position-based models next to it — computed from each paying visitor's sessions up to the purchase. Comparing first and last touch per source is often the single most useful attribution view: sources high in first touch and low in last touch are discovery channels; the reverse are closers. See multi-touch attribution and the revenue attribution docs.
Frequently asked questions
Why is last-click attribution misleading?
Because it gives all the credit to the final interaction, which is usually a closing channel like branded search or retargeting, and none to the channels that created the demand in the first place.
What is last non-direct click attribution?
It's last-touch attribution that skips direct visits: if the final visit had no source, credit goes to the most recent visit that did. It was the default model in Universal Analytics.
Related terms
- First-touch attributionFirst-touch attribution is an attribution model that gives 100% of the credit for a conversion or payment to the source of the visitor's very first visit, ignoring every visit that came after it.
- Multi-touch attributionMulti-touch attribution is any attribution approach that divides the credit for a conversion across several of the touchpoints that preceded it, instead of giving it all to the first or last one.
- Time-decay attributionTime-decay attribution is a multi-touch attribution model that gives every touchpoint some credit for a conversion, but more to touches that happened closer in time to the conversion.
- Attribution windowAn attribution window, or lookback window, is the maximum time between an ad interaction or visit and a conversion for that interaction to receive credit for it.
- Direct trafficDirect traffic is any visit that arrives with no referrer and no campaign parameters, so the analytics tool can't tell where it came from and files it as "direct" or "(none)".
Tools and guides
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