What is fractional attribution?

Fractional attribution acknowledges more than one advertisement’s contribution to an install and gives credit to each contributor. Each ad that influences a user creates a touchpoint, which can be tracked and used to attribute partial credit to any number of publishers from the very first interaction to the user’s conversion. 

Types of fractional attribution

There are various multi-touch attribution models. All of these models fall under the umbrella term of fractional attribution. Finding the right attribution model depends on how you think credit should be divided. Here are a few examples of different fractional attribution models:

• Linear — This model gives all interactions the exact same amount of credit for the conversion. It is calculated by dividing the whole value by the total number of touchpoints along the path to purchase.
• Time decay — This model gives more conversion credit to interactions that happen closer to the conversion event.
• U-shape — This type focuses on two key milestones while also acknowledging the middle touchpoints between them.
• W-shaped — Similar to U-shaped but the model covers additional key touchpoints evenly, distributing the rest of the credit to between-stage moments.
• Custom — Businesses that already have extensive touchpoint tracking will likely have (and need) to customize the weighting of their attribution model to fit their reporting needs.