Amazon advertising attribution model explained: How are sales counted?

Today's article is about attribution in the placement of advertising campaigns on Amazon, i.e. the question of the logic according to which sales are assigned to a campaign. Amazon advertising attribution is a topic that is rarely discussed, and Amazon hardly ever reports on it. There is also sometimes contradictory information from Amazon on how attribution is handled for advertising campaigns. For this reason, today I am presenting the attribution models for advertising campaigns via Seller Central and the Advertising Console.

Basically, it can be said that Amazon does not have a standardized attribution for the advertising campaigns. For example, the attribution model for the placement of advertising campaigns in Seller Central differs from the attribution model in the Advertising Console. As if this were not complicated enough, there are also different attribution models for the various advertising campaigns. For example, the attribution of Sponsored Product campaigns differs from the attribution of Sponsored Brand campaigns.

But first of all, let's start with the definition of the attribution model:

What is an attribution model?

Since definitions are not my strong point, I refer to Google's definition.

"An attribution model is a rule that defines how the different touchpoints are assigned value for conversions during the customer journey." https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1662518?hl=de

The results also differ depending on which attribution model is used. In order to interpret the results of advertising campaigns correctly, it is necessary to understand the attribution model used and the attribution period.

Let's start with the attribution model in Seller Central for Sponsored Product campaigns:

The attribution window for Sponsored Product campaigns is 7 days after the click on an ad. As a result, purchases are still attributed to the ad 7 days after the click on the ad. For this reason, the success of an advertising campaign should not be assessed too early, as the number of sales and the turnover can still change afterwards.

If several ads were clicked on during the customer journey, the sale is assigned to the last ad clicked on before the actual purchase.

The attribution logic applies to all Sponsored Product campaigns within the Seller Center, regardless of whether keyword, ASIN or category targeting is used.

However, not only the advertised products are counted as sales, but all of the seller's product purchases that were generated during the attribution window. 

This means that a person clicks on an advertisement for white men's shoes, the person makes none Purchase. Five days after clicking on the ad, the person purchases a pair of the seller's sports pants. The purchase of the sports trousers is assigned to the advertising campaign for the white men's shoes.

This allocation procedure is also known as Fire halo effect labeled.

Attribution model in Seller Central for sponsored brand campaigns:

Let us now turn to the attribution model of Sponsored Brand campaigns within the Seller Center.

The attribution window for sponsored brand campaigns is 14 days after the click on an ad. This means that purchases are still attributed to the ad 14 days after the ad was clicked. In the case of sponsored brand campaigns, the purchase is also attributed to the last ad clicked on before the actual purchase.

Sponsored brand campaigns also follow brand halo attribution. However, all purchases of the advertised brand within 14 days are attributed to sponsored brand campaigns and not just the sales of the advertising seller.

In plain language, this means that purchases from other sellers of the same brand are also attributed to the campaign.

Attribution model for advertising placement via the Advertising Console

Sponsored product campaigns Attribution model via the Advertising Console

Instead of the 7-day attribution window, the Advertising Console calculates an attribution period of 14 days after the click on a Sponsored Product campaign.

Sponsored brand campaigns Attribution model via the Advertising Console

The attribution model matches the attribution model from Seller Central.

Product Display Ads Attribution model via the Advertising Console

The attribution window is 14 days after clicking on the ad. Halo conversions are also counted for display ads, but these cannot be evaluated as only the total revenue is shown.

In the following graphic, I present the different attribution models again in abbreviated form.

Conclusion:

At the moment, few salespeople have considered the topic of attribution when placing advertising campaigns. However, as the competitive product increases, it will become even more important in future to understand the procedure for attributing sales. I hope that this article has given you a better understanding of the topic.