Reviewing and comparing CTV attribution windows in reports

An attribution window is the period after an eligible ad impression or click in which a recorded action may receive credit. Post-view and post-click are separate clocks: each starts with its eligible exposure event, while the conversion event and credit model determine whether a later action qualifies and how credit is assigned.

Compare each CTV report’s effective windows alongside its event definition, credit model, counting method and cut-off. A different window can change credited totals without changing customer behaviour; eligibility for credit does not show how long an ad’s effect lasts or whether it caused an action.

Find the setting behind the number

Record effective post-view and post-click durations separately, along with the event that starts each clock, the conversion event counted, attribution model, counting method, report time zone, event-date convention and treatment of repeated actions. Compare those fields side by side before reading totals.

Check the effective configuration for the relevant campaign, placement or tracker rather than assuming a platform default applies everywhere. A label is not a universal duration, and providers may define labels differently.

A longer window cannot recover an impression or action the matching system never recorded.

Campaign Manager 360 Help names “Floodlight conversion windows”, “How Floodlight counts conversions” and “About attribution tracking”. Check the relevant window, counting and tracking rules separately, and compare reports using their effective configurations.

Key CTV Attribution Configuration Settings

Check the credit and counting rules

Identify the attribution model used for each CTV report. Model names used in attribution guidance include last-touch, multi-touch and time-decay; if reports use different models, differences in credit cannot be attributed to windows alone.

A conversion can follow several ads, and different models can assign credit to different eligible interactions. Another channel can receive credit for the same event in a separate report.

Northbeam’s Clicks + Deterministic Views model assigns fractional conversion and revenue credit across channels. Click touchpoints receive their own share; impressions are grouped by ad platform and split within each pool regardless of ad type or funnel stage, with credit allocated proportionally by view count.

MNTN attributes conversions from a household following a Verified Visit using deterministic household-level matching. Northbeam’s model uses multi-touch fractional attribution across touchpoints, so the models’ credit rules differ as well as the windows reported for their setups.

Reports may use different event-counting methods, such as counting every event or limiting repeated events. A window comparison is incomplete if the event or counting method changed too.

Northbeam’s Accrual Performance dates revenue and transactional credit to the marketing touchpoint; Cash Snapshot dates them to the order. Keep the accounting mode and event-date convention consistent when comparing totals, because the date assigned to credit changes.

CTV Attribution Windows and Credit Rules Comparison

Compare like with like

Kochava describes 24 hours as a typical impression lookback for re-engagement trackers, adjustable for deterministic and probabilistic matches. Its guidance for OTT and CTV cross-screen conversions calls for appropriate partner and tracker configurations.

MNTN performance in Northbeam requires Clicks + Deterministic Views to be enabled and MNTN selected. The setup guidance calls for attribution and look-back windows of 30+ days; this is a different configuration context from Kochava’s typical 24-hour impression lookback, not a like-for-like post-view and post-click duration comparison.

Hold the event, eligible inventory, model, counting method and windows constant where possible. To isolate a window effect, compare reports with other fields matching and show each configured duration beside credited counts; flag other differences rather than attributing the whole change to the window.

If settings changed during the reporting period, check whether the change recalculates earlier events or applies only to new events. A report spanning such a change needs particular care.

For each post-view or post-click clock, an eligible impression or click is not mature until its full configured window has elapsed by the report cut-off. Compare cohorts only after that duration has elapsed; otherwise, the latest exposures have had less time to receive credit.

Describe the result as actions credited under the stated rules. Incremental sales require a suitable control or comparison.

How to Compare CTV Attribution Reports Accurately