Explainer: What a conversion path is and how platforms credit ads along it
· 23m ago · Originally reported by PPC Land
This is an educational glossary piece defining a conversion path: the ordered sequence of ad clicks, impressions and site visits that ad platforms stitch together for a single user before a purchase or sign-up. It explains how those touchpoints are used to assign credit to individual ads.
Why it matters
Understanding conversion paths helps advertisers grasp why different platforms claim credit for the same sale and how attribution models work.
Explain it like I’m new here
It's like tracking every clue a detective collects about one shopper's journey — the billboards they saw, the flyers they grabbed — before they finally buy something.
Terms in this story
Conversion
A conversion is a valuable action that an advertiser wants people to take after seeing or clicking an ad, such as a purchase, sign-up, app install, call or form submission.
Impression
An impression is one instance of an ad being served and counted as displayed to a user; it is the basic unit that most online advertising is bought and sold by.
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