An attribution window decides how long after an ad interaction Meta will still take credit for a conversion. Meta's standard setting for sales campaigns has long been 7-day click and 1-day view: a purchase counts if it happens within 7 days of clicking the ad, or within 1 day of seeing it without clicking.
Click-through, engage-through and view-through
| Type | What counts | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Click-through | A link click to your site, app or form, followed by a conversion | 7 days by default (1 day available) |
| Engage-through | A like, share, save, comment or other non-link interaction, or a video watched for at least 5 seconds, followed by a conversion | 1 day |
| View-through | An ad seen with no interaction, followed by a conversion | 1 day |
Meta announced this split in March 2026. Click-through now counts only link clicks, and what used to be engaged-view attribution was renamed engage-through and widened to cover social interactions. For campaigns optimising for website conversions, the default now typically reads 7-day click, 1-day engage-through and 1-day view. Rollout and options vary by account, so check the attribution setting in your ad set.
Why Meta's numbers differ from Shopify and Google Analytics
More sales in Ads Manager than in your store's reports doesn't necessarily mean something is broken. The tools answer different questions:
- View and engagement credit. Meta counts some sales after views or engagements with no click. Shopify and GA4 mainly attribute sales to visits and clicks.
- Cross-channel credit. GA4 and Shopify share credit across Google, email and organic. Meta only sees its own ads, so Meta and Google can both claim the same order.
- Modelled conversions. Where Meta can't observe a conversion directly, it may estimate some with statistical modelling.
- Timing. Tools can file the same order under different dates, such as the day of the ad interaction versus the day of purchase.
Tagging every ad with UTM parameters lets your analytics tools see Meta traffic on their own terms.
How to use attribution settings well
- Keep one setting across the campaigns you compare.
- Use the option in Ads Manager's reporting to compare attribution settings, for example 1-day click against 7-day click, to see how much credit depends on views and engagement.
- Judge the business on store revenue and MER as well as platform ROAS. The ROAS calculator works with either revenue figure.
- When a big budget decision depends on it, measure real impact with an incrementality test.
Frequently asked questions
What is the default attribution window on Meta?
For sales campaigns optimising for website conversions, Meta's default is 7-day click and 1-day view, and since Meta's March 2026 update it also includes a 1-day engage-through window for non-link interactions and video views. Check the attribution setting in your ad set, because options vary by account and campaign type.
What is the difference between click-through and view-through attribution?
Click-through credits a conversion that follows a link click on your ad within the window, usually 7 days. View-through credits a conversion within 1 day of someone seeing the ad without interacting with it. View-through conversions are harder to prove were caused by the ad, so it's worth reviewing them separately.
Why does Meta report more sales than Shopify?
Meta counts view-through and engage-through conversions, may model some conversions it can't observe, and doesn't share credit with other channels. Shopify and Google Analytics mainly credit clicks and visits across all channels. Both can be right, because they're answering different questions.
