Glossary · Attribuer

Linear attribution

Linear attribution is the model that splits the credit for a sale equally between every known touchpoint in the journey. A purchase preceded by four clicks therefore credits four placements with a quarter of the amount each.

Relier une vente à ce qui l’a produite — et refuser d’inventer quand le fil manque. The forty terms of the trade

What it is for

It is the model for long journeys, where no single touchpoint is enough to explain the sale. It avoids both caricatures: everything to discovery, or everything to the close. In exchange, it never names anyone responsible — which is honest, and uncomfortable.

How it is calculated

You divide the amount by the number of touchpoints before the sale. The same placement clicked twice counts twice: someone who comes back really was touched twice. The split is done in cents, and the remainder goes to the first shares — otherwise a three-row report would show €0.99 under a total of €1.00.

The classic mistake

Comparing linear revenue with first-click revenue in the same table. The two columns do not measure the same thing, and the gap between them is not a lesson: it is the definition of the two models.

Attribution model

Four touchpoints, four shares

25%

Story

The first known touchpoint. Six weeks before the purchase.

25%

Newsletter

The second. The person subscribed in between.

25%

Article

The third. A search about the product.

25%

The last. The purchase follows within the hour.

What exactly a touchpoint is, and when it counts

What Subtraq does with it

Subtraq calculates it from recorded touchpoints, never from a reconstructed journey. When a person has no known touchpoint, the model falls back on what is written rather than guessing the rest.