Google is shrinking AdWords’ view-through conversion window default

Google announced Monday that as of March 29, 2017, the AdWords default view-through conversion window will shrink from 30 days to one day.

View-through conversions are counted when a user converts after a display or video ad impression is viewable but not clicked on. The change means only conversions that occur within one day of an ad impression will be reported in AdWords as view-through conversions (VTCs).

The update will be applied to new conversion actions, as well as existing ones currently set to the default conversion window.

View-through conversions are not included in the Conversions column in AdWords, and this change will only affect VTC column reporting. The last viewable display or video ad impression gets credit for the VTC only when a user has not interacted with an advertiser’s other ads.

Shrinking the default attribution window for view-through conversions to just one day will likely make sense for most advertisers. As Ben Wainberg, manager of display marketing at Jet.com, tells Google, “We’ve found ad views are more likely to lead to a purchase within one day, when our message is fresh in customers’ minds.” Advertisers will still be able customize the window setting for each conversion action from Conversions under the Tools tab.

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About The Author

Ginny Marvin

Ginny Marvin was Third Door Media’s former Editor-in-Chief (October 2018 to December 2020), running the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.