---
title: "What is last click attribution? | Product Metrics"
description: "Last click attribution gives all credit for a conversion to the last click before it. See an example, how Google Ads treats it and why product ROAS can mislead."
canonical: "https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/last-click-attribution"
pageType: article
language: en
publisher: "Product Metrics"
author: "Berend Vrakking"
datePublished: 2026-10-07
dateModified: 2026-10-07
---

> Content index: https://www.productmetrics.io/llms.txt

# Last click attribution

Last click attribution gives all the credit for a conversion to the last click before it, and none to the clicks that came earlier.

## Example

One order, two ad clicks:

| Ad click | Product advertised | Credit for the €85.00 order |
| --- | --- | --- |
| First click, Monday | Winter Boot | €0.00 |
| Last click, Wednesday (order placed) | Everyday Sock | €85.00 |

Under last click, the Everyday Sock click takes the whole €85.00, and the Winter Boot click that started the journey on Monday gets nothing. Illustrative data.

## For one product, and for an account

In Shopping, a product whose ad starts a journey but does not get the last click receives no credit for the order. Its own ROAS can look weak even when shoppers who enter through it go on to buy other products.

Product Metrics is not an attribution tool and does not change how Google Ads gives credit. Product Journeys looks at what sessions that start on one product go on to buy, as direct and cross-sell revenue, from your own GA4 data.

## Common mistake

Lowering priority on a product because its last-click ROAS looks weak, when its ad may be starting the journeys that other clicks finish.

## Questions

### What is the difference between last click and first click attribution?

They sit at opposite ends of the journey: last click gives all the credit for a conversion to the final click, first click gives all of it to the first. In Google Ads the question is now academic. Google Ads Help says the first click, linear, time decay and position-based models are no longer supported, so only last click and data-driven remain.

### What is the difference between data-driven attribution and last click attribution?

The Last click model gives all credit for the conversion to the last-clicked ad and its keyword. Data-driven attribution shares credit based on how people engage with your ads before they become customers, so earlier ad interactions can receive some of it.

### Does Google Ads still use last click attribution?

Yes, as an option. Data-driven is the default attribution model for most conversion actions, and you can switch any conversion action to the Last click model.

## Sources

- [Google Ads Help: About attribution models](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6259715)
- [Google Ads Help: About data-driven attribution](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6394265)

## Keep reading

- [Data-driven attribution](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/data-driven-attribution): The other model Google Ads supports, and the default for most conversion actions.
- [ROAS](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/roas): The return figure that attribution decides each ad click is credited with.
- [Product Journeys](https://www.productmetrics.io/product-journeys): See what sessions that start on one product go on to buy.
- [Full Signal Tracking](https://www.productmetrics.io/server-side-tracking): Send every purchase to Google Ads from an endpoint on your own domain.
- [Incrementality](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/incrementality): Credit is not the same as cause.
- [Incrementality testing for Google Shopping](https://www.productmetrics.io/blog/incrementality-testing): Attribution says which ad was credited; a test shows what the ads added.

---

Written by Berend Vrakking, founder of Product Metrics. Last updated 2026-10-07.

HTML version: https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/last-click-attribution