View-Through Conversion
MetricsDefinition
A view-through conversion occurs when a user sees your ad but does not click it, and then later converts on your website within a defined window. It measures the influence of ad visibility even without direct interaction.
View-through conversions are controversial because they attribute value to impressions that may not have influenced the conversion. A user might have seen a banner passively and converted via a separate brand search. Platforms incentivize counting them because it makes performance look better.
Despite skepticism, view-through data has legitimate uses. For display and video campaigns focused on awareness, it provides signal about which creatives and placements drive downstream activity. Treat it as directional, not definitive.
Set view-through windows in your ad platform (Google Ads default: 1 day; Meta default: 1 day). The platform tracks which users saw your ad and whether they converted within that window. Include or exclude them from primary reporting.
View-through conversions help measure the impact of awareness campaigns. Used carefully with short windows, they provide useful signal without inflating metrics.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Report them separately. Use 1-day windows to reduce false attribution. Never combine them with click conversions when calculating CPA or ROAS.
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One day is the industry standard. Longer windows (7-30 days) inflate numbers and are harder to defend as actual ad influence.
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By default, Google Ads includes them in Smart Bidding if set as primary conversions. Be intentional about whether you want optimization toward impression-based conversions.
Confused about conversion attribution?
We set up clear reporting that separates click-through and view-through conversions for accurate analysis.