Click vs View-Through Window Asymmetry
A conversion action's click-through and view-through windows are set in a relative configuration that does not follow the typical pattern. View-through windows are normally shorter than click-through windows because view-through evidence is weaker, but some actions in this account configure them inverted or near-identical, which produces inconsistent attribution treatment.
Why It Matters
A view-through is a less reliable causal signal than a click. The user saw the ad but did not engage. So Google's recommended practice is to use shorter view-through windows than click-through windows (e.g. 1-day view-through, 30-day click-through). When an account inverts this. Say, 30-day view-through with 7-day click-through. The view-through signal can dominate the click-through signal in attribution reports, which inverts the relative weighting of impression-vs-click evidence in ways that are usually unintentional.
How To Fix It
- AdLint's details list each action with asymmetric windows and the recommended adjustment.
- Open each action in Tools & Settings → Measurement → Conversions and review the window pair.
- Standardise: VTC window ≤ click-through window, typically by a factor of 4-30×.
- Document the chosen pair in team measurement materials.
Example
Action: Purchase
Click-through window: 7 days
View-through window: 30 days (inverted relationship. VTC dominates click attribution)
Fix: VTC = 1 or 7 days; click-through = 30+ days.Google Ads conversion actions with click-through and view-through window pairs configured in inverted or near-identical relationships. Google's attribution documentation, view-through windows should typically be shorter than click-through windows because view-through evidence is causally weaker. Inverted pairs produce attribution reports where view-through signal dominates click-through signal in unintended ways. Fix: standardise so VTC ≤ click-through window by a factor of 4-30×. Source: support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2998563.
Drop this paragraph into your client deliverable. Sources back to the canonical platform documentation linked below.
References
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