Ad attribution in 2026 is less accurate than it was in 2020. iOS 14, cookie deprecation, and privacy regulation broke the old model. Advertisers who didn't adapt are operating blind. Those who did have new tools and frameworks.
App Tracking Transparency gave users a choice to opt out of tracking. Most chose opt out. Pixel data from iOS users became incomplete.
Chrome finally deprecated third-party cookies in 2024-2025. Cross-site tracking that powered retargeting died.
GDPR, CCPA, and successor laws make tracking more restricted and disclosure-heavy.
Always ahead of Chrome on privacy. Strict third-party cookie blocking for years.
Send events server-to-server instead of relying on pixel. Meta CAPI, Google Enhanced Conversions.
Build and use your own data (email lists, CRM, user behavior on your site) rather than third-party tracking.
MER, ROAS overall, not per-channel. Accept that platform-specific numbers are directional.
Holdout tests, turn a channel off and measure revenue change. Truer than platform reports.
Statistical modeling of total spend vs total revenue. Doesn't need user-level tracking.