Credit Is Not Causality
Explain why an attribution report can assign conversion credit without proving incremental lift.
The teach: Treat attribution and incrementality as different measurement jobs. Attribution models assign credit across observed touchpoints. Last-click, first-click, linear, position-based, and data-driven models each encode a story about the path. Those stories can help you compare channels, spot journey friction, and keep reporting consistent. They do not automatically prove that a channel created the sale. The danger shows up when a credit report becomes a budget mandate. Late-stage channels often look efficient because they catch buyers who were already warm. Early-stage channels often look weak because their effect appears later, through other touchpoints. Good attribution practice is to say…
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