Paid ads attribution
last-click vs multi-touch vs company-level attribution
The short answer
Last-click attribution gives all the credit to the final click. Multi-touch spreads credit across the touchpoints it can see. Both still depend on tracking known, mostly form-filling visitors, so both miss the anonymous majority of B2B buyers. Company-level attribution adds the missing piece: the companies that visited but never identified themselves through a form.
The shared blind spot
Last-click is simple and wrong for B2B, because it ignores everything that built the demand before the final touch. Multi-touch is fairer, because it shares credit across stages, but it can only share credit among the touches it actually records.
That is the shared blind spot. Both models work from identified activity, and in B2B most activity is anonymous. So both are dividing up a small, biased sample and calling it the whole.
Company-level attribution does not compete with them. It widens the input. By identifying the companies behind anonymous visits, it gives multi-touch more real touches to work with, and it stops last-click from handing everything to the final channel. We define it fully in company-level attribution explained.
How the three compare
| Last-click / Multi-touch | Company-level |
|---|---|
| Last-click credits: the final click | The company and its pipeline |
| Multi-touch credits: several touchpoints | The company and its pipeline |
| Sees anonymous visits: no | Yes, where identifiable |
| Best used: simple or known multi-step journeys | Filling the anonymous blind spot |
The honest catch
No model is complete. Company-level attribution is the input the other two are missing, not a replacement for them. See where it sits in the full attribution guide.
Frequently asked questions
Last-click credits only the final click. Multi-touch spreads credit across recorded touchpoints. Both rely on identified, mostly form-filling activity.
Give your existing models the anonymous companies they can't see, so credit lands where it's earned.
What is company-level attribution?