Adobe Analytics

Leyla · 8/1/25

Hi everyone,

I'm reviewing our Marketing Channel expiration policy and working on a summary that outlines how it functions, specifically its impact on First-Touch and Last-Touch attribution. Could you please take a look at the summary below and let me know if it's accurate? Are there any updates or corrections you'd recommend?

Thanks in advance!

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Marketing Channel expiration policy determines how long a marketing channel remains eligible to receive Last Touch credit for conversions, after a user first interacts with it.

This is configured in the Marketing Channel Manager in the Report Suite settings.

Our policy is set to expire after 30 days

It does not affect Visit-based attribution for both, First- and Last-touch attribution, but does affect Conversion-based attribution for Last-touch attribution

First-touch attribution/Lifetime (with 30-day expiration)

This attribution never changes once it's set, unless the user is new (e.g., new cookie/device) for both Visit-based and Conversion-based First Touch attribution.
The 30-day expiration does not impact First Touch attribution.
1. Visit-based vs. Conversion-based attribution:
2. Visit-based: Tied to the visitor profile.
  1. All visits are attributed to the first known channel user came from regardless the number of Visits or regardless of the timeframe we are reporting on.
  2. Conversion-based: First-touch for conversions uses the same lifetime logic.
    1. The form submission is attributed to the first qualifying channel regardless the number of Visits or regardless of the timeframe we are reporting on.

Last-touch attribution (with 30-day expiration)

This attribution updates only when:
1. A new qualified marketing channel appears after the previous one has expired, or
2. Marketing Channel Processing Rules overwrite the priority of the channel
3. Visit-based vs. Conversion-based attribution:
  1. Visit-based:
    1. Last Touch for each visit is based on the channel that was watched during that specific visit.
    2. Marketing Channel Expiration does not apply here.
  2. Conversion-based:
    1. The Marketing Channel Expiration does apply here. Last Touch for each visit is based on the most recent qualifying channel within the expiration window.

Example: User visits:

Date	Channel	Notes
Day 1	Email	First Visit
Day 30	Organic Search	Return Visit
Day 35	Social Media	Return Visit
Day 35 (10 mins later)	Email	Return Visit + Conversion (event33)

First Touch Attribution:

Visit-based: All visits are attributed to Email, since it was the user’s first known channel.
- Email: 4 Visits total
Conversion-based: The form submission is attributed to Email, as it was the first qualifying channel.
- Email: 1 Form Submission

Last Touch Attribution:

Visit-based:

Visit #	Day	Channel	Last Touch (Visit-Level)
1	1	Email	Email
2	30	Organic Search	Email – based on our setup, higher rule overrides Organic Search with Email. Organic Search – otherwise if it was matched via rules).
3	35	Social Media	Social Media
4	35	Email	Email

Each visit is credited to the channel matched during that visit.
Marketing Channel Expiration does not apply here.
The Marketing Channel Processing Rules determine which channel gets assigned when more than one condition is met (based on rule order).
Visits distribution:
- Email gets credit for 3 visits (1, 2, and 4) due to Marketing Channel Processing Rules overrides
- Social Media gets 1 visit
- Organic Search is overwritten by Email
Even if the first touch or a previous visit fall outside the reporting window, the override logic still applies based on the channel conditions present during the visit(s) within the reporting timeframe.
- If we are reporting on Day 2–35, and a visit on Day 30 qualified for Email (which is higher in the rule order), then:
  - Email will get credit for that visit on Day 30, even if the user's first visit (Email) occurred before Day 2 and the Visit distribution will be:
    - Email gets credit for 2 visits
    - Social Media get credit for 1 Visit

Conversion-based:

Visit #	Day	Channel	Last Touch (Conversion-Level)
1	1	Email	Email (initial qualifying channel, expiration starts here)
2	30	Organic Search	Email – still within 30-day expiration window
3	35	Social Media	Social Media – Email expired after Day 30
4	35	Email	Email – most recent qualifying channel at time of conversion

Attribution is applied to the last eligible channel present at the time of the conversion, based on the expiration window and processing rule order.
Marketing Channel Expiration does apply here
The last valid channel within the 30-day window gets credit
If a new visit includes a new qualifying channel, it can override the previous one (Marketing Channel Processing rules order priority)
Conversion distribution: Email gets credit for 1 form submission

Jennifer_Dungan · 8/1/25

Hi,

I don't think your Last Touch logic is correct here... on either Visit or Conversion level...

In both cases, Visit 2 came from Organic Search, that will now become your "Last Touch" for the visit and for your conversions.... that was the "last" channel to drive traffic to your site... Email is your "First Touch"

I don't understand what you mean by "based on our setup, higher rule overrides Organic Search with Email"... there is no such setting in Adobe... it's either "this channel overrides the last set value" or "it doesn't override".. (as in Direct and Internal channels don't overwrite other channels.... but there is no hierarchy of overrides... there is only a hierarchy of checking rules to set the channel (the first match found is the value that is used).

Unless you have some custom logic and are saving values to the user's cookies or local storage so that you can force a value, which really doesn't make sense, as you would then be forcing your last touch to be the same as first touch....

Visit-based:

Visit #	Day	Channel	Last Touch (Visit-Level)
1	1	Email	Email
2	30	Organic Search	Organic Search
3	35	Social Media	Social Media
4	35	Email	Email

Conversion-based:

Visit #	Day	Channel	Last Touch (Conversion-Level)
1	1	Email	Email
2	30	Organic Search	Organic Search – This may still be within 30 days, but this is the newest source of data, it will overwrite email because it is the "last value" that was used
3	35	Social Media	Social Media - yes, this is outside the expiry period, but regardless, this would override the last touch value
4	35	Email	Email - this is in the same day, but like you said, this is the last touched value, and the pages and conversions after coming from the email will be set to email (not based on hierarchy, but because this is the last channel)

Note that in the "Day 35 (10 mins later) " scenario, the pages at the beginning of the visit will be associated to Social Media, when the user comes to the site from an email mid-journey, that page and everything after it will be associated to Email... the visit itself will show 2 channels: Social Media and Email, because there were two channels that were part of that visit.

Leyla · 8/1/25

Hi @Jennifer_Dungan , thanks for your reply.

Just to make sure I am following, the order of the Marketing Channel Processing Rules (where Email is listed as #2 and Organic Search as #5 in the priority 'waterfall') does not impact how traffic is allocated in the Last Touch Channel dimension.

In other words, as you mentioned, Visit 2 came from Organic Search, and that becomes the Last Touch Channel for that visit. So it would be:

Visit 1 = Email
Visit 2 = Organic Search

Is that right?

Thank you!

Jennifer_Dungan · 8/1/25

Hi,

The order of the Marketing Channel Processing Rules does impact the processing of the rules, but not in the way that you are thinking...

Basically, every hit is evaluated through these rules... this is one of the reasons why "Direct" and "Internal" rules have "First Hit of Visit" as part of the rule... because you if you didn't, the second page of your visit would kill the 30 day attribution of how the user came to the site...

The order of the rules do have an impact, so when you come to the site via some link (maybe it's an email, maybe it's a social network, maybe it's a search engine, etc)... the rules will process one at a time.. as soon as the first match is made on that page, that is the channel that is set, and the rest of the rules no longer process....

So if you come to the site via an email, the channel will run the "email rules", match, and be set...

But if the next visit is a Social Media link, the rules will process again... Adobe doesn't look at the last value set, it just runs the rules... this time the email rule will not trigger, because this hit doesn't match that criteria... it will keep checking rules until it finds a match, which in this case is Social Media.

Assuming your Channels are configured similar to this:

You can see that only "Direct" and "Internal" are set to "not override"

This is because if you have a specific channel like Social Media, and the next visit (despite being the first hit), the rule for "Direct" will not override Social Media, deferring to more specific channel within your 30 day time frame....

So an example:

Visit 1

Page A (coming Direct)
- Marketing Channel set to "Direct"
- Marketing Channel Instance is triggered; because the MC is explicitly set
Page B
- Marketing Channel persists value "Direct"
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set
Page C
- Marketing Channel persists value "Direct"
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set
Order (or any conversion)
- Marketing Channel persists value "Direct"
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set
Page D (Entry via Email)
- Marketing Channel set to "Email"
- Marketing Channel Instance is triggered; because the MC is explicitly set
Page E
- Marketing Channel persists value "Email"
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set
Order (second order in the same visit)
- Marketing Channel persists value "Email"
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set

Visit 2 (2 days later):

Page F (Direct)
- Marketing Channel persists value "Email" (since direct will not override a specific channel)
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set
Order
- Marketing Channel persists value "Email" (since direct will not override a specific channel)
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set

Visit 3 (another 5 days later):

Page F (Search)
- Marketing Channel set to "Search"
- Marketing Channel Instance is triggered; because the MC is explicitly set
Order
- Marketing Channel persists value "Search" (since direct will not override a specific channel)
- Marketing Channel Instance is NOT triggered. because the MC was persisted and not set

		Page Views	Visits	Orders	Marketing Channel Instances
Marketing Channels		7	3	4	3
	Email	3	2	2	1
	Search	1	1	1	1
	Direct	3	1	1	1

You will notice in my example, that Visit 2 has no Instance of the Marketing Channel, but the visit and the page views still are attributed to the last set channel.

Leyla · 8/1/25

Hi @Jennifer_Dungan ,

Thank you for clarification. Got it, makes sense. So, since "Direct" and "Internal" are set to “Do Not Override”, if a user returns via one of these channels, Adobe retains the last known qualifying channel within the expiration window.
However, if the user returns via a new qualifying channel (like Social, Paid Search, etc.), that new channel will override the previous one per the rule order.

Thank you!

Jennifer_Dungan · 8/1/25

Correct 🙂

You can control which rules override, but general rule of thumb is to just turn it off on Direct and Internal (which are done by default).

In theory, you could change Emails to "not override" and if anyone comes via an Email, it won't override other channels... I am not sure why anyone would want to do that, but it's possible...

Leyla · 8/1/25

Thanks, @Jennifer_Dungan ! Yes, even though that override option is available for other channels, need to be strategic about overriding any other channels.

Thank you!