Meta announced some changes to its ad attribution metrics designed to ensure a more accurate comparison between Meta ad performance and data from other sources. The company is also updating its definition of what “engaged” means in terms of video ad data.
First, Meta informed advertisers that it’s simplifying its link clicks metric in order to more accurately represent the common understanding of what this means.
As explained by Meta in a Feb. 3 post: “Historically, when it comes to click-based attribution, Meta, like other social platforms, has attributed to all different types of clicks (share, save, like, link click, etc.). Many third-party platforms, on the other hand, primarily attribute only to website link clicks. This difference in what is attributed as a ‘click’ conversion can lead to inconsistency between what an advertiser sees in Meta Ads Manager compared to a third-party reporting tools.”
In other words, Meta’s more liberal reporting of link clicks has inflated its click metrics in comparison to other platforms. For example, if a Meta user taps “like” on an ad, up until now, that would show up in link attribution in the same way as a user who tapped through to a website.
The confusion between what Meta’s link clicks represent has clearly been a point of frustration for advertisers. Now, the company’s metric is going to only show actual link clicks.
Meta said this will ensure that its link click metrics are more in line with other platforms. In particular, this will help Meta align with Google Analytics, and the move will provide a more accurate match between some of the more common data sources.
It’s a good update, which will ensure greater consistency in ad performance metrics, as well as ensure that marketers are able to get a better understanding of comparative performance across platforms.
Meta said the changes to link click attribution will be rolling out later this month for campaigns optimizing for website or in-store conversions.
Meta will also continue to provide expanded ad engagement metrics in its “Engaged View” category, which is also getting a naming update.“[W]e are shifting conversions that came from a share, save, or other non-link click actions to be included in engaged-view attribution,” Meta said. “We strongly encourage advertisers to leverage engaged-view attribution, as we believe it is the best way to understand the full impact of these high-value social interactions. As part of our efforts to shift new conversions into this category, we are also renaming engaged-view attribution, and going forward, it will be known as engage-through attribution.”
Finally, Meta is updating the definition for an engaged view for a video ad from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.
Meta said that people are converting faster when viewing Reels, with 46% of online purchase conversions with Reels happening within the first 2 seconds of attention on video ads.
Meta said that shortening the window on this metric will provide a more accurate indicator of an engaged view, which will ultimately help improve advertiser performance.
These interesting changes to Meta’s ad metrics could significantly impact ad results and measurement.
