What a view-through conversion is

Most people understand a click-through conversion: someone clicks your ad, lands on your site and buys. A view-through conversion is looser. The person saw your ad, did not click it, and later bought. If the purchase falls inside the platform's view-through window, the ad gets credit.

Google defines it plainly in its conversion measurement guide: view-through conversions measure instances where a customer saw your ad but did not click it. Meta, TikTok and most display and video networks report something similar, sometimes under the name impression-based or view-based attribution.

How little it takes to count as a view

The industry standard for a viewable ad comes from the Media Rating Council, an industry body that sets measurement rules. Its viewable impression guideline counts a display ad as viewable when at least 50% of its pixels are on screen for at least one continuous second. For video, it requires 2 continuous seconds of play.

One second is not much. Think of scrolling a news feed with your thumb. You pass dozens of ads that meet that bar without noticing any of them. If one of those advertisers is a store you were already planning to visit, a view-through conversion is born.

Conversions one display campaign reports as the view-through window grows
  • Clicks only40
  • Clicks + 1-day views52
  • Clicks + 7-day views68
  • Clicks + 30-day views85

This is a worked example with made-up numbers: the campaign and real orders stay the same, but the reported total more than doubles as the view window lengthens.

Source: Worked example

Why view-through credit inflates results

View-through attribution counts timing, not influence. The platform knows two facts: your ad appeared on a screen, and later that person bought. It cannot know whether the person noticed the ad, remembered it, or bought for a completely different reason, like a friend's tip or a coupon email. It simply assumes the ad helped. Several things push the numbers up:

  • Retargeting ads are shown to people who already visited your site. Many of them were going to come back and buy, ad or no ad.
  • Popular platforms reach huge shares of your customers. Almost any buyer may have scrolled past one of your ads recently.
  • The same sale can be claimed by several platforms, one for a click and another for a view. Our guide to why ad platforms claim more sales than you made covers that overlap.
  • Longer windows catch more purchases. A 1-day view window and a 7-day view window can tell very different stories about the same campaign.

How the main platforms handle it

Platforms treat view-through credit differently, so check your settings before comparing reports:

Using view-through numbers sensibly

View-through conversions aren't worthless. Video and display ads can build familiarity that pays off later, and click-only reporting would ignore that entirely. The goal is to keep the credit in its own box until you have evidence for it.

Matrix ROI, created by Smith App Studio, puts each platform's claimed conversions next to the payments your own records verify, so a growing gap from view-based credit shows up quickly. You can learn more on the home page.

  • Report click-based and view-based conversions in separate columns. Never let them blend into one ROAS figure without a label.
  • Use the same view window when you compare platforms. A 1-day view on one and a 7-day view on another is not a fair fight.
  • Watch your total sales. If view-through conversions rise but real orders stay flat, the credit is being reshuffled, not earned.
  • Test it. Hold back a region or audience from your video or display ads and see whether sales drop. Our incrementality testing guide shows how.