Measurement & testing
Attribution window
Also known as: attribution period · conversion window
The period after an email send during which subsequent conversions are credited to that send — typical windows are 24-72 hours for email, 30 days for display ads. Shorter windows under-credit the channel; longer windows over-credit.
Attribution window is the time window after a touchpoint (email send, ad impression, click) during which subsequent conversions are credited to that touchpoint. For email, common windows: 24 hours (strict — only conversions within a day), 72 hours (industry standard), 7 days (generous, captures delayed purchases), 30 days (too generous for most email contexts). Longer windows inflate email's apparent contribution because the subsequent conversion might have happened for any reason. Shorter windows under-represent email's role in consideration-phase journeys. Attribution windows interact with multi-touch attribution models: last-touch with a 24-hour window tells a different story than position-weighted with a 7-day window. The honest answer: pick a window, document it, apply consistently across reports. The wrong answer: change windows to make a channel look better after the fact.