The channel that looked worthless until we changed the lens

The channel that looked worthless until we changed the lens

A DTC brand was about to cut its entire YouTube budget. Under last-click attribution, the channel drove 3% of revenue. The clue was that paid search, which got the credit, kept growing in lockstep with video spend.

Last-click hands all credit to the final touch, so awareness channels always look broke. We rebuilt the same period under a data-driven model that spread credit across the path.

YouTube's credited revenue moved from 3% to 17%, and branded search volume (the real tell) was up 22% in the same window.

The budget stayed.

Last-click is fine for closing channels and a trap for discovery channels. Before you kill a line item, ask which model is judging it. The channel didn't change, only the scorecard did.