Myth: Native attribution proves native drove the sale.

Myth: Native attribution proves native drove the sale.

No. Last-click and even data-driven attribution credit native for conversions it merely touched. Run a real geo holdout or PSA test and native's measured incrementality routinely lands far below its attributed conversions — sometimes a fraction.

Why? Native excels at cheap, broad reach, so it catches people already heading to convert and stamps its cookie on the way. Attribution rewards proximity to the sale, not causation of it.

The only honest native metric is incremental lift from a controlled holdout. If you've never run one, you don't know your native ROAS — you know your native attribution, which is a different and more flattering number.