A view-through conversion is a purchase or other result that Meta credits to your ad because the person saw it, without clicking. In Meta's standard attribution, the view-through setting counts events within 1 day after an impression of your ad. Treat it as a hint that the ad was seen, not as proof the ad caused the sale.
TL;DR
- A view-through conversion is credited after an impression, with no click.
- Meta's view-through window is 1 day after the impression.
- Click-through windows are 1 day or 7 days after a link click, so the two are counted on different clocks.
- A person who saw an ad and then bought for another reason can still be counted.
- Read view-through next to click-through results and your store orders, never alone.
- When you report it to a client, label it as view-through and show it apart from clicks.
What does Meta count as a view-through conversion?
Meta lets you choose attribution settings at the ad set level. Each setting answers the same question, "which actions can get credit for a conversion?", with a different trigger and time period.
| Setting | What starts the clock | Window Meta counts |
|---|---|---|
| Click-through | A link click on the ad | 1 day or 7 days |
| Engage-through | A non-link click action, such as a reaction or comment | 1 day |
| View-through | An impression of the ad | 1 day |
For video ads, engage-through also counts a video played for 5 seconds, or for 97% of the video if it is shorter than 5 seconds. A view-through conversion needs none of that. The person only has to have been shown the ad.
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Try for Free ($0 Trial)How does it differ from a click-through conversion?
The trigger is the difference. A click-through conversion starts with a deliberate action: someone clicked your link and then bought within the window. A view-through conversion starts with exposure alone, so the person may have scrolled past the ad in a second.
Take a made-up store that runs one ad set for a week. Meta reports 100 purchases. Suppose 60 followed a link click, 10 followed another interaction and 30 followed an impression only. The 30 are the view-through group. They are real orders, but the ad's part in them is the least certain of the three groups.
Is a view-through conversion a signal or noise?
It is a signal that your ad reached buyers, and a weak one about cause. Three things can sit behind a view-through order:
- The ad worked quietly. The person saw it, remembered the brand and searched for it later.
- The ad was one of several touches. An email, a friend or an organic post did the real persuading.
- The person was already going to buy. Retargeting ads reach people who have visited your store, so they often show high view-through counts.
You cannot tell these apart from the number alone. That is why the number matters most as a comparison, not as a total: does the view-through share rise and fall with spend, or sit flat whatever you do?
How do you compare windows and settings in Ads Manager?
Meta warns that results cannot be compared in the Campaign Overview table across ad sets with different attribution models. To compare settings accurately, it points you to its Compare Attribution Settings feature.
- Keep one setting per comparison. Do not set one ad set to click-only and another to click plus view, then rank them.
- Use Compare Attribution Settings to see the same results under different settings.
- Check the gap. If click-only shows far fewer purchases than click plus view, much of your reported result is impression-based.
- Check against your store. Compare the Meta total with your store's orders for the same dates. Our answer on why Ads Manager results differ from revenue shows how.
What practical rules should you follow?
- Judge campaigns by one agreed setting and say which one in every report.
- Give view-through less weight than click-through when you choose what to scale.
- Be most careful with retargeting, where the audience already knows you.
- Do not change the setting mid-test, or the before and after numbers stop matching.
- When view-through is a large share, look for a second source such as your store's orders or a post-purchase survey.
Our answer on what ad attribution is covers how credit is assigned in general, and the glossary entry for the attribution window defines the time period.
How do you report it to a client?
Put view-through on its own line instead of blending it into one result. A simple layout:
| Line | What to show | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Click-through purchases | Count and revenue | The part most directly linked to the ad |
| View-through purchases | Count and revenue | Shown apart so the client can discount it |
| Store orders | Count for the same dates | The check that neither group is inflated |
Add one sentence on the setting used. A client who sees the split can ask good questions, and a client who sees one blended number may feel misled later.
What can you do about the conversions Meta cannot see?
Meta can only credit conversions it can match to a person who saw or clicked an ad. If conversion events never reach Meta, they cannot be credited either way. Sending events from your server helps Meta see more of them. Our glossary entry on the Conversions API Gateway explains how that route works.
Where Madgicx fits
Madgicx Cloud Tracking hosts Meta's Conversions API Gateway for you and sends conversions to Meta from the server, so Meta can see and attribute more of them. It does not change how Meta counts a view-through conversion. It gives that count better data to work from, and you still check it against your store.
FAQ
How long is Meta's view-through window?
It is 1 day after an impression of your ad. Click-through can be 1 day or 7 days after a link click.
Does a view-through conversion mean the ad caused the sale?
No. It means the person saw the ad and converted within the window, which includes people who would have bought anyway.
Should I turn view-through off?
Not by default. Compare click-only and click plus view for your account first, then keep the setting you can explain to your team.
Can I see view-through conversions in Ads Manager?
Yes, through the attribution setting you choose for each ad set and the Compare Attribution Settings feature. Results from ad sets with different models should not be set side by side.
Is view-through the same as engage-through?
No. Engage-through starts with a non-link click action such as a reaction, and view-through starts with an impression alone.
Related
- Answers: What ad attribution is and how Meta uses it
- Answers: Why Ads Manager results differ from revenue
- Answers: How to optimize Facebook ads for conversions
- Glossary: Attribution window
Go deeper
Our post with examples of conversion ads shows how conversion-focused campaigns are built and read.
Sources
- About attribution models and attribution settings, Meta Business Help Center
