While brand awareness is nice, the "last click" before a purchase is the best way to track what's actually making money.
Insight Media Stream, a digital advertising company that works with brands focused on sales, is pushing back against a common industry practice. In a new analysis called "DTC Math is Broken: Why Last Click is Underrated and View-Through Pixels Are Overhyped," the company argues that many online ads look more successful than they really are.
Here's the problem: Many ad platforms give credit to an ad just because someone saw it, even if they didn't click. That often makes advertising look way more effective than it truly is. Insight Media Stream says this leads brands to celebrate a 4x return on ad spend, but their sales data shows they're actually only getting a 1.5x.
Key takeaways in simple terms:
- A click means someone actually took action. Unlike an ad that just floats across your screen, a click costs real effort. For brands that need to watch every dollar, it's the most honest measurement.
- View-based credit often claims "ghost sales." Most people who see an ad and buy later would have bought anyway — through a Google search, an email, or word of mouth. Ad platforms can make their numbers look 40-60% better than reality by taking all the credit.
- Use a mix but trust your sales data first. For internal reporting, stick with the last click or your own sales dashboard. Save view-based data only for campaigns aimed at getting attention, not immediate sales.
- The "5% rule." If an ad platform says more than 15% of sales came from people who just saw an ad (but didn't click) within one day, something is probably wrong. Healthy view-based sales should be between 5% and 15%.
Bottom line: "Respect the click. It's the hardest dollar to earn," says Marc Morris, the author of the analysis. "Don't let a pixel take credit for a sale the customer was going to make anyway."
For brands selling directly to customers, the advice is simple: base your internal reports on actual money coming in — not on inflated ad platform numbers.
The full analysis is available on Marc Morris's LinkedIn page.
About Insight Media Stream: Insight Media Stream helps performance-focused brands run digital ads without getting fooled by misleading metrics. They specialize in honest tracking and efficient customer acquisition.