Linear Attribution
Linear attribution is a multi-touch attribution model that gives every touchpoint in a customer journey equal credit for a conversion. If a buyer interacted with four channels before converting, each channel receives 25% of the credit. It exists to recognize that most conversions involve several touches, not the single first or last click that simpler models reward.
How Linear Attribution Works
Linear attribution splits 100% of the conversion credit evenly across every recorded touchpoint. The formula is simple: each touch gets 100% divided by the number of touches.
- 2 touchpoints: 50% each
- 4 touchpoints: 25% each
- 5 touchpoints: 20% each
The model treats a first-impression display ad and the final branded search as equally important. It does not weight by position, timing, or measured influence. This makes it the most transparent of the multi-touch attribution models, since anyone can reproduce the math by hand.
For revenue, the same even split applies. A $400 conversion across four touchpoints credits $100 to each.
Linear Attribution Example
Consider a customer who buys a $400 product after four interactions:
- Clicks a Google Ad (discovery)
- Reads an organic blog post two days later
- Opens a marketing email the next week
- Returns through a direct visit and converts
Under linear attribution, each touchpoint receives 25% of the credit and $100 of the revenue. Compare that to last-click attribution, which would give the direct visit 100% and the other three channels nothing. First-click would credit the Google Ad alone.
The linear view tells you the blog and email helped close the sale, even though neither was the final click. That changes how you value content and email in your budget.
When to Use Linear Attribution
Linear attribution suits teams that want a simple, defensible baseline without favoring any stage of the funnel. It works best in a few situations.
- Long, multi-touch journeys where many channels genuinely contribute, such as B2B or considered purchases.
- Nurture-heavy strategies where email, content, and retargeting do steady work that last-click ignores.
- Early attribution maturity, as a starting point before moving to data-driven or position-based models.
It is a poor fit when some touches clearly matter more than others. A throwaway impression should not earn the same credit as the demo request that drove the sale. For that, time-decay or position-based models fit better.
Linear vs Other Attribution Models
Linear differs from every other common model in one way: it refuses to pick a favorite touchpoint.
| Model | Credit split |
|---|---|
| First-click | 100% to the first touch |
| Last-click | 100% to the last touch |
| Linear | Equal share to every touch |
| Time decay | More credit to touches closer to conversion |
| Position-based (U-shaped) | 40% first, 40% last, 20% to the middle |
| Data-driven | Credit by each touch’s measured contribution |
The trade-off is honesty versus accuracy. Linear is honest that it cannot tell which touch worked hardest, so it credits all equally. That same neutrality is its weakness, because real touchpoints rarely contribute equally.
Platform Support for Linear Attribution
Linear attribution is no longer selectable in Google’s main tools. Google removed first-click, linear, time-decay, and position-based models from Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads in 2023, leaving only data-driven and last-click. Google stated that data-driven attribution had made the rule-based models redundant.
You can still apply linear attribution in marketing mix tools, CRMs, BI dashboards, and spreadsheets where you control the logic. Accurate splits depend on clean touchpoint data, which starts with consistent UTM tags on every campaign link so each channel is recorded correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is linear attribution in simple terms?
Linear attribution gives every touchpoint in a customer journey an equal share of the conversion credit. If there are five touches, each gets 20%. It assumes all interactions contributed equally to the sale, which keeps the math simple and easy to explain.
What is an example of linear attribution?
If a customer clicks a Google Ad, reads a blog, opens an email, then converts on a direct visit, linear attribution credits each of the four touchpoints 25%. A $400 sale would assign $100 to each channel. No single touch is favored over the others.
Is linear attribution a single-touch or multi-touch model?
Linear attribution is a multi-touch model. Single-touch models like first-click and last-click assign 100% of the credit to one interaction. Linear instead spreads credit across every touch in the path, which is the defining feature of multi-touch attribution.
Does GA4 still support linear attribution?
No, GA4 removed linear, first-click, time-decay, and position-based attribution in 2023. Only data-driven and last-click (cross-channel) models remain selectable. You can still calculate linear attribution manually or in tools outside Google’s ecosystem.
To choose the right model for your funnel, read linkutm’s campaign attribution guide, which walks through all six models and their trade-offs.