Position-Based Attribution
AnalyticsAlso: U-Shaped Attribution · Position-Based Model · Bathtub Attribution
Quick definition
Position-based attribution, also called U-shaped attribution, assigns the most credit to the first and last touchpoints in a customer journey, with the remainder shared equally across any touchpoints in between. It reflects a belief that discovery and conversion are the most important moments, but that the middle steps still count.
A customer touches all four, then converts.
Credit distributed
Position-based credits the first and last touches most. Good for businesses where the intro and the close both matter.
How it varies across Australia
Position-based attribution is more commonly used by Australian B2B and considered-purchase businesses than by ecommerce. The model suits longer sales cycles where both the channel that opened the door and the channel that closed the deal are genuinely important to understand.
See data and tracking scores across Australian industries →What it actually means
Most attribution models make a bet on which part of the customer journey matters most. Last-click bets on the close. First-click bets on discovery. Linear refuses to bet at all. Position-based attribution bets on both ends at once, which is why it gets called U-shaped: the credit curve dips in the middle and rises at the two ends.
The most common version assigns 40% of credit to the first touch, 40% to the last touch, and splits the remaining 20% evenly across every touchpoint in between. If a customer found you through organic search, saw a retargeting ad, opened an email, and then converted after clicking a branded search ad, the organic search and the branded search ad each get 40%. The retargeting ad and the email split the remaining 20%.
The logic is honest about something most models hide: the introduction matters, the closing touch matters, and the middle is valuable but harder to isolate. Compared to linear attribution, position-based acknowledges that not every channel plays the same role. Compared to last-click attribution or first-click attribution, it refuses to erase the rest of the journey entirely.
For businesses with a real acquisition funnel, where a prospecting channel brings people in and a direct or branded channel brings them back to convert, position-based often produces the most defensible channel budget decisions. It won't replace incrementality testing, but it gives a more useful signal than the two extremes.
Position-based attribution is a compromise between the extremes. It just happens to be a principled one.
How it shows up
Position-based attribution shows up in CRM-connected analytics tools and ad platforms that offer multi-touch attribution models. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) removed it as a built-in option, which pushed many teams toward data-driven attribution or toward third-party tools.
You will see position-based attribution most clearly when comparing channel reports side by side against last-click. Channels that only show up at the start of journeys (prospecting social, display, organic content) gain credit. Channels that only close deals (branded search, direct) lose some credit relative to last-click. The difference shows where last-click has been quietly undervaluing your acquisition channels.
The Australian context
Australian B2B and financial services businesses, where a customer might research for weeks before converting, have historically used position-based attribution to make the case for brand and upper-funnel investment. The challenge is that GA4 no longer offers it natively, which means Australian teams need either a third-party attribution tool or a manual calculation in a spreadsheet or data warehouse to use it consistently.
For Australian ecommerce where journeys are shorter, the practical difference between position-based and last-click is often small enough that the complexity is not worth the effort.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
What is the difference between position-based and U-shaped attribution?
They are the same model. U-shaped is the informal name, derived from the shape of the credit curve: high at the first touch, lower in the middle, high again at the last touch. Position-based is the more formal name used in analytics tools and reporting.
Is position-based attribution available in GA4?
Google Analytics 4 removed position-based as a built-in option when it replaced Universal Analytics. GA4 defaults to data-driven attribution for most properties. To use position-based, you need a third-party attribution tool or a manual calculation in a data warehouse or spreadsheet.
When should I use position-based attribution over last-click?
Use position-based when you know customers go through a genuine discovery phase before converting, and you want to credit the channel that first introduced them as well as the channel that closed them. Last-click is simpler but will systematically undervalue any channel that primarily serves the top of the funnel.
Why does it matter which attribution model I use?
Attribution models directly affect which channels you fund and which you cut. Last-click will show prospecting channels as inefficient. First-click will show closing channels as underperforming. Position-based tries to credit both. The model you use shapes the budget decisions that follow.
Keep exploring
About New Rebellion
New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
How we think →