📦 How Meta attribution changed (2021–2026)

Why you can't see the full picture the way you used to.

Meta's attribution model has been reshaped three times in five years. Each change shrinks the window through which Meta credits your campaigns.

The three big shifts

2021 — iOS 14.5 ATT

Apple's App Tracking Transparency let iOS users opt out of cross-app tracking with one tap. Meta lost a chunk of click-through visibility on iOS overnight. Default attribution shrank from 28-day click + 7-day view to 7-day click + 1-day view.

Jan 12, 2026 — View windows removed

Meta deprecated 7-day view and 28-day view from both Ads Manager and the Ads Insights API. Reported conversions dropped 10–25% for most accounts on the day of the change.

March 2026 — Engage-through introduced

Meta redefined "click". Social interactions (likes, saves) moved out of the click bucket into a new engage-through (1-day, fixed) category. The new default is 7-day click + 1-day engage-through + 1-day view.

What this means for your business

• Reported conversions are smaller than before — not because your ads underperform, but because Meta credits fewer of the journeys.
• B2B and high-ticket merchants are hit hardest. Long sales cycles fall outside 7-day click. Expect 20–40% of attributed conversions to disappear from view.
• Optimization still works — Meta's algorithm uses the same signals internally; only the reporting changed.

Updated on: 03/06/2026