A marketer will typically use multiple systems to manage different channels. For instance, they may use an SEM like Kenshoo or Marin to manage paid search, and they may use an Ad Server or DSP like Doubleclick, Sizmek or the Trade Desk to execute their display ads. Each may track conversions independently — and if channel managers are not coordinating, each channel manager is watching their own conversion tracking, and the total number of conversions end up far exceeding the true number of conversions because they are getting overcounted across systems.
In our example above, if a marketer using different systems for SEM and Display noticed 50 conversions the past day, and noticed that all 50 involved both one Paid Search and one Display event each — then if no one does conversion de-duplication, then the marketer may wrongly conclude that they received 100 conversions over the past day — 50 from paid search and 50 from display.
That’s why cross-channel leaders recognize the importance of conversion de-duplication. Conversion de-duplication consolidates and reconciles all conversion events, so that duplicated conversion events recognized by separate systems are unified. It is a necessary step for any reliable Customer Journey Analytics or Multi-touch Attribution analysis.
