A view-through conversion is credited to an ad when a user saw the ad — without clicking — and then converted later through a different path: organic search, direct, email. Click-through conversions credit the ad they clicked; view-through credits the ad they merely saw.
Why platforms show it
Display + video ads rarely earn clicks but plausibly influence brand awareness. View-through is the platform's way of crediting that influence. The lookback window for view-through is shorter than for click — typically 1 day on Meta, 1-7 days on Google Ads — but it still inflates reported performance.
Why operators discount it
- Not actionable — you can't tell if the view caused the conversion or merely co-existed with it
- Inflates ROAS reported by display + video campaigns relative to search where clicks are real intent
- Heavily impacted by frequency — if a user saw 12 ads in a week, view-through credits one of them somewhat arbitrarily
Operator note
Most rigorous operators report click-only ROAS as their primary number and treat view-through as supplementary. If you must include view-through, discount it heavily — many large advertisers count view-through at 10-30% of click-through value when blending channels.