Meta attribution settings: what 7-day click and 1-day view count

7-day click, 1-day view means Meta credits your ad with a conversion that happens within 7 days of someone clicking a link in the ad, or within 1 day of seeing it. Meta's default also adds 1-day engagement. You set this per ad set, and it applies only to the standard attribution model. It changes what Ads Manager reports, and what the delivery system learns from, so two ad sets with different settings aren't counting the same thing.

What does 7-day click, 1-day view mean?

It is a pair of time limits. Meta's About attribution models and attribution settings defines each:

An engagement is any click that isn't a link click. For video it includes "when a video is played for 5 seconds, or for 97% of the video if the video length is less than 5 seconds". The default, from Meta's Results page: "Meta uses a default attribution setting of 7-day click, 1-day view and 1-day engagement conversion."

Here is what that means for one customer on a default ad set:

This applies to actions off the ad, like a purchase on your website. Link clicks, video views and reactions happen on the ad itself and have their own columns, so the window doesn't touch them.

Does the attribution setting change delivery?

Yes. Meta says its attribution models "inform ad delivery and determine how conversions can be credited to your ads", and that standard attribution "optimizes delivery for selected time windows and user behaviors". Its Optimization events metric counts outcomes "based on your chosen attribution setting". That count is also what the learning phase waits for.

So a shorter window can have two effects: fewer conversions reported, and fewer counted toward learning. An ad set on 1-day click needs people to buy quickly to reach the volume that goal-based bidding works best with, "at least 50-100 weekly conversions".

Which attribution setting should you use?

Meta doesn't name a best setting. It gives a default and tools to compare. What you can do is match the setting to how your customers buy and how you judge results:

• People buy within minutes or hours. A shorter window may reflect that. Check with a comparison first (below).
• People take days to decide. A 7-day click window can catch purchases a 1-day window misses.
• You want to leave out people who only saw the ad. Compare with and without 1-day view before you decide.

Whatever you choose, use the same one when you set a target. On bid targets, Meta says "Base your performance results within your attribution window."

How do you compare attribution settings?

You can see several windows side by side without editing the ad set. In Ads Manager, open the Columns dropdown, select Compare attribution settings, choose your settings and pick a conversion count.

Compare attribution settings offers "1-day view, 1-day click, 7-day click and 28-day click", and you can do this "regardless of the ones you chose to optimize for in your campaign". 28-day click is a reporting view here. It isn't in Meta's list of settings for website and in-store conversions.

You also choose how to count repeat purchases:

• All conversions shows "every measurable conversion that happened after an ad click or view".
• First conversion shows "only the first measurable conversion".

A campaign under 28 days old gets only partial data in the 28-day column. Some iOS 14+ app campaigns have fewer windows.

If 1-day click and 7-day click are close, most of your buyers decide fast. If 1-day view makes up a large share of the total, a lot of your reported result depends on people who never clicked.

Why do my Meta results not match my store or analytics?

Part of the gap is built in. Meta counts conversions inside the window you chose, and a view-through conversion can be credited to an ad the buyer never clicked. Your store counts every order, and your analytics tool has its own rules. So the numbers aren't measuring the same thing.

Meta's note on comparing results says "If using external analytics tools, evaluate performance in those tools." Custom attribution, covered below, optimizes toward your tool's numbers, though Meta says "there may be some differences" in reporting even then.

What is the difference between standard, incremental and custom attribution?

The attribution setting sits inside a bigger choice, the attribution model. Meta's Peak Season 2026 guide gives each one a line:

Incremental attribution "uses machine learning models that predict whether a conversion is caused by an ad". Meta's setup page has two limits: "You cannot use bid controls when using incremental attribution", and "You cannot change your attribution model after you publish your campaign." If you want a different model, you need a new campaign.

Meta's main page is inconsistent on the list. Its heading names "Standard, incremental or custom", while the sentence below says "Currently, Meta offers the following attribution models: standard or incremental." The warning on the custom page may explain that, since not every account has it.

Can you compare ad sets with different attribution?

Not in the main table, across models. Meta's note: "Results cannot be compared in the Campaign Overview table across ad sets with different attribution models. Each attribution model uses different counting mechanisms, and comparing across different attribution models will lead to inaccurate conclusions." It points you to the Compare Attribution Settings feature instead.

Mixed settings inside one campaign have a similar problem. About multiple attribution settings says you see "results for your conversion event added together across different attribution settings". A campaign total can hide that one ad set counts 7-day click and another 1-day click.

To check, click Columns, then Customize columns, and add Attribution setting.

This matters for creative tests too. Ads in one ad set share a setting, so they are counted the same way. Across ad sets, confirm that the settings match before you call a winner. Our creative test guide covers the rest.

Why do some Meta pages show different windows?

Older references linger. Meta's Optimization events page still gives "1-day click and 7-day view" as an example, though the current list has view-through at 1 day only. Meta also says "Some accounts may still use prior versions of click-through and engage-through attribution while this feature is rolling out", so your account's options may not match the table above.

Sources

• About attribution models and attribution settings — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• About actions attributed to your ad — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• Compare attribution settings in Meta Ads Manager — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• About multiple attribution settings — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• About incremental attribution — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• How to use incremental attribution in Meta Ads Manager — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• About custom attribution — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)
• Results — Meta Business Help Center metric glossary (accessed October 22, 2026)
• Optimization events — Meta Business Help Center metric glossary (accessed October 22, 2026)
• Peak Season 2026: You Don't Beat The Auction. You Brief It. — Meta for Business, October 2026 (accessed October 31, 2026)
• About bid strategies — Meta Business Help Center (accessed November 4, 2026)

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Meta revises these pages without notice, so check the source before acting on any of it.

Terrads turns your brand kit into new Facebook and Instagram ads, so a new idea can go into the same ad set and be counted the same way.