Last-click is a Tbilisi habit, not a finding

A surprising number of monthly packs we are handed in Tbilisi still treat the last paid click as the author of the sale. The habit is understandable. Search and social exports offer a column that looks like a verdict. Outdoor invoices and a brand film on television do not.

What the column actually is

Last-click is a bookkeeping rule inside an advertising account. It is not a study of how a person in Vake or Batumi decided to book a table, open an account, or enrol a child. When a director uses that column to cut the activity that never receives the last click, they are not being rigorous. They are obeying a default.

In one education review, applications rose in the week a campus open day was advertised on radio. The search account still claimed the applications because parents googled the school name afterwards. Cutting radio would have made the search report look cheaper. It would not have made the open day exist.

What we draw instead

We place spend by week next to the outcome by week. We note events that never appear in the click column: a rector’s speech, a price change, a competitor’s outage. If a holdout exists — a city without the boards, a week without the film — it goes on the same page. If it does not exist, we write that the join is weak rather than minting a percentage.

This is slower than a last-click screenshot. It is also the only version we will put in a briefing with our name on the cover.