Glossary: Revenue Attribution

What is revenue attribution?

Revenue attribution connects a defined revenue outcome to one or more recorded acquisition touchpoints under a chosen attribution rule. It helps teams compare channels by the revenue associated with acquired users or wallets, while making the identity and tracking assumptions visible.

Define the revenue event

Specify which value counts as revenue, such as protocol fees, marketplace commissions, or subscription payments. Keep revenue distinct from transaction volume, token transfers, wallet net worth, and total value locked. For onchain revenue, identify the relevant contract events, chain, token conversion and price timestamp, and successful transaction status.

Connect revenue to acquisition

Link the revenue event to a user or wallet and then to eligible touchpoints using a documented identity method and lookback window. First-touch and last-touch models answer different questions. Incomplete links between anonymous visits and wallets, missing UTMs, and privacy restrictions can leave some revenue unattributed.

Example

A DEX records a $4 fee from a confirmed swap and links it to a wallet whose first visit came from a partner campaign. The team can report the revenue associated with that campaign, while also disclosing the attribution model, window, and share of revenue with a known source.

Common mistakes

Do not attribute transaction volume as if it were revenue. Avoid comparing periods with different fee definitions or token price sources. Attribution describes the model's credit allocation, not incremental revenue caused by a campaign; use experiments when causal lift matters.

Related reading

Explore Protocol Revenue, Volume Attribution, Attribution Model, and Onchain Attribution.

FAQs

What is revenue attribution?

Revenue attribution assigns measured revenue to a source or touchpoint under a defined model. It requires a revenue event or fee measure and a justified link to the acquisition or product journey. The result is model-based credit, not necessarily incremental revenue caused by that source.

How is revenue attribution different from volume attribution?

Volume attribution assigns transaction or protocol activity value to sources. Revenue attribution assigns recognized fees or other protocol income. A high-volume source may generate little retained revenue, so report the measures separately.

How can teams attribute onchain revenue to a campaign?

Capture campaign context, connect it to an account or address with a documented signal, and define the fee or revenue events and attribution window. Report unmatched revenue and avoid treating gross transaction volume or correlation as campaign-caused revenue.