The test drive started 6 weeks ago. Your cookies expired 5 weeks ago.
Vehicle purchases have the longest digital research cycle in e-commerce. Buyers spend weeks comparing models, configuring options, and visiting dealer sites across multiple devices. Safari's 7-day cookie cap means your attribution data dies long before the customer converts.
6-12 weeks
Average research cycle
Buyers visit 4-6 sites over weeks before a test drive or enquiry
20-40%
Conversions hidden
Ad blockers strip vendor tags on automotive research sites
7 days
Safari cookie limit
ITP expires cookies long before the buyer is ready to act
£30K+
Average transaction value
Every lost attribution point represents significant ad spend
Why automotive attribution is broken
Vehicle research spans weeks, multiple devices, and multiple domains. Client-side tracking was never designed for journeys this long or this complex.
Research outlasts your cookies
Buyers research for 6-12 weeks. Safari deletes your tracking cookies after 7 days. By the time they book a test drive, you have no idea which campaign brought them in.
Cross-device journeys are invisible
Customers research on mobile, configure on desktop, and visit the showroom in person. Without persistent identity, these look like three separate users.
High-value conversions with no visibility
Automotive ad budgets are among the highest in digital. When 30% of conversions are invisible to your attribution, Smart Bidding optimises on incomplete data.
How Signal recovers automotive attribution
Server-set 400-day cookies, persistent cross-device identity, and first-party delivery that survives the entire vehicle research journey.
400-day attribution
Server-set first-party cookies persist for 400 days — covering the entire research, test drive, and purchase cycle. ITP cannot touch them.
- Survive the full 6-12 week research window
- Attribute test drives back to the original campaign
- Track the complete journey from first ad click to purchase
Cross-device identity
Persistent server-side identity links the mobile research session to the desktop configurator visit to the dealer website enquiry — one customer, one journey.
- Link mobile research to desktop configuration
- Recognise returning visitors across devices
- Cross-domain identity for OEM and dealer sites
Better Smart Bidding
When Google Ads and Meta see 100% of your conversions instead of 70%, their algorithms optimise for the customers who actually buy — not just the ones they can see.
- Recover 20-40% of hidden conversions for bidding
- Enhanced Conversions with SHA-256 hashed PII
- Accurate ROAS across the full purchase cycle
From vehicle enquiry to every ad platform
A single vehicle_enquiry event is captured once by the 4.2KB collector, enriched with vehicle model and dealer data, then delivered simultaneously to Google Ads Enhanced Conversions and Meta CAPI with SHA-256 hashed customer data.
- Vehicle model, dealer code, and finance type captured automatically
- PII hashed before leaving your infrastructure
- Consent enforced at collection and delivery
- One event, multiple vendor-specific payloads
# Vehicle Enquiry Pipeline
event: vehicle_enquiry
source: web
org_data_layer:
schema:
- field: properties.vehicle_model
type: string
required: true
- field: properties.dealer_code
type: string
- field: properties.finance_type
type: string
pii:
- field: context.traits.email
action: sha256
- field: context.traits.phone
action: sha256
consent:
required: [analytics, marketing]
pipelines:
- name: google_ads
integration: google-ads-enhanced-conversions
event_name: vehicle_enquiry
mapping:
- source: context.traits.email_hash
target: user_data.sha256_email_address
- source: properties.vehicle_model
target: custom_variables.vehicle_model
- source: properties.dealer_code
target: custom_variables.dealer_code
- name: meta_capi
integration: meta-conversions-api
event_name: Lead
mapping:
- source: context.traits.email_hash
target: user_data.em
- source: properties.vehicle_model
target: custom_data.content_name
- source: properties.finance_type
target: custom_data.content_categoryAttribution that covers the full buying cycle
Every ad platform claims full credit for every test drive and enquiry. Signal sits between the conversion and every vendor API — you control which platform receives credit with configurable attribution models.
Last Click
Attribute the test drive booking to the final campaign that drove the visit.
First Click
Credit the channel that first introduced the buyer to the brand — weeks before the enquiry.
Time Decay
Weight credit toward recent touchpoints while acknowledging the initial research phase.
Position Based
40/20/40 split — credit both the awareness campaign and the final conversion driver.
Linear
Equal credit across the 6-12 week journey. No channel is invisible.
Custom Rules
Define your own logic — e.g., always credit branded search, split non-brand across touchpoints.
Built for OEM and dealer group complexity
Automotive digital journeys cross domain boundaries constantly — from the OEM brand site to the vehicle configurator to the local dealer website. Signal's cross-domain identity and brand workspaces are designed for exactly this structure.
For OEM brands
- Cross-domain identity from brand.com to configurator to dealer sites
- Centralised data governance across all dealer group properties
- Per-dealer brand workspaces with scoped data access
- Unified attribution across the entire purchase funnel
For dealer groups
- Single collector across all franchise sites
- Per-franchise pipeline configurations
- Local ad spend attributed accurately to enquiries and sales
- VPC deployment meets manufacturer data requirements
Attribute every test drive and enquiry to the right campaign
See how Datafly Signal recovers the attribution data that expires weeks before your customers are ready to buy — across every device and domain they touch.