This article explains how impact.com gives credit for a conversion, like a sale or sign-up, to a specific partner in the different scenarios a customer might take, from a single click to a journey involving multiple partners.
In the simplest scenario, a customer clicks a link from a partner and converts. The closer thus wins attribution. Both the participating click count and the participation count are 1.
In this path, a customer clicks twice on the links of the same partner, who acts as both the introducer (first click) and the closer (second click). The closer click wins attribution. The participating click count is 2, but the participation count remains 1, since only one unique partner was involved.
In this path, the single partner now fills all the roles: introducer (click 1), influencer (click 2), and closer (click 3). The closer wins, the participating click count is 3, and the participation count is 1.
This generalizes the rule for any number (N) of clicks from the same partner. The partner is involved as the introducer, and on all intervening clicks, and as the closer. The closer (click N) wins attribution. The participating click count is N, but the participation count is always 1, since there is only 1 partner.
When 2 or more partners are involved, the closer is not always the winner. Either partner can be awarded credit, depending on how the attribution rules are defined. Partner B could win even if Partner A was the closer.
In the case that Partner A has 3 clicks and Partner B has 1, the participating click count is 4, but the participation count is only 2 (one for A, one for B).
As with the two-partner path, the winner can be a partner like Partner B based on contract terms, not necessarily the closer (Partner D). In a case where every click is from a unique partner, the participating click count (4) and the participation count (4) will be equal.