I’ve worked with enough brands to spot the same problem every time: the click that gets the credit is rarely the one that did the work.

Here’s a typical example: 

When shopping for a new laptop, you start with a broad search like “best laptops 2025,” read a few buying guides, scan publisher reviews, and compare specs across a handful of sites. 

Maybe you visit Apple’s site directly, click around, leave, come back later through a referral link, and finally, you Google the exact model name. 

You click a paid ad, make the purchase, and just like that, paid search gets all the credit even though it’s not the whole story.