Meta Dropped 7-Day and 28-Day View Attribution: Fix Your Reports

What Meta changed on 12 January 2026

Meta's developer blog post Ads Insights API Metric Availability Updates, dated 16 October 2025, said that on 12 January 2026 it would deprecate two values of the action_attribution_windows parameter: 7-day view (7d_view) and 28-day view (28d_view). Meta's 2025 out-of-cycle changelog adds that these windows "will no longer be available and will return no data", for all API versions.

The same post lists what continues: 1-day click, 7-day click, 28-day click, 1-day engaged view and 1-day view, plus the default values based on each ad set's attribution setting, for fields such as actions, conversions and results. Meta describes this as "consistent with Ads Manager behavior", meaning the API now matches what Ads Manager already offers.

Why your reported Meta conversions dropped

View-through attribution credits a conversion to an ad that someone saw but did not click. A 7-day or 28-day view window counts purchases up to a week or four weeks after that impression. If a dashboard was built on one of those windows, every conversion that happened on day 2 to day 28 after a view, with no click, simply stopped being counted.

That makes the January drop a measurement change, not necessarily a performance change. Your shop or CRM is the check: if orders, bookings or leads in your own system stayed steady while Meta-reported conversions fell, the difference is the attribution window.

Meta also limited some breakdowns from the same date: unique-count fields such as unique_actions and hourly breakdowns now go back 13 months, frequency breakdowns 6 months, and MMM breakdowns only run as asynchronous jobs. Totals are unaffected and remain available for 37 months, per the blog post.

Which attribution settings Ads Manager uses now

Meta's help page About attribution models and attribution settings lists the standard settings it supports for website and in-store conversions: click-through within 1 or 7 days of a link click, view-through within 1 day of an impression, and engage-through within 1 day of a non-link click (or 5 seconds of video play). There are also incremental and custom attribution models.

To compare windows without changing your campaigns, use Compare attribution settings in Ads Manager. It lets you view 1-day view, 1-day click, 7-day click and 28-day click side by side, with a few exceptions for iOS app campaigns.

1. 1

   Open Ads Manager and the Columns menu

   Go to Ads Manager, open the Columns: Performance dropdown and select Compare attribution settings.

2. 2

   Pick the windows you report on

   Select 7-day click and 1-day view as your main pair, and 1-day click as a strict check.

3. 3

   Choose the conversion count

   All conversions counts every conversion; First conversion counts only the first. Use the same choice across periods.

4. 4

   Export both periods with identical settings

   Export the table for the before and after dates. This is your fair comparison.

Fixing third-party dashboards and agency reports

Most Looker Studio connectors, spreadsheet add-ons and agency tools read from the Ads Insights API, so they were hit directly. A dashboard set to 7d_view or 28d_view will show zero or blank conversions from 12 January 2026.

• Open each data source and find the attribution window or action_attribution_windows setting.
• Switch to 7d_click and 1d_view (or the account default) and rebuild the historical view with the same setting.
• Label the dashboard with the window used, so nobody compares numbers built on different rules.
• Ask your agency which window their monthly report uses, and whether earlier months were restated.

A separate June 2025 change also matters if you build reports yourself: Meta's changelog says the API now disregards the use_unified_attribution_setting and action_report_time parameters and mimics Ads Manager settings. If your numbers now match Ads Manager more closely than before, that is why.

Why server-side events matter more now

Shorter view windows put more weight on clicks and on whether each conversion reaches Meta at all. Browser-only Meta Pixel tracking misses events when cookies are blocked or a page closes early. The Conversions API sends the same events from your server, and Meta deduplicates them against the Pixel when both send a matching event ID.

Our guide to Meta Pixel and Conversions API on Shopify covers the set-up for online stores. For lead forms and bookings, make sure the Lead or Schedule event fires once per real submission, not on every thank-you page reload. Cross-check against your own records using GA4 or your CRM, which do not depend on Meta's attribution rules.

Do it yourself or get help?

Updating a dashboard's attribution setting takes minutes if you built it. If an agency or a former contractor built it, or your Pixel and Conversions API set-up has never been checked, it is worth a proper review before the next budget decision.

IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience. Our Ad Account Audit (S$290) reviews up to 2 ad accounts, checks that Pixel, Conversions API and GA4 fire once and correctly, and gives a prioritised fix list with a recorded walkthrough. If tracking needs rebuilding, Meta Ads Setup (S$590) installs Pixel and Conversions API with tested key events. Ad budget is paid by you directly to Meta.