As more brands invest in fairer attribution modelling methods and move away from last-click, some businesses that have benefitted from being over-valued within the marketing mix will have to find ways to safe guard themselves.

This week the topic of attribution has been raised on multiple occasions. Today Qubit claimed that the under-valuing of channels such as generic search advertising may cost UK brands over £175 million this year.

Similarly, brands such as Office and Thomas Cook are looking to implement full attribution modelling so that it can gain a holistic view of the path to conversion.

But while much is said about the channels that are regularly overlooked, what happens to the channels that have been over valued for years?

Every brand will be different and the extent to which channels are over or under valued will differ significantly but there are certain channels that are consistently raised as having been over-valued by last-click, such as affiliate marketing.

Japanese ecommerce behemoth Rakuten announced that it was to bolster its performance marketing revenues with its affiliate network Rakuten Linkshare agreeing to purchase retargeting company Mediaforge.

The value of the deal has yet to be disclosed but executives at both outfits seem to think the pairing will enable existing, and potentially new, clients identify areas of overlapping spend.

“One benefit of this acquisition is that it represents a big step towards eliminating overlap across performance–based channels,” read a statement outlining the agreement.

Firms that rely on spend and operate only at the very end of the purchase full will increasingly have to expand and innovate to prove value. These also include variations of affiliates such as voucher websites. How and when businesses do this will vary but it is clear that without last-click some businesses will need to broaden their offering or find that they don’t deliver the right value for brands.