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Table Table 2 From the research bench

How does marketing mix modeling compare to multi-touch attribution?

DimensionMarketing Mix Modeling (MMM)Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA)
Data granularityMacro aggregate time-series (weekly, regional)Micro user journeys (click-stream logs, user IDs)
Privacy resilienceCompletely immune to cookie loss and tracking bansHighly vulnerable to iOS privacy changes and ad blockers
Offline coverageEvaluates TV, radio, print, OOH, and macro trendsBlind to offline channels; measures only digital clicks
Carryover modelingExplicitly models multi-week adstock and memory decayAssumes linear touchpoint decay or arbitrary lookback windows
Saturation modelingModels diminishing marginal returns and channel capacityTreats all touches as having constant linear returns
Causal validityModerate (vulnerable to endogeneity if uncalibrated)Extremely poor (confuses correlation with ad persuasion)
Execution speedStrategic (quarterly/annual budget planning)Operational (daily keyword and campaign adjustments)

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Reference & Evidence

Source: Table from this essay. Sources and interpretation are given in the article.