About data collection for attribution

In order to understand Spotify’s attribution methodology, it's important to understand the basics of the data that our platform needs in order to match conversions to impressions.

Impression data

The Spotify Pixel captures website activity once it’s been created and installed on a website by the website owner to measure conversion events that could be attributed to their Spotify ads. 

For Ads Manager campaigns that use the Spotify Pixel, Spotify collects the following impression-level data: 

• IP Address – IP addresses are assigned to a device based on how the device is connected to the Internet. For example, all devices that are connected to a wireless router in a home will have the same IP address; however, once a mobile device leaves the house and connects to cell service, the device's IP address will change. All IP addresses have a connection type, and Spotify Ads Manager treats these types differently when running attribution. These connection types include: 

  • Household IP

  • Cable/DSL/Dial-up IP

  • Commercial IP

  • Cellular IP

• UserAgent – Spotify receives identifying characteristics about the app and/or browser being used to consume music and/or podcast content, such as:

  • Player type (ex. web browser, Spotify app, etc.)

  • Device type (iOS or Android)

  • Device make and model (ex.. iPhone 14, Samsung Galaxy, etc)

  • Operating system version (ex. iOS 16.1, Androide 14, etc)

• Impression  Details – Details about a listener's ad exposure are key to the attribution methodology, as well as for analysis of the results. Key details include: 

  • Timestamp

  • Conversion data

Conversion data is organized based on the events defined during pixel installation. Ads Manager currently supports the following conversion events: page views, leads, adds to cart, and purchases. Learn more about conversion events.

About the device graph used for attribution

Spotify uses a device graph covering Australia, Canada, Mexico and the U.S.  to determine which IP addresses are from a household, as well as household reach.

Why do we use a device graph? 

Spotify relies on IP addresses  to attribute impressions to website visits. Information about the types of data collected for attribution is detailed in the section above. 

For attribution to be accurate, we have to consider the connection type of the IP addresses across the exposed audience. This becomes challenging when many people are associated with a single “noisy” IP address (e.g. an office building, university campus, public WIFI network, etc). We consider household connections to be the most precise available, as they are much more likely to have the same people connecting to them over time.

How can a device graph help? 

Spotify uses a device graph to sift through the noise and identify household IP addresses. IP addresses that do not match to the device graph may still be considered a household if the connection type is not a cell-tower or commercial IP address. Spotify monitors those IP addresses from the Spotify Pixel to ensure they are behaving like a household. 

For those IP addresses that do not match to the device graph and are a cell-tower or commercial IP address (i.e. noisy IPs), Spotify uses a shortened attribution window to remove false positives. To showcase the effectiveness of a full campaign across all IP address connection types, Spotify models results for impressions that fall outside of the identified household IP addresses.