Verify revenue attribution after install

Admaxxer is a DTC analytics platform with built-in Meta + Google ad ops. After any install — fresh pixel, GTM, Shopify webhook, Meta connection, or Google Ads connection — you should run a short end-to-end smoke test rather than trust dashboards the next morning. TL;DR: fire a real purchase through a tagged UTM link, confirm the event lands in Admaxxer within 60 seconds, confirm the UTM is attached, and confirm blended MER recalculates with your ad spend. ## Symptoms Run this guide when: - You just completed a fresh Admaxxer install. - You changed the pixel, GTM, webhook, or ad-platform connection. - You redeployed the site and want to confirm nothing regressed. - A stakeholder asks "is attribution actually working?" and you need evidence. ## Root cause Attribution has five moving parts: pixel load, pageview capture, UTM ingestion, purchase event, and ad-spend join. Breaking any one of them breaks attribution in a different way. This is the shortest check that exercises all five. ## Fix ### Step 1: Build a tagged smoke-test URL Append `?utm_source=smoketest&utm_medium=verify&utm_campaign=install_$(date)` to your landing page. Use a unique `utm_campaign` so you can filter this smoke event out of real data later. ### Step 2: Open the URL in a guest window Fresh incognito session, no extensions blocking scripts. Open DevTools -> Console and confirm `window.admaxxer` is defined. Open Network and filter for the Admaxxer ingest domain — you should see a pageview beacon. ### Step 3: Place a real-money or sandbox test order Complete checkout end to end. For Shopify, use a real card or Shopify Bogus Gateway; for custom checkouts, fire the `purchase` event with a known `order_id`, `value`, and `currency`. The key is that `admaxxer.track('purchase', { order_id, value, currency })` runs with non-null values. ### Step 4: Confirm the event in Admaxxer realtime Admaxxer -> Analytics -> Realtime. The purchase should appear within about 60 seconds. Click it — the side panel should show the `utm_source = smoketest` you set in Step 1. ### Step 5: Confirm server-side revenue If Shopify is connected, the `orders/paid` webhook fires a second confirmation. Admaxxer deduplicates based on `order_id`, so you should see one purchase — not two. If you see two, see the duplicate-events guide. ### Step 6: Confirm blended MER Admaxxer -> Dashboard. After a minute or two, the MER tile should update to reflect the new revenue divided by the current ad spend. If MER stays flat, ad-spend ingestion is likely the culprit, not revenue — check Meta and Google connection cards for sync errors. ### Step 7: Confirm cohort LTV and attribution windows Open the attribution view and filter to `utm_campaign = install_`. You should see a single session with a purchase. Cohort LTV at 7/30/90 day windows will back-fill over time, but the session presence is the load-bearing check today. If the session is missing, the pixel did not identify the visitor before the purchase fired. ## Verify the fix - Realtime shows the purchase event with source = smoketest. - The purchase has a non-null `value` and a matching `order_id`. - Blended MER nudges up (or down if ad spend increased more than revenue). - Meta and Google Ads connections both show green with recent sync timestamps. - No CSP violations in the browser console. - The attribution breakdown resolves to the `utm_source` you set, not "direct / none". ## Prevent it next time - **Script the smoke test** so any teammate can re-run it in one click. - **Run it on every deploy** that touches pixel code or Shopify webhooks. - **Alert on stale data.** Admaxxer can notify when zero purchases land in a normally-busy hour. - **Keep the smoke-test UTM known.** Add `utm_campaign LIKE 'install_%'` as an exclusion filter on dashboards so test traffic does not pollute analysis. ## Related guides - [Shopify orders webhook not firing](/guides/shopify-orders-webhook-not-firing) - [Duplicate payment events](/guides/duplicate-payment-events) - [Post-install checklist](/documentation/install/checklist) ## FAQs **Q: Do I need to use a real credit card for the test?** A: No. Shopify Bogus Gateway or a dev checkout is fine as long as the order transitions to "paid" status, because that is what fires the `orders/paid` webhook. **Q: How long should I wait for the event to show up?** A: Under a minute end-to-end in healthy conditions. If nothing shows up in 2 minutes, start debugging — usually the pixel never loaded or the webhook never fired. **Q: Will the smoke-test order skew my historical data?** A: A few dollars of test revenue barely moves the needle, but filter it out with an exclusion rule to keep dashboards honest.