About the Integration
The native analytics integration between Triple Whale and Meta — also called Attribution Passback — lets advertisers optimize their Meta ads using their own first-party attribution data from Triple Whale.
This integration powers Meta Custom Attribution, Meta's optimization model that uses passed-back attribution data from measurement partners to fine-tune campaign delivery. Triple Whale is one of Meta's launch measurement partners for Custom Attribution.
Availability
Meta Custom Attribution is generally available. It is open to all Meta advertisers, including accounts that are not managed by a dedicated Meta representative.
What you need
A Meta ad account. You no longer need a dedicated Meta account manager, sales rep, or client partner.
A Triple Whale plan with access to Sonar Optimize.
A connected Meta dataset receiving Purchase events.
What you get by enabling Attribution Passback
Sharper Meta optimization as Custom Attribution learns from your trusted attribution data over time.
Optimization against your source of truth. Meta tunes delivery to the attribution model you already use for budgeting decisions, rather than to its own in-platform view.
A cross-publisher signal. Your Triple Whale attribution accounts for touchpoints across every channel, so Meta learns from conversions your own model credits — not just the ones it can see.
Setup Instructions
Setup runs in two parts. First connect your Meta account to Triple Whale. Then complete the Sonar CAPI setup wizard, where you choose which standard events, if any, to send and switch on Attribution Passback in wizard step 2, and then choose the attribution model and time window Triple Whale sends back to Meta in wizard step 3. The wizard numbers its own five steps on screen, so those numbers are used here exactly as they appear — nothing else in this section is numbered.
Part 1 · Connect Meta to Triple Whale
If Meta is already connected with the right ad accounts selected, check it under Data > Integrations and move straight to Part 2.
Log in to Triple Whale at app.triplewhale.com.
Open Data in the left sidebar and choose Integrations, under Connect.
On the Triple Whale Integrations page, find Meta under Advertising and click Connect.
Complete the Facebook prompts, then click Got it when Facebook confirms your account is connected to TripleWhale.com.
In the Meta Settings window, pick your Select Attribution Window option. 7-day after clicking ad OR 1-day after viewing ad is flagged Most Common and is selected by default.
Under Select Meta Business accounts, tick each ad account you want Triple Whale to pull data from — or click Select All — then click Save.
Two things to get right on this screen
Connecting is not the same as finishing. Until you save at least one Meta Business account, the Meta card shows No Account Selected and no ad data flows in. Save stays greyed out until an account is ticked.
This attribution window is not the passback one. The window chosen here controls how Meta's own ad data is reported into Triple Whale. The window you set later, in wizard step 3 (Attribution Settings), controls the attribution data Triple Whale sends back to Meta.
Part 2 · Complete the Sonar CAPI setup wizard
Attribution Passback is a subset of the Triple Whale Meta Sonar (CAPI) integration. If you already have Sonar configured for CAPI, this needs only a small additional configuration to send the extra events.
Open Data in the left sidebar and choose Sonar Enrichment, under Enrich.
On the Sonar Overview page, switch from the Summary tab to the Integrations tab.
Under Sonar Optimize — Advertising Platforms, find the Meta row and click Set Up. The wizard opens on its first step.
You do not need the standard CAPI integration
This integration does not require you to configure the main CAPI integration (standard events) in order to send attribution data to Meta.
The wizard is titled Meta Conversions API (CAPI). Its five steps are listed down the left of the panel and you complete them in order:
Connect to Meta & Enable Pixel
Send Events for Enrichment — where standard events and the Attribution Passback toggle are switched on or off
Attribution Settings — where you choose the attribution model and time window sent back to Meta
Profit Optimization — optional, covered in its own guide
Exclude Events for Enrichment
Steps 1 to 4 each end with Save and Continue and confirm with a Configuration saved message. The final step ends with Done.
Wizard step 1 · Connect Meta & Enable Pixel
Under Meta Set up, check that your Meta connection shows a green Connected status.
Under Meta Pixel Destination, select the primary Meta dataset (pixel) for your business from the dropdown.
Under Pixel Setup, review the two Triple Pixel options and their status badges.
Running a headless Shopify setup? Follow the linked instructions to modify your Triple Pixel snippet before continuing.
Click Save and Continue.
Pixel warnings are safe to skip for Attribution Passback
If either Triple Pixel option is not enabled, you can continue anyway. This integration does not require the pixel to be installed by either method.
Wizard step 2 · Send Events for Enrichment — enable Attribution Passback
Events are listed under Standard events (Recommended), each with its own toggle: Page View, View Content, Search, Add To Cart, Initiate Checkout, Add Payment Info, Purchase, Signup, New Customer Purchase, Return Customer Purchase, Initial Subscription Order, and Attribution Passback.
To skip sending standard Meta events, switch those toggles off — but leave Attribution Passback on, since that is the event this integration depends on. Each toggle is independent, so switching the rest off does not affect it.
Leave Attribution Passback on
If you run CAPI through another provider, switch the standard event toggles off to avoid duplicate events — but not Attribution Passback. Switching it off disables the integration entirely.
Wizard step 3 · Attribution Settings
Attribution Passback is already switched on from wizard step 2. This step defines what Triple Whale sends with it.
Product Identifier to send with your events — choose what Meta receives, for example Product Id.
Attribution Metadata — switch the section toggle on, then set both dropdowns:
The model dropdown offers five options: Triple Attribution, Linear All, Linear Paid, First Click, and Last Click.
Recommended: First Click, Last Click, Linear All, or Linear Paid. These have shown the strongest lift with Meta Custom Attribution.
Triple Attribution is not recommended. It closely aligns with Meta's own attribution model, so brands using it as their source of truth are unlikely to see a ROAS lift.
Total Impact is not supported by this integration and is not offered in the dropdown.
Select the time window: 1 Day, 7 Days, 14 Days, 28 Days, or Lifetime.
Click Save and Continue.
Wizard step 4 · Profit Optimization
Optional, and not required for Attribution Passback. If you are only setting up Attribution Passback, leave the toggle off and click Save and Continue.
Profit Optimization passes the profit on each order to Meta so it can optimize toward higher-margin sales. It has its own requirements, including complete product costs. See Optimize for profit with Profit Optimization.
Wizard step 5 · Exclude events for enrichment
Choose the purchases you do not want sent to Meta for campaign optimization. Each section has its own toggle:
Exclude recurring subscription purchases (recommended) — add your recurring subscription order tag.
Exclude purchases by order tags — use this for PoS or $0 orders.
Add channels you want to exclude (recommended) — for example
SHOPIFY_DRAFT_ORDERorPOS.Select custom sales channels to exclude — use + Add Sales Channel for anything not in the list.
Click Done to finish — this step has only < Back and Done. A Meta Setup confirmation appears — "Success! Your Meta configuration is now complete." — and the integration page shows Configuration saved and enabled.
Final setup steps
Verify the connection
Once connected, Sonar begins sending Custom Attribution data to Meta. After Purchase events start flowing, Meta automatically creates a Custom Attribution source associated with your Purchase event. You do not need to approve a separate custom event.
Confirm Custom Attribution is available
Being eligible is not the same as being ready
Custom Attribution is open to every advertiser, but it does not switch on the moment you enable passback. Meta needs roughly 14 days of high-quality Custom Attribution data from your account before the option unlocks in Ads Manager.
Meta emails you when it is ready, and you can check the status at any time:
Open Meta Events Manager and select Datasets from the left-hand menu.
Choose the dataset receiving your Purchase events.
Open the Custom attribution source attached to those events.
Review the custom attribution quality page for connection status, active issues, and parameter coverage.
Confirm the connection quality indicator shows High before you continue.
Once quality reaches High, the Custom attribution option unlocks in Ads Manager.
What to do next
Once your connection quality shows High, Custom Attribution is available to use in Ads Manager. There are two ways forward, and you can do either first:
Prove it before you commit. Run a two-week A/B test against a business-as-usual campaign — Run an A/B test against BAU.
Build with it directly. Configure a campaign to optimize against your Triple Whale attribution — Build a Meta campaign with Custom Attribution.
FAQ
Will this integration interfere with my existing Meta CAPI provider?
You can use Attribution Passback alongside a provider that sends standard conversion events to Meta. In Send Events for Enrichment (wizard step 2), leave Sonar’s standard-event toggles off and Attribution Passback on. Passback sends attribution information through Sonar; you do not need to enable Sonar’s standard conversion events to use it.
If you also want Sonar Optimize to send standard events such as Purchase to the same Meta dataset, first check whether your existing CAPI provider sends those events. Two providers sending overlapping standard events may create duplicate or conflicting conversion data if Meta cannot match their versions. Resolve that overlap before enabling the equivalent Sonar standard events. Keep your Meta browser Pixel active.
What does it mean if I see CAPI Conflict Detected?
Meta is receiving server-side events for this pixel or dataset from another source. The warning tells you to check for overlapping standard conversion events; it does not, on its own, establish how many conversions were counted twice.
If you only want Attribution Passback: You can continue using your existing CAPI provider for standard events. In Send Events for Enrichment (wizard step 2), switch Sonar’s standard-event toggles off and leave Attribution Passback on. Do not turn off the other provider solely to use this passback-only configuration.
If you also want Sonar to send standard events: Identify the other server-side sender and resolve any overlapping standard-event sends to the same Meta dataset before switching on Sonar’s equivalent events.
If the other sender is Shopify’s built-in Facebook & Instagram integration, go to Shopify Admin → Sales channels → Facebook & Instagram → Settings, scroll to Share data, and change Maximum or Enhanced to Conservative. This keeps Shopify’s browser-side tracking active while stopping its overlapping server-side sends.
If the other sender is a separate CAPI tool, such as Elevar or Blotout, stop that tool’s overlapping server-side standard events in its settings before enabling the equivalent events in Sonar. Do not assume Meta Events Manager is where that tool is deactivated.
Review the incoming events in Meta Events Manager and check your integrations to identify the sender. Keep your Meta browser Pixel active in either setup.
Will this integration impact my existing campaigns or Meta performance?
Not immediately. Configuring the integration has no immediate impact on existing campaigns. It sends data to Meta to power Custom Attribution. Once Custom Attribution is live on your account, you choose which campaigns use that data for optimization.
How do I know the integration is configured correctly?
Attribution Passback is switched on in Send Events for Enrichment.
Attribution Metadata is switched on in Attribution Settings, with a model and time window selected.
The Meta Sonar integration is toggled on.
You will begin to see attribution events in Meta Events Manager, named
AppendAttribution. If you enabled Attribution Passback before this change, you may see bothUpdatePurchaseandAppendAttributionfor a period — Triple Whale sends both in parallel until Meta confirms data continuity.
Why do I see so many more Attribution Passback events than orders?
While this integration is enabled, Triple Whale sends one event for every supported attribution model, for each order.
How long before I can test this or use it on a campaign?
Plan for a roughly 14-day data collection window after enabling Attribution Passback. Meta needs enough passed-back attribution data to learn from before it can meaningfully influence delivery. Testing before this window is complete may produce unreliable results.
Is there a minimum conversion volume?
Custom Attribution works best on accounts running at least 15 Meta-attributed conversions per day. Below that, there is not enough signal for the model to learn from, and a two-week test is unlikely to reach a readable result.
Why isn't Triple Attribution recommended for this integration?
Custom Attribution works best when you feed Meta a signal that differs from what it already uses. Triple Attribution closely aligns with Meta's own attribution model, so brands using it as a source of truth may not see a ROAS lift. First Click, Last Click, Linear All, or Linear Paid give the model a more distinct signal to optimize against.
Do I need Profit Optimization to use Attribution Passback?
No. They are independent. Attribution Passback tells Meta which touchpoint earned the sale; Profit Optimization tells Meta what the sale was worth after product costs. You can enable either on its own, or both.