There are two places a brand can count a sale: in the ad platform’s report or in its own store. First-party attribution is the second. The brand’s own site records the click, the code, the UTM tag or the survey answer, and the brand decides the rule. Meta’s own Pixel is a first-party tool in this sense: a snippet of JavaScript on the brand’s site that records visitor actions as events (Meta), and UTM parameters on a link tell the brand’s analytics which source, medium and campaign sent the visit (Google).
Platform attribution and first-party attribution rarely agree. The platform sees views and clicks on its ads and uses its windows; the store sees orders and whatever the buyer brought with them.
Example. A brand runs a creator’s video as a Meta ad and also gives the creator a code. Meta reports 60 purchases on 7-day click and 1-day view. The store shows 25 orders with the code and another 12 with the creator’s UTM link. The brand paying the creator a share of sales picks one rule in advance: 60 on the platform’s count, 37 on the store’s. Example numbers.
When brands use it. The pain this answers: “I have no idea which creator actually drove sales.” Brands use first-party attribution when they pay commissions, because they need one number both sides can see, and because codes and links work on organic posts the platform cannot track. They use platform attribution for ad spend decisions.
The creator’s view. Ask which system counts. A store-side count is usually lower but can be shown order by order; a platform count is higher but is the brand’s dashboard, not the creator’s.
On HourlyUGC. HourlyUGC counts sales either on the ad platform (Meta) or itself, through a connected Shopify store or its pixel, last touch within 7 days, with creator links and codes.