What’s the difference between Blotout and Northbeam—and do I need both?
Understanding How Northbeam and Blotout Work Together.
TL;DR
- Blotout focuses on event enrichment, like only sending more events/signals back to platforms like Meta.
- Northbeam captures, attributes, and ties conversions to actual revenue as well as feeds attributed back into platforms for real-time optimization.
- Northbeam includes all the event tracking capabilities that Blotout offers, including first-party pixel tracking, server-side data capture.
We’ve recently received a few questions about how Blotout compares to Northbeam. We wanted to provide clarity to help you better understand the differences and how these tools can complement each other.
Here are the Key Differences:
| Blotout | Northbeam |
|---|---|
| Focused on capturing event data (like page views, clicks, and purchases). | Focused on attributing revenue back to ad spend. |
| Increases signal on platform-reported data only. | Captures event data and sends enriched attributed data back to Meta via Apex, combining both signal enhancement and holistic performance modeling. |
| Put event data into systems like GA4 or data warehouses. | Matches marketing touchpoints to actual revenue (e.g., Shopify, Amazon, ERP). |
Event Capture vs. Attribution
Blotout helps brands capture more events, especially in cases where:
- First-party pixel tracking is not set up
- Server-side tracking is needed to improve the event
However, capturing events alone doesn’t equal better attribution.
Blotout does not:
- Have first-party pixel tracking
- Perform multi-touch or view-through attribution modeling
- Use probabilistic models to fill in gaps
- Reconcile conversions back to actual revenue sources
- Provide campaign, ad set, or creative-level insights
- Support Shopify S2S or Custom API Integrations
In conclusion, Northbeam can perform all of the above, capture the data to model it accurately, helping you make smarter, more profitable marketing decisions.
Why does this matter?
If you're already using Northbeam's first-party pixel tracking and server-side integrations, you are capturing reliable event data.
Northbeam’s attribution models (Clicks-Only, Clicks+Views, Clicks+Views Enhanced) go much further by distributing revenue credit fairly across all touchpoints and campaigns, not just reporting raw clicks or events.
Tools like Blotout or Elevar can enhance your event capture stack, but they don't replace what Northbeam does for attribution and business insights.
Other Questions:
We’re using Northbeam—would adding Blotout help with tracking things that Northbeam might miss?
- All event enrichment tracking that Blotout covers, Northbeam also covers in its tracking by default.
Is there tracking data that Blotout captures but Northbeam doesn't?
- No. Northbeam supports first-party pixel tracking, server-side tracking (like Shopify S2S), and custom API integrations, all of which ensure reliable data capture.
- Northbeam also performs full attribution modeling, ties conversions to actual revenue, and can feed clean, attributed conversion data back into platforms like Meta via our Apex integration. This means that we are not only capturing data, but also optimizing your campaigns in real-time.
Have Other Questions? If you have more specific questions about your tracking setup, you can reach out to your Media Strategist, Customer Success Manager, or submit a Support ticket. We’re happy to walk you through it!
Updated about 15 hours ago