🏍️ Northbeam Apex
Optimize your Meta ads against first-party Northbeam data with this new integration.
What is Northbeam Apex?
Northbeam Apex is a direct integration between Northbeam and our advertising platform partners that lets the partner fold Northbeam's first-party, multi-touch attribution signal directly into how they optimize ad delivery.
With Apex, participating platform partners can integrate Northbeam's MTA-derived performance into their algorithm's optimization process — so ad delivery is optimized against the data you already trust, instead of platform-default last-click.
With a more informed, cross-channel signal built from your actual orders and the touchpoints leading to them, the platform's algorithm can better understand how your ads affect the entire customer journey and optimize more effectively than ever before.
In short: activating Apex could help you find as much as +25% ROAS with the press of a button.
These are the results of our most recent A/B testing of Apex-empowered campaigns versus controls.
How does Apex work?
Apex flips the standard model: instead of sending the platform more raw events for it to attribute itself, Northbeam does the attribution first and sends the platform the result.
- Northbeam captures first-party events via its own pixel and your order feed.
- Northbeam's ML-based MTA model splits credit across every touchpoint in the customer journey.
- Apex sends the Northbeam-attributed performance for each ad to the partner platform.
- The partner uses that signal to optimize ad delivery against the outcomes you actually care about.
The result is the platform's auction aligning to how you measure success — not how it measures it by default.
Apex is additive.It does not replace your existing pixel or CAPI connections. Your existing setup keeps working exactly as it does today. Apex adds a parallel, attributed signal the platform uses to optimize differently.
Apex vs. CAPI and enrichment tools
A common question: I already send Meta enriched conversion data through a CAPI-based products — does Apex conflict with that, or make it redundant?
Neither. They solve two different problems, and they compound.
| Enrichment / CAPI-based products | Northbeam Apex | |
|---|---|---|
| What it sends | The raw conversion, enriched with as much identity and order detail as possible | Northbeam's attributed credit for that conversion |
| What that does | Helps Meta match as many conversions as possible back to ad interactions | Helps Meta understand which ads actually drove the outcome |
| Question it answers | "Did Meta touch this customer at all?" | "How much of this sale does Meta deserve?" |
A single order, end to end
On Monday, a $100 order comes into your store.
Your enrichment tool shares the conversion itself:
- Order value
- Customer email
- Customer ID
- Phone number
- Product purchased
- Etc.
Meta uses that to match the buyer to any ad interactions it drove — connecting the dots between the order and the touchpoints that preceded it.
Northbeam Apex then shares the credit:
- Of that $100, Northbeam's MTA model determines Meta contributed $45.
Meta optimizes delivery toward the ads earning that $45 — not toward its own last-click view of the same order.
Enrichment connects the dots. Apex weights them.Enrichment tools make sure Meta sees every conversion and touchpoint. Apex tells Meta how much credit those touchpoints actually deserve. Keep both — leave your existing pixel and CAPI setup exactly as it is.
Apex: two pieces to understand
There are two distinct components to Apex, and it's important to understand them separately:
1. The data connection
This is what you set up in Northbeam. Turning this on starts sending Northbeam's order-level MTA data to the platform. It trains the platform's model. It does not turn on live optimization.
2. The optimization layer
This is how the platform actually uses Apex data to optimize your campaigns.
On Meta, this is called Custom Attribution and is configured at the ad-set level in Meta Ads Manager. This layer is currently in invite-only beta for Meta, with broader rollout planned for June 2026.
Supported platforms
| Platform | Status |
|---|---|
| Meta | All customers can set up Apex data sharing today. |
| Snap | Closed beta; no timeline on broader rollout. |
| AppLovin | Available. |
| Apex consent is required to access Clicks + Deterministic Views (C+DV). Apex is not currently used for Pinterest optimization. | |
| Others | Additional platform integrations are on the roadmap. |
Setting up Apex
Before you start
Regardless of platform, setup begins in Apex in your Northbeam dashboard. You'll define your North Star metric — the signal Apex sends to the platform to optimize toward:
- Revenue type: First-Time, Returning, or Blended
- Attribution model: Clicks-Only, Clicks + Deterministic Views (CDV), Last Touch, Linear, or First Touch
- Attribution window: 1 / 3 / 7 days
- Accounting mode: Accrual
Once your North Star is set, enable Apex consent for your desired platform(s) in the same settings page.
Changing your North Star after setup resets the model's calibration period.Plan for approximately two weeks before the model is fully re-warmed. Coordinate with your CSM before making changes if you have active optimization campaigns running.
Meta
Meta is the most fully featured Apex integration today and the most common starting point. The setup below is specific to Meta.
Legacy vs. current version
The current version of Apex sends order-level data to Meta via CAPI and is the foundation for active Meta-side optimization.
| Legacy Apex | Enhanced Apex (current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Account-level data passback | ✅ | ❌ |
| Order-level data passback | ❌ | ✅ |
| Order-level algorithm optimization | ❌ | ✅ |
| Set a North Star metric | ✅ | ✅ |
| Meta optimizes campaigns vs. North Star | ❌ | ✅ (gated beta) |
| A/B test performance at Meta ad-set level | ❌ | ✅ (gated beta) |
Enhanced Apex sends richer signal.Legacy Apex passed back aggregated ad-level totals. Enhanced Apex sends touchpoint-level data — giving Meta a multi-touch picture of what drove every sale.
Updated 5 days ago