Alternative mechanism

Grant that the effect is real and roughly where you think it came from, then ask whether a different chain of steps actually produced it. Same outcome, different route. It matters because a fix aimed at the wrong route changes nothing.

Grant that the effect is real and roughly where you think it came from, then ask whether a different chain of steps actually produced it. Same outcome, different route. It matters because a fix aimed at the wrong route changes nothing.

Example

The 30 percent sales drop is real and the platform update is involved, but maybe not through ranking: the update dropped your free-shipping badge, so shoppers still found you and bounced at checkout. Same loss, and the fix is your shipping settings, not keywords.