Glossary /
ROAS
Efficiency & cost
Return on Ad Spend
The revenue your ads generate for every dollar you spend — the anchor metric every advertiser cites and the one every platform reports differently.
Attribution & Measurement
Unit Economics
Data Governance & Nomenclature
Creative & Delivery
Audiences & Targeting
Mobile & Privacy
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is the revenue attributed to advertising divided by the amount spent on that advertising. A ROAS of 4 means you earned $4 for every $1 spent.
What is ROAS?
ROAS is the headline efficiency metric for paid media. It tells you, in the simplest terms, whether your spend is generating more value than it costs. A ROAS of 1.0 is break-even on revenue (not profit); above 1.0 your ads return more revenue than they consume. It matters because it's the number everyone — finance, founders, the ad platforms — reaches for first. But ROAS is a revenue metric, not a profit metric. It ignores margin, fulfillment, and overhead, so a high ROAS on a low-margin product can still lose money. Use it to compare campaigns, channels, and time periods that share the same attribution basis. The trap is comparing ROAS figures pulled from different platforms — each platform calculates its own version, and they don't sum to a single truth.
ROAS Formula
ROAS = Revenue from Ads ÷ Ad Spend
Revenue from Ads is the conversion value the platform (or your own analytics) attributes to the ad — typically order value from purchases tied back to a click or view. Ad Spend is the total cost of the ads over the same period. Divide revenue by spend to get a ratio: how many dollars back per dollar in.
Worked example
A single Google Ads campaign, measured over its conversion window.
Ad Spend
$10,000
Revenue Attributed (Google Ads)
$40,000
Reported ROAS
4.0x
$40,000 ÷ $10,000 = 4.0x
This is the platform-reported ROAS. Actual blended ROAS is lower once cross-channel overlap and attribution double-counting are removed.
How ROAS differs across ad platforms
Google Ads
Google reports ROAS as "Conv. value / cost," using the conversion value you assign to each conversion action and its data-driven or last-click attribution. It credits revenue to the click within your conversion window and counts view-through conversions separately, so its self-attributed value leans toward search intent it can already see.
Meta
Meta reports "Purchase ROAS" based on pixel/Conversions API purchase value under its default 7-day-click / 1-day-view attribution. The 1-day-view credit means Meta often claims revenue from people who saw but didn't click an ad — a major reason Meta's ROAS overlaps with and double-counts Google's.
TikTok
TikTok reports ROAS from its own pixel/Events API value under a shorter default window (commonly 7-day click / 1-day view, adjustable). With heavy view-driven discovery behavior, TikTok's self-attributed ROAS skews toward view-through credit and rarely reconciles with click-based platforms.
Common ROAS misconceptions
A higher ROAS always means a more profitable campaign.
ROAS measures revenue, not profit. A 6x ROAS on a 20% margin product can be less profitable than a 3x ROAS on a 60% margin product. Use POAS or MER alongside it.
You can add up each platform's reported ROAS to get total ROAS.
Platforms self-attribute under different windows and view-through rules, so they double-count the same conversions. Summing platform-reported revenue inflates the real number — often badly.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ROAS in simple terms?
ROAS is how much revenue your ads bring in for every dollar you spend. A ROAS of 4 means $4 back for every $1 spent.
How is ROAS calculated?
Why does ROAS differ across ad platforms?
How does Clarisights report on ROAS?
Attribution & Measurement
Unit Economics
Data Governance & Nomenclature
Creative & Delivery
Audiences & Targeting
Mobile & Privacy
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is the revenue attributed to advertising divided by the amount spent on that advertising. A ROAS of 4 means you earned $4 for every $1 spent.
What is ROAS?
ROAS is the headline efficiency metric for paid media. It tells you, in the simplest terms, whether your spend is generating more value than it costs. A ROAS of 1.0 is break-even on revenue (not profit); above 1.0 your ads return more revenue than they consume. It matters because it's the number everyone — finance, founders, the ad platforms — reaches for first. But ROAS is a revenue metric, not a profit metric. It ignores margin, fulfillment, and overhead, so a high ROAS on a low-margin product can still lose money. Use it to compare campaigns, channels, and time periods that share the same attribution basis. The trap is comparing ROAS figures pulled from different platforms — each platform calculates its own version, and they don't sum to a single truth.
ROAS Formula
ROAS = Revenue from Ads ÷ Ad Spend
Revenue from Ads is the conversion value the platform (or your own analytics) attributes to the ad — typically order value from purchases tied back to a click or view. Ad Spend is the total cost of the ads over the same period. Divide revenue by spend to get a ratio: how many dollars back per dollar in.
Worked example
A single Google Ads campaign, measured over its conversion window.
Ad Spend
$10,000
Revenue Attributed (Google Ads)
$40,000
Reported ROAS
4.0x
$40,000 ÷ $10,000 = 4.0x
This is the platform-reported ROAS. Actual blended ROAS is lower once cross-channel overlap and attribution double-counting are removed.
How ROAS differs across ad platforms
Google Ads
Google reports ROAS as "Conv. value / cost," using the conversion value you assign to each conversion action and its data-driven or last-click attribution. It credits revenue to the click within your conversion window and counts view-through conversions separately, so its self-attributed value leans toward search intent it can already see.
Meta
Meta reports "Purchase ROAS" based on pixel/Conversions API purchase value under its default 7-day-click / 1-day-view attribution. The 1-day-view credit means Meta often claims revenue from people who saw but didn't click an ad — a major reason Meta's ROAS overlaps with and double-counts Google's.
TikTok
TikTok reports ROAS from its own pixel/Events API value under a shorter default window (commonly 7-day click / 1-day view, adjustable). With heavy view-driven discovery behavior, TikTok's self-attributed ROAS skews toward view-through credit and rarely reconciles with click-based platforms.
Common ROAS misconceptions
A higher ROAS always means a more profitable campaign.
ROAS measures revenue, not profit. A 6x ROAS on a 20% margin product can be less profitable than a 3x ROAS on a 60% margin product. Use POAS or MER alongside it.
You can add up each platform's reported ROAS to get total ROAS.
Platforms self-attribute under different windows and view-through rules, so they double-count the same conversions. Summing platform-reported revenue inflates the real number — often badly.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ROAS in simple terms?
ROAS is how much revenue your ads bring in for every dollar you spend. A ROAS of 4 means $4 back for every $1 spent.
How is ROAS calculated?
Why does ROAS differ across ad platforms?
How does Clarisights report on ROAS?
Attribution & Measurement
Unit Economics
Data Governance & Nomenclature
Creative & Delivery
Audiences & Targeting
Mobile & Privacy
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is the revenue attributed to advertising divided by the amount spent on that advertising. A ROAS of 4 means you earned $4 for every $1 spent.
What is ROAS?
ROAS is the headline efficiency metric for paid media. It tells you, in the simplest terms, whether your spend is generating more value than it costs. A ROAS of 1.0 is break-even on revenue (not profit); above 1.0 your ads return more revenue than they consume. It matters because it's the number everyone — finance, founders, the ad platforms — reaches for first. But ROAS is a revenue metric, not a profit metric. It ignores margin, fulfillment, and overhead, so a high ROAS on a low-margin product can still lose money. Use it to compare campaigns, channels, and time periods that share the same attribution basis. The trap is comparing ROAS figures pulled from different platforms — each platform calculates its own version, and they don't sum to a single truth.
ROAS Formula
ROAS = Revenue from Ads ÷ Ad Spend
Revenue from Ads is the conversion value the platform (or your own analytics) attributes to the ad — typically order value from purchases tied back to a click or view. Ad Spend is the total cost of the ads over the same period. Divide revenue by spend to get a ratio: how many dollars back per dollar in.
Worked example
A single Google Ads campaign, measured over its conversion window.
Ad Spend
$10,000
Revenue Attributed (Google Ads)
$40,000
Reported ROAS
4.0x
$40,000 ÷ $10,000 = 4.0x
This is the platform-reported ROAS. Actual blended ROAS is lower once cross-channel overlap and attribution double-counting are removed.
How ROAS differs across ad platforms
Google Ads
Google reports ROAS as "Conv. value / cost," using the conversion value you assign to each conversion action and its data-driven or last-click attribution. It credits revenue to the click within your conversion window and counts view-through conversions separately, so its self-attributed value leans toward search intent it can already see.
Meta
Meta reports "Purchase ROAS" based on pixel/Conversions API purchase value under its default 7-day-click / 1-day-view attribution. The 1-day-view credit means Meta often claims revenue from people who saw but didn't click an ad — a major reason Meta's ROAS overlaps with and double-counts Google's.
TikTok
TikTok reports ROAS from its own pixel/Events API value under a shorter default window (commonly 7-day click / 1-day view, adjustable). With heavy view-driven discovery behavior, TikTok's self-attributed ROAS skews toward view-through credit and rarely reconciles with click-based platforms.
Common ROAS misconceptions
A higher ROAS always means a more profitable campaign.
ROAS measures revenue, not profit. A 6x ROAS on a 20% margin product can be less profitable than a 3x ROAS on a 60% margin product. Use POAS or MER alongside it.
You can add up each platform's reported ROAS to get total ROAS.
Platforms self-attribute under different windows and view-through rules, so they double-count the same conversions. Summing platform-reported revenue inflates the real number — often badly.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ROAS in simple terms?
ROAS is how much revenue your ads bring in for every dollar you spend. A ROAS of 4 means $4 back for every $1 spent.
How is ROAS calculated?
Why does ROAS differ across ad platforms?
How does Clarisights report on ROAS?
See Viewable Impression across every channel in one report
See viewability and vCPM across every platform—display, video, programmatic— in one normalized report, instead of reconciling vendor numbers by hand.
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See Viewable Impression across every channel in one report
See viewability and vCPM across every platform—display, video, programmatic— in one normalized report, instead of reconciling vendor numbers by hand.
Book a demo