ROAS
A media-efficiency metric that compares attributed revenue against advertising spend only.
Stands for
Return on ad spend
Formal definition
ROAS stands for return on ad spend: a ratio that compares attributed revenue or value to the advertising spend used to generate that outcome.
Plain-English explanation
ROAS is the faster, media-specific cousin of ROI. It asks: for every dollar spent on ads, how much attributed value came back?
Examples
- A campaign spends $5,000 and drives $20,000 in attributed revenue, producing a 4x ROAS.
- Two channels deliver the same install volume, but the one with the higher ROAS usually deserves more budget.
How it works
- Collect spend data from the ad platform or finance system.
- Join that spend with attributed revenue or another value signal.
- Compare returned value versus spend to see which campaigns scale efficiently.
How Attriax uses it
- Attriax helps teams trust the attribution side of ROAS by tying revenue-producing events back to the right source or link.
- ROAS is often more actionable than raw installs because it connects acquisition to value, not just volume.
- Teams still pair ROAS with ROI and LTV because short-term revenue is not always the same as long-term profitability.