Your platform ROAS is probably lying to you
Meta and Google both count conversions they didn't cause. Here's how to work out what your real return is before you scale on a number that isn't true.
Every ad platform is graded on its own homework. Meta decides which conversions Meta caused, Google decides which conversions Google caused, and neither of them subtracts the sales you would have made anyway.
The quickest sanity check costs nothing: add up the revenue every platform claims for last month and compare it with what actually landed in your accounts. If the platforms claim more than you earned, and they usually do, the gap is your overlap.
Fix the measurement before you fix the campaigns. Server-side tracking with proper deduplication, a blended CAC view across all channels, and a holdout test if your volume supports one. Only then does a scaling decision mean anything.
- attribution
- roas
- ga4
Written by
Rakesh Roy
Performance Marketing Specialist
Freelance performance marketer. Eight years inside Meta and Google ad accounts, working with founders who want the numbers to make sense.
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