Return on ad spend (ROAS) is a core performance metric expressed as a ratio or multiple. A 4× ROAS means you earned $4 in revenue for every $1 of ad spend. It's the advertising equivalent of return on investment, focused specifically on media.
ROAS is useful for comparing campaigns and channels, but it has a blind spot: it ignores margin. A high ROAS on a low-margin product can still lose money, while a lower ROAS on a high-margin product can be very profitable. That's why we optimize toward contribution profit, not ROAS alone.
Example
If you spend $2,000 on Google Ads and generate $10,000 in revenue, your ROAS is 5× ($10,000 ÷ $2,000).
How Sloss Digital uses it
We set ROAS targets based on each client's margins and customer lifetime value, then optimize bidding and budget toward profitable return — not a vanity number in the ad account.