Adjusting for ROAS across platforms

Cross-Platform Smart Bidding Intelligence for Premium Fashion E-commerce

€492K
Annual Revenue Lift
41%
ROAS Improvement
34%
Performance Gap Closed

The Challenge

Platform silos create artificial performance gaps. This premium fashion brand was running €120,000 monthly across Google Ads and The Trade Desk, but The Trade Desk was underperforming by 34% on similar inventory. The question: Could Google's bidding intelligence unlock The Trade Desk's potential?

Methodology & Data Sources

📊 Primary Data Sources

  • Google Ads/DV360: Display & Video campaign data
  • The Trade Desk: DSP performance analytics
  • Google Analytics 4: Unified attribution tracking
  • First-party CRM: Customer lifetime value data
  • Brand Lift Studies: Awareness and recall metrics

🎯 Key Metrics Analyzed

  • Cross-platform audience overlap and behavior
  • Inventory quality and viewability rates
  • Creative performance by format and placement
  • Attribution-normalized ROAS comparison
  • Incremental lift measurements

🔍 The Intelligence Transfer

Audience Similarity: 82% demographic match
User ID Matching: 78% cross-platform identification
The Opportunity: Similar audiences, similar inventory—but 34% performance gap

Weak Point Mitigation Measures

📊 Attribution Standardization

Implemented server-side tracking ensuring fair comparison across platforms.

  • 7-day click, 1-day view attribution
  • 78% cross-platform user ID matching
  • GA4 as single source of truth

👥 Audience Overlap Validation

Confirmed audience similarity before optimization.

  • 82% demographic similarity
  • Interest/behavioral signals within 12%
  • Premium inventory focus (top 10% sites)

🧪 Causal Inference Controls

Rigorous testing methodology to ensure valid results.

  • 60-day holdout test on 30% budget
  • A/B tested identical creatives simultaneously
  • Isolated inventory overlap analysis

🎯 Platform Alignment

Standardized approach across both platforms.

  • Identical creative formats
  • Aligned bidding strategies
  • Matched frequency caps and dayparting

Performance Uplift Results

Google Ads Performance

ROAS (Before) 6.2
ROAS (After) 6.2
Monthly Spend €70,000

The Trade Desk Performance

ROAS (Before) 4.1
ROAS (After) 5.8
Monthly Spend €50,000

📈 Transformation Metrics

+41% Trade Desk ROAS Improvement
€41K Monthly Revenue Increase
35% CPA Alignment Improvement
€492K Total Annual Revenue Lift

The Intelligence Transfer Process

1

Audience Intelligence Mapping

Analyzed Google's high-performing audience segments and their behavioral patterns.

2

Inventory Gap Analysis

Identified premium inventory overlap between platforms and quality discrepancies.

3

Bidding Strategy Alignment

Applied Google's bidding insights to optimize Trade Desk targeting and pricing.

4

Performance Validation

Measured incremental lift through holdout testing and attribution analysis.

Major Findings

🏛️ Platform Silos Cost Money

Platform-specific smart bidding creates 34% performance gaps on similar inventory—pure inefficiency.

🧠 Intelligence is Transferable

Cross-platform audience intelligence enabled 41% ROAS improvement when properly applied.

💎 Premium Inventory Opportunity

Premium inventory shows highest cross-platform optimization potential—quality matters.

🔍 Hidden Value in Attribution

Unified attribution reveals performance opportunities worth €500K+ annually that single-platform views miss.

Technical Implementation

🔗 Cross-Platform User Matching

  • Hashed email matching via Customer Match (Google)
  • UID 2.0 integration (Trade Desk)
  • 70%+ match rate achieved for statistical validity
  • Secure data clean room environment

📊 Unified Attribution Setup

  • Server-side tracking implementation
  • Enhanced e-commerce events
  • GDPR-compliant consent management
  • Real-time dashboard updates

🎯 Optimization Execution

  • Standardized creative formats across platforms
  • Aligned bidding strategies and targeting
  • Frequency capping and dayparting sync
  • Quality threshold enforcement

📈 Performance Monitoring

  • Daily data reconciliation (±5% tolerance)
  • Automated quality checks
  • Stakeholder dashboard access
  • Complete audit trail maintenance

Data Collection Requirements

This analysis required comprehensive data integration across multiple platforms:

Google Ads / DV360

  • Campaign Performance: Daily data with placement details
  • Placement Performance: Viewability and invalid traffic rates
  • Audience Performance: Demographic and interest breakdowns
  • Creative Performance: Asset-level analysis

The Trade Desk

  • Campaign Analytics: Full performance metrics
  • Supply Path Analytics: Inventory quality assessment
  • Audience Insights: Reach and frequency analysis
  • Creative Performance: Format and message testing

Unified Tracking (GA4)

  • Attribution Comparison: Multiple model analysis
  • Cross-Device Report: Journey mapping
  • Custom Funnel Analysis: Stage-by-stage optimization

Ready to Break Down Your Platform Silos?

This approach unlocked €492K in annual value. What's possible when your platforms work together?

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