Solution · Server-side profit tracking

POAS tracking — send profit instead of revenue to Google Ads

Standard tracking pushes Smart Bidding on revenue. Our POAS pipeline calculates the profit per order and sends that to Google Ads — so the algorithm optimises on the value that actually earns you money.

WORKED EXAMPLE · ORDER €100.00 INCL. VAT
What Google Ads sees NOW
€ 100.00
ROAS · revenue
AFTER POAS
€ 19.29
POAS · profit
Revenue incl. VAT € 100.00
VAT removed (configurable) € 82.64
× margin 30% € 24.79
− fixed costs €4 € 20.79
− txn fees 1.5% € 19.29
Profit to Google Ads € 19.29

What is POAS tracking?

POAS stands for Profit On Ad Spend. Instead of passing Google Ads the revenue per order (ROAS), we send the profit. Smart Bidding then optimises on real profit — not on revenue that might carry a negative margin.

Order on your site

Customer checks out — via your own sst.your-shop.com domain.

We calculate profit

Server-side: ex-VAT × margin − fixed costs − txn fees. Clamped at 0.

Dual-send to Google Ads

Revenue → purchase action (secondary). Profit → POAS action (primary). No double counting.

What's inside POAS tracking

All the calculation happens server-side. You don't need to change anything on your site or in your GTM container — just configure your margin and costs in the dashboard.

VAT correction (configurable)

Default vat_pct 21% — strips VAT from your revenue before the margin calculation. Set it to 0 if your conversion value is already sent ex-VAT (Shopify GTM with excl-tax, or a GTM setup without taxes).

Blended margin %

One margin_pct across all products. Pragmatic — the 80/20 of it for most shops. Per-product COGS via Shopify is on the V2 roadmap.

Fixed costs per order

A flat amount for shipping, handling and packaging. One flat_costs_eur field — an average is enough for accurate bid signals.

Variable transaction fees

Payment providers typically charge a %-fee per transaction. txn_cost_pct deducts that automatically.

Dual-send — no double counting

Two uploads per order: revenue to your existing purchase action (secondary) and profit to your POAS action (primary). Smart Bidding picks up the primary action.

Server-side, no GTM tag

The calculation and dual-send run through your existing Conversion Replay (Data Manager API). No GTM template deploy when you change your margin or costs.

✓ Built in as standard on every plan. Toggle it on in your dashboard, fill in your margin and costs — done. From €20/mo on Starter.

POAS vs Google's own profit tracking

Through Merchant Center COGS (cost of goods per item), Google has a native gross-profit feature for Shopping and PMax. We do more — and broader.

Feature
Google native (MC COGS)
Our POAS pipeline
Works for Search
Shopping/PMax only
All campaign types
Requires a product feed
Yes — per-product COGS in feed
No — blended margin
Knows fixed costs (shipping)
No
Flat amount per order
Knows transaction fees
No
Deducts the %-fee
Setup impact
Build & maintain a feed
3 fields in the dashboard
Per-product COGS
Exact per SKU
On the V2 roadmap (Shopify cost_per_item)
Honest about scope: we use a blended margin % — that's an estimate, not exact profit per order. For most shops with comparable margins across their range, that's plenty for accurate Smart Bidding signals. For exact per-product profit, Shopify cost_per_item integration is on the V2 roadmap.

Setup — in 4 steps

You don't need to change anything on your site or in GTM. You do need a separate conversion action in Google Ads, plus a little config in your dashboard.

  1. Create a new conversion action in Google Ads

    Type: purchase/lead, counting: one per conversion, attribution: data-driven. Call it something like Purchase — profit.

  2. Set the POAS action to «Primary» and your existing revenue action to «Secondary»

    This makes Smart Bidding optimise on profit. The revenue action keeps running for reporting, but no longer counts in bidding.

  3. Give us the conversion action ID in your dashboard

    In the POAS card, enter the ID of the action you just created. We link it to your existing Data Manager pipeline.

  4. Fill in margin %, fixed costs and transaction fee

    Three fields: margin_pct, flat_costs_eur and txn_cost_pct. VAT defaults to 21% and can be adjusted per shop. Done — from your next order, POAS runs along.

Tip: set Smart Bidding to Target ROAS 100% with the POAS action. ROAS 100% = every euro of ad spend returns €1 of profit = break-even. A higher target ROAS = higher projected profit.

Ready to bid on profit?

POAS tracking is built into every plan as standard. No extra licence, no separate add-on.