Keep It Simple, Marketer: How to Evaluate Martech Tools Like an Investor

Discover a simple, profit-focused framework for evaluating martech tools like an investor. Learn how to cut through the noise, avoid shiny object syndrome, and make smarter marketing decisions that drive real business impact.

So this happened to me earlier this week at the MarTech Summit in Singapore… I had more than a few conversations that ended with the same question: “Is this tool really worth the investment?” 🤔

I’ll be honest. Being surrounded by some of the brightest marketers, coolest demos, and the latest marketing tech was super energizing. There’s a real buzz that comes from swapping ideas, learning about new platforms, and imagining the possibilities. ⚡ But that same buzz can quickly morph into overwhelm when you’re faced with a dizzying lineup of dashboards, AI-powered features, and bold promises that this is the tool that will change your life (and pipeline).

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

In a sea of tools, demos, and jargon-filled pitches, how do you actually cut through the noise and decide whether to pull the trigger on a new martech investment?

Here’s a radical idea: Keep. It. Simple. 💡 Strip away the vanity metrics, the shiny features, and the FOMO. Because at the end of the day, if a tool doesn’t help your business make more profit — by increasing revenue or reducing costs — then it’s probably not worth your time (or budget). 📉💸

Let’s dive into how to make smarter, simpler, and more business-driven decisions when evaluating your next martech investment.

Why Marketers Overcomplicate ROI 🤯

Let’s face it. Marketers are notorious for falling in love with shiny new tools. It’s easy to get swept up by sleek demos, AI-powered this, machine-learning that, and dashboards that look like they belong on the Starship Enterprise. 🛸

But here’s the thing:

🔧 Features Over Functions

We often focus on what a tool can do rather than what it should do for our business. That leads to complexity over clarity and, ultimately, clutter in your stack.

📊 Too Many Metrics, Not Enough Meaning

With every tool claiming to give you “data-driven insights,” we end up swimming in KPIs but still struggle to make decisions that move the needle.

🧠 Analysis Paralysis

You’ve got dashboards for days but no clear next step. Sound familiar? When you try to track everything, you end up understanding nothing.

The Shift Needed

It’s time to stop asking, “Is this tool cool?” and start asking, “What’s the business impact?” The real question is: Does it move us closer to profit?

The KISS Framework for Martech Justification 💡

“Keep It Simple, Stupid (but Smart).” 😄

Let’s bring it back to the one question that really matters:

👉 Will this tool drive profit?

Everything else is noise. Strip away the fluff and focus on the two simple levers that drive profit: Revenue Growth and Cost Reduction.

💰 Revenue Growth

Invest in tools that earn their keep by helping you sell more or sell better:

  • Improve conversion rates: CRO tools, smarter funnels, or better lead scoring.
  • Enhance personalisation: More relevant emails or platform experiences = more engagement = more sales.
  • Boost retention: Loyalty platforms and CRM systems that drive repeat purchases = higher LTV.

💸 Cost Reduction

Save time, cut waste, and do more with less:

  • Automation: Think email workflows, content AI, and smart scheduling.
  • Reallocate manual effort: Free your team from grunt work so they can focus on strategy.
  • Better targeting: Stop burning ad dollars. Smarter targeting = less waste, more ROI.

A Finance-Informed Lens on Martech Investment 📊

Here’s where my background in finance and asset management comes in handy. Let’s take a step back and think like an investor.

🧮 Net Present Value (NPV) for Marketing Tools

Every martech tool is a business investment. And every good investor asks:

“Will the return outweigh the cost and is it better than using that money elsewhere?”

Break it down like this:

  • Upfront Cost: Licenses, integrations, onboarding, training. 💵
  • Benefits Over Time: Either in revenue gains or cost savings over 12 months (a typical contract period).
  • Opportunity Cost: What else could you do with that money?

So the mental model becomes:

“Will this tool deliver more value than its cost over a 12-month horizon?”

Even if you don’t build a full spreadsheet model, this mindset helps you make smarter, more grounded decisions.

Simple NPV Breakdown:

  • 🧾 Initial Cost = license + internal hours for implementation
  • 📈 Forecasted Impact = estimated uplift in conversions or time saved
  • 🔁 Discount Rate = your company’s risk appetite or benchmark ROI

No buzzwords. Just business thinking.

How to Build a Simple Business Case Without Drowning in Data 🛠️

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a spreadsheet wizard to justify a tool. Just follow this simple, no-fluff approach:

1. Start with a Hypothesis

“If we implement this tool, we expect a 10% increase in lead conversion.”

2. Estimate the Dollar Impact

10% more leads converted × average revenue per lead = projected revenue gain

3. Add the Estimated Cost

Subscription fee + implementation hours (people x time)

4. Consider the Time to Impact

Will results show up in weeks or months? How fast can we get to value?

5. Align with Stakeholders

Finance and leadership don’t care about CTRs or impressions. They want to know if this makes or saves money. Talk in business terms and not just marketing jargon.

🚀 Final Thoughts: Be the Bridge Between Marketing & Business

At the end of the day, marketing isn’t just about crafting clever campaigns or plugging in the latest tools. It’s not just creative, and it’s not just technical — it’s a growth engine. 💡

And the most effective performance marketers? They think like investors. 📊 They know that every tool, every tactic, and every touchpoint needs to serve a higher purpose: profit.

When you lead with simplicity, profit-focused thinking, and business clarity, something powerful happens:

👉 You stop chasing shiny objects.

👉 You start making confident, data-informed decisions.

👉 And most importantly, you become a true strategic partner to the business. And not just the person who runs the ads or manages the tech stack.

So here’s your next move:

💬 If you’re currently evaluating a martech tool or stuck in one that isn’t performing, ask yourself: What’s the impact on profit?

If you can’t answer that clearly, maybe it’s time to go back to basics. Strip away the noise, follow the numbers, and focus on what actually moves the needle.

Because sometimes, the smartest strategy is the simplest one. 💥


Want more content like this? Follow along as I break down growth marketing with a business-first mindset — minus the fluff and with a healthy dose of real-world strategy. 👊

Boosting ROAS the Smart Way: The Math Behind More Profitable Ads

Learn how to optimize ROAS with smarter strategies. Discover the math behind Return on Ad Spend and how improving Average Basket Size, Conversion Rate, and Cost Per Click can drive better ad performance and profitability.

I’d be honest. When I first moved into digital marketing from a background in math and quantitative finance, I saw things a little differently. While most marketers focused on creative storytelling and audience psychology (which are undeniably important), I naturally gravitated toward the numbers. I wanted to break down ad performance the way I would analyze financial models—through data, formulas, and strategic optimizations.

One of the biggest misconceptions I’ve seen in performance marketing is the belief that cutting costs alone improves Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Many marketers think that slashing CPC (Cost Per Click) or reducing spending on “underperforming” campaigns is the key to profitability. But that’s only part of the equation.

ROAS isn’t just about how much you spend, it’s about how much value you generate from every dollar. And to truly optimize ROAS, you need to understand its mathematical makeup. In this post, I’ll break ROAS down into its three core componentsAverage Basket Size (ABS), Conversion Rate (CVR), and Cost Per Click (CPC), and show you the strategic levers you can pull to drive better ad performance.

Let’s get into it. 🚀

What is ROAS? (Defining the Formula)

Let’s start with the basics. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is one of the most critical metrics in performance marketing. It tells you how much revenue you’re generating for every dollar spent on advertising.

ROAS Formula:

For example, if you spend $1,000 on ads and generate $3,000 in revenue, your ROAS is $3,000 / $1,000 = 3

This means you’re earning $3 for every $1 spent.

While a higher ROAS is ideal, blindly optimizing for it by just cutting costs can be misleading. To truly maximize ad performance, we need to break it down further.

Breaking Down ROAS: The 3 Key Components

ROAS is influenced by three key factors:

1. Average Basket Size (ABS)

What it means: The average amount a customer spends per purchase.

Why it matters: If customers spend more per transaction, your revenue increases without needing more conversions.

2. Conversion Rate (CVR)

What it means: The percentage of visitors who clicked on an ad and made a purchase.

Why it matters: Higher conversion rates mean you extract more value from the same traffic.

3. Cost Per Click (CPC)

What it means: The cost of acquiring each visitor to your site.

Why it matters: Lowering CPC without sacrificing traffic quality means getting more conversions for the same budget.

Rewriting ROAS using these components:

This equation makes it clear: To improve ROAS, you need to increase ABS, improve CVR, or lower CPC. Let’s dive into how you can optimize each.

Strategies to Improve ROAS via Each Component

A. Increasing Average Basket Size (ABS)

Let’s take an e-commerce brand as an example. Instead of focusing on acquiring more customers, they increased revenue by maximizing how much each customer spends.

Tactics to Increase ABS

✅ Upsells & Cross-sells: Recommend complementary products (e.g., “Frequently bought together” or post-purchase upsells).

✅ Bundling: Offer product bundles at a slight discount to encourage higher spending.

✅ Free Shipping Thresholds: Set free shipping at a slightly higher value than the average order to push customers to buy more.

🛍️ Case Study: Ravin Boosting Average Basket Size (ABS)

Ravin, an online fashion retail brand, implemented Wiser’s product recommendation engine to enhance customer engagement. By displaying related and frequently bought together items on product pages, they achieved a 30% increase in conversions and a 12% increase in sales.

B. Boosting Conversion Rate (CVR)

Let’s say you’re running a subscription app. You get clicks, but many users drop off before converting. Improving CVR means turning more of those clicks into paying customers.

Tactics to Improve CVR

✅ Landing Page Optimization: Make checkout seamless, ensure fast-loading pages, and optimize for mobile.

✅ A/B Testing Offers & Creatives: Experiment with different CTAs, ad visuals, and pricing models to see what converts best.

✅ Trust Signals & Social Proof: Showcase reviews, testimonials, and security badges to reduce buyer hesitation.

🥗 Case Study: FastEasy Boosting Conversion Rate (CVR)

FastEasy, a mobile fitness app, faced challenges in efficiently conducting A/B tests for their campaigns. By integrating Reteno’s AI-powered marketing automation platform, they were able to run multiple experiments simultaneously without relying heavily on developers. This approach led to a 29% boost in conversion-to-subscription rates.

C. Lowering Cost Per Click (CPC)

A mobile gaming app wanted to scale its paid campaigns while maintaining profitability. Lowering CPC without sacrificing quality was the key.

Tactics to Reduce CPC

✅ Better Targeting: Use lookalike audiences, retargeting, and negative exclusions to focus on high-intent users.

✅ Ad Quality Score: Platforms like Google Ads reward high-relevance ads with lower CPCs. Improve ad copy, CTR, and landing page experience.

✅ Bid Optimization: Adjust bids based on performance insights such as time of day, device, and geo-targeting can significantly impact CPC.

🕹️ Case Study: Voodoo Games Lowering Cost-per-Install

Voodoo Games, a French mobile game publisher, by actively testing more than 500 videos a week for their hit game Mob Control, reduced their CPI and surpassed $200M in revenue at an average of 150% ROAS.

Final Thoughts: The Smarter Approach to ROAS

Improving ROAS isn’t just about spending more, it’s about spending smarter. By understanding the math behind ROAS and optimizing its key components — Average Basket Size (ABS), Conversion Rate (CVR), and Cost Per Click (CPC), you can make strategic, high-impact changes that drive better profitability.

At the core of all successful ad campaigns is data-driven decision-making. Testing, iterating, and refining based on real numbers, not just gut feelings, ensures that every dollar you invest works harder for you.

So, what’s your biggest challenge with ROAS? Drop a comment below, and let’s discuss! 🚀

2023 Digital Marketing Predictions

At this point, doing a 2023 prediction now seems to be cheating. I admit that predictions are hard and it probably took me longer than I should to assemble my views. While better late than never, hopefully this will spark conversation and hold us accountable for our predictions. 

AI-Powered Digital Marketing

Let’s start with an easy and obvious one – something I have already wrote about previously. Whether we like it or not, the rise of AI in Digital Marketing is upon us. 

2023 is probably the first year we see the start of real competition to Google’s Search dominance in the form of Microsoft’s new AI-powered Bing. However, this hype about AI has already transcended Search marketing, and many Ad Tech businesses are eager to incorporate AI into their products. 

With AI providing efficiency, what this means for Digital Marketers is the need to go beyond building deep technical expertise and instead focus on soft skills like problem solving, strategic thinking and creativity.

Focus on Enhancing Customer Lifetime Value

From a macro economic standpoint, 2023 is set to continue the tailwinds of a turbulent 2022. Rising interest rates, inflation and a potential recession.

With such a gray backdrop, more companies will probably prefer to be conservative with their digital marketing budgets. As such, to obtain growth in revenue, companies will need to extract higher value per user. 

Companies should therefore focus on product and monetisation to enhance their customers’ LTV. Improving LTV will also reduce the opportunity cost caused by the rising interest rates.

Apple to Extend its Digital Advertising Dominance

Since Apple released iOS 14.5, the importance of Apple Search Ads to Digital Marketers has grown drastically. This has clearly revealed Apple’s ambition in the digital advertising space.

Apple’s strengths lies predominantly in its ecosystem. With full visibility of its audiences within the iOS ecosystem, Apple is in the best position to provide personalised ads and measure its effectiveness. 

All Apple needs now, is to build its own ad exchange and demand-side platform.

Privacy Forces Transition to Probablistic Tracking

Towards the end of 2023, Google is expected to finally release its Privacy Sandbox initiative where it will reduce cross-site and cross-app tracking. This is almost equivalent to Apple’s iOS 14.5.

So, Digital Marketers should prepare for a world without deterministic tracking such as device IDs or cookies. The broad solution to this is probabilistic tracking and it is likely that advertising platforms will resort to using this. 

Tiktok to Finally Overtake Meta and Google

Let’s face it. Attention spans are dropping globally. (If you made it to this point, kudos to you!) We have been saying it for years that video as a medium is the next big thing. Specifically in 2023, short-form videos will takeover the world. To combat Tiktok, Meta and Google have both released their own versions in the form of Reels and Shorts respectively. 

It is probably still a stretch that Tiktok may actually overtake the two behemoths in 2023. But with as the fastest-growing platform dominated by youths, it is clear that the future, for now, lies in Tiktok’s hands.

In all, 2023 will definitely be another interesting year for digital marketers.

What other futures do you see yourself in 2023?

Digital Marketers: 7 Skills to Have in 2023

Recently with a little more time on my hands, I was curious to find out what companies/recruiters are looking for in Digital Marketers. But going through the many job descriptions on LinkedIn, it seemed to be a mammoth of a task, an especially menial one.

So, I decided instead to use some simple text analytics to mine out the keywords used in these job descriptions. First, using “digital marketing” as a keyword on LinkedIn, I took 30 job descriptions as the raw data. After that, I used a text mining package on R to analyse it for keyword frequency and associations.

Here’s what I found out.

Taking together the keyword frequencies and associations, provided me with a list of skills I believe would be important for Digital Marketers to have now.

1. Teamwork and Team Management

While Digital Marketing may oftentimes be thought of as an individual contributor, this is hardly the case. To run an effective digital marketing campaign, multiple cross-functional teams need to work hand-in-hand.

I will say the critical teams here would be the Performance Marketing, Creative, Data and Product Teams. Effective digital campaigns require these four teams to work together to produce data-driven potent ads that are successful in driving users to convert in the product conversion funnel.

As such, a Digital Marketer in 2023 needs to be able to work well with cross-functional teams, and/or be able to manage such teams.

2. Media Campaigns

Needless to say as digital marketers, we need to have the right technical skills to run media campaigns. However, I will go a step further here to highlight two points – the breadth of media campaigns and hands-on experience.

As we move towards a world powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Digital Marketers need to be more than single ad platform specialists. Being able to understand and manage multiple campaigns across different ad platforms will be vital.

In addition, with a looming recession, companies may be forced to tighten their resources and thus more Digital Marketers will be expected to have hands-on experience in managing the campaigns.

3. Drive Customer Growth

A huge part of what Digital Marketers do is to drive user acquisition. However, it is important to note that growing the customer base does not stop at the top of the funnel. It goes way deeper than that.

Digital Marketers need to be able to bring in quality users who will end up as valuable customers. This means focusing on bringing in relevant users, and working closely with Data and Product teams to retain customers.

4. Business Strategy

With increased help from AI, Digital Marketers need to move beyond technical expertise and towards other skill sets such as strategic thinking, creativity and problem-solving. 

At the end of the day, digital marketing needs to help the company achieve its business goals. The more strategic Digital Marketers are, the better position they will be in to formulate strategies and tactics to bring success to their company.

At this point, an astute reader might be saying “Hey Mervyn, there are only 4 skills here. What happened to the other 3?”. To that, my answer is that the remaining three are from a book I have read recently – Think Again by Adam Grant

5. Think Like a Scientist

To level up as Digital Marketers, we need to develop the habit of thinking again. Instead of simply forming opinions based on experience, come up with hypotheses, test them with data and arrive at your conclusions. 

When building up our skill set to be more strategic, we Digital Marketers should approach business strategies as experiments.

6. Abandon Best Practices

More often than not, we Digital Marketers resort or fall back to what we think are ‘best practices’. However, in doing so, we are preventing ourselves from further improving our current routines. 

What we need to do is to focus not just on results but also on the process. A bad process with a good outcome is luck, and a good process with a bad outcome might be a smart experiment. We need to adopt process accountability and continually pursue better practices.

7. Make Time to Think Again

Last but not least, we need to make time to think again. The world of Digital Marketing and Technology is ever-changing, and thus it is imperative that we set aside time for us to rethink and learn. 

Take the time to assess how much you are learning, or how much closer are you moving towards your goals. All this will help you decide on your next steps, your next experiment or your next campaign. 

Ultimately, we are rapidly moving towards a world filled with artificial intelligence and automation. Digital Marketers of today need to evolve as well to ensure that we stay relevant and continue to contribute substantially to our companies.

Are you up for the change?

AI-Powered Search Engines: 3 Ways It Will Change Digital Marketing

I got to be honest. Writing this article, I had help from ChatGPT (an AI language model). While not to the extent of it (he, she or they?) writing the article for me, but good enough proof that the future of work is indeed changing.

First, a quick premier to set the context. 

What is ChatGPT and why is it causing an AI browser war?

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI. Since its web interface version was released to the public in November 2022, it has taken the world by storm due to its capability to generate human-like text and its ability to perform a wide range of tasks such as answering questions, summarising text, and producing creative writing.

Most recently, Google fired the first salvo when they announced their own experimental AI chat service, Bard, which will be accessible in the upcoming weeks. A couple of days later, Microsoft (which has already invested $1 billion into OpenAI) announced that it is launching a new Bing with OpenAI’s GPT-4 model (ChatGPT was built using GPT-3 which only has data until 2021). This will provide a ChatGPT-like experience within the search engine. In addition, Microsoft is planning to include AI features in their Edge browser as well.

This kicks off the AI wars between Microsoft and Google. As we pray that this will not degenerate into an ending like The Matrix, let’s check out the three biggest impacts AI-powered search engines will have on us Digital Marketers.

Search Marketing To Take Larger Proportion of Ad Marketing Spend

With access to the user’s search history, location and behaviour, AI-powered search engines will deliver highly personalised search results and advertisements that can be used to create more effective targeted marketing campaigns. This would lead to higher conversion rates and better ROAS (return on ad spend) for digital marketers. As a result, it would be expected that our investment in Search Marketing will only grow in importance.

Furthermore, with Microsoft’s Bing returning with a vengeance like a Jedi, we will no longer be able to get away with just Google SEM (search engine marketing). Time to broaden our Search Marketing repertoire and pick up Bing advertising.

Increased Efficiency Leading to a New Breed of Digital Marketers

Imagining having JARVIS (Ironman) or Griot (Black Panther) helping you with your manual tasks. It is highly possible that AI-powered search engines may automate many of our manual tasks such as keyword research and bid management. This will free up precious time and resources and thus allow us to focus on more strategic initiatives.

This means that we as Digital Marketers will need to develop and focus on other skillsets besides technical expertise such as strategic thinking, creativity and problem-solving. 

Unique Content is Required to Stand Out

As AI-powered search engines focus more on conversational results instead of the traditional search query results, search engines will likely drive fewer clicks to your content.

In a world where AI may synthesise large amounts of data to produce a summarised answer, sites with similar content will be buried away. Therefore to stand out, an even greater importance will be placed on creating unique content. A tip here would be to add your own unique view on top of what AI services like ChatGPT provides.

In conclusion, AI-powered search engines will transform digital marketing by improving the ROI through enhanced targeting, creating a new breed of digital marketers, and forcing content creation to be more unique. 

What other ways do you think AI-powered search engines will affect us as Digital Marketers?

The Duopoly of Facebook and Google

In Economics, we learn that in an Oligopoly, the consumer suffers because of potential collusion leading to higher prices and lack of consumer choice.

Google and Facebook Rigged the Ad Market

With a combined share of ~53%, the digital ad space is currently being dominated by Google and Facebook. In such a duopoly (a special form of Oligopoly), collusion is always a possibility, and it turned out to be true when Google colluded with Facebook to favour its own exchange.

Oligopoly Trend is Not Waning

This problem of Oligopoly is definitely not going away anytime soon. It is exacerbated by further consolidation in the ad supply space (Applovin acquiring Mopub & ironSource acquiring Tapjoy) and Facebook/Google withdrawing further behind their walled gardens.

What can be Done?

Brands / Advertisers definitely have their work cut out for them. To stand out and succeed in time to come, I believe advertisers would need to focus on the following:

  1. Grow their product’s core value: Costs of digital advertising will be on the rise, and thus it will be important to provide real value to customers/users.
  2. Increase their users’ lifetime value: With the rising costs, revenues need to go up by either extending your customers’ lifetime or improving the ways you are monetising.
  3. Diversify to market disrupters like TikTok: We need to start diversifying to other digital marketing channels so that we do not continue to feed to their duopoly. It is probably easier said than done, but this is why we need more disruptors like TikTok.

The digital ad space will certainly start to feel tighter but do not mistake that for it being smaller.

We just need to grow bigger and better with it!

Attribution: The World Is Not Fair

We want a fair and just world. A world where all our marketing partners are attributed equally. And, we would like to think that is the case. Sorry to burst your fairy tale bubble, but we are certainly far from the truth.

World is unfair

In 2020, Facebook and Google will continue to rule over Digital Ad Spend land. Estimated by eMarketer, the duo will seize 61% of the US Digital Ad Spend. I guess this should not come as a surprise to many. With copious user data coupled with the smartest AI algorithms, is there any doubt as to why Facebook and Google are leading the race?

Yes, there is no doubt. But it is not only because of their superior technology and user base. Facebook and Google do not play fair.

Facebook and Google US Digital Ad Spend Share in 2020
Source: eMarketer

What is Attribution in Digital Marketing?

Alright, let me set the context straight-up first. What the heck is Attribution? To put it simply, Attribution refers to credit allocation to marketing interactions. In relation, there are two key concepts on Attribution that will be relevant here.

First up is the concept of which marketing interaction gets the credit. On the fundamental level, there are five basic methods (as illustrated below). Relevant to what we are discussing later, we can just refer to the “Last Interaction” model where the last marketing interaction gets all the credit.

Marketing Attribution Models

The second concept to note is the type of marketing interaction. Broadly speaking, there are only two – Click-through attribution and View-Through attribution. Don’t worry all this mumbo-jumbo is simpler than it sounds. It is the players like Facebook and Google which complicate it.

Click-through simply means the credit is given when the user actually clicks on an ad, whilst View-through means the credit is given when the user views the ad.

Sounds simple enough?

When a View Becomes a Click

What is a view? What is a click?

It may sound simple but when you really think about it, it is going to be borderline philosophical. Take some time and think through the following scenarios:

  • The ad image has loaded only the top 25% but the user has already scrolled past it.
  • The web page is loaded and there is a potential banner ad to be shown below-the-fold.
  • A video ad auto-plays but the user immediately pauses it.

Would any of you consider the above as a view? Here’s the kicker. The answer is yes and no. Yes according to Facebook but not according to Google. According to Appsflyer, a major Mobile Measurement Partner, Facebook considers an ad unit as a view as long as the ad unit is rendered. Even if it is not necessarily in view. And for videos, all it takes is for 1 pixel of which to appear on the screen. In contrast, Google requires at least 50% of the ad unit to be visible. The majority of the rest have pretty stringent rules too. They require 100% of interstitials and banners to be loaded before a view is counted.

Source: Appsflyer

At this moment you might think it is mighty of Google to be implementing such strict rules on itself. Don’t be rejoicing too soon. When we move on to a click, which I thought should have way less ambiguity, Google performed magic. For video ads that have been watched for 10 seconds or more, Google will transform that view to a click!

Source: Appsflyer

Impact on my Attribution Game

So what have all these funky definitions got to do with not playing fair?

Because Facebook and Google have risen to such importance to advertisers, all 3rd party partners such as Appsflyer who wish to continue partnering with them have to play by their rules, or risk being left out in the cold. In an ideal world, attribution rules should be the same for all players, and in my opinion, should be decided by an independent 3rd party.

When Facebook is allowed to consider unseen ads to be counted as a view, and Google is allowed to ‘magically’ convert a view to a click, we advertisers will constantly be playing in a world where we can never truly understand what channel works best with our customers.