01
Profit values for every sale
Revenue minus product costs, payment fees, delivery and VAT, worked out per order from your shop data on a formula you sign off, and sent with the conversion.
Beta
Bid on profit, not revenue.
Margins, new-customer value and lead quality sent server-side to Google Ads and Meta, so bidding chases the sales that actually make you money.
Same revenue, different profitWhat each bidding approach sees
Order ADiscounted bundle
Revenue bidding sees£100
Profit bidding sees£15
Order BFull-price best seller
Revenue bidding sees£100
Profit bidding sees£50
Illustration: two £100 orders. Revenue bidding values them the same; profit bidding tells the platform B is worth over three times more.
Bidding onProfit ✓
Order B vs Order A3.3× more profit
In short
Brightpace sets up profit-based bidding: each conversion carries its profit (or, for lead generation, its predicted value), worked out server-side and sent to Google Ads and Meta, so value-based bidding chases the sales and leads that make money rather than revenue alone.
- Best for
- Shops with mixed margins, and lead-gen businesses where leads vary in value
- Platforms
- Google Ads, Meta and Microsoft Ads
- Available as
- A beta add-on to media management, with a small number of pilot clients
- How we work
- AI-native: AI speeds up research, creative testing and reporting, and a senior specialist makes every call.
Your ads are bidding on the wrong number.
Most ad accounts bid on revenue. The platforms are told an order was worth £100, so they hunt for more £100 orders, whether they made you £15 or £50. ROAS looks healthy while profit quietly leaks to low-margin products, discounts and customers who were coming back anyway.
Profit-based bidding changes the number the algorithm learns from. Each sale carries its real profit, or each lead its likely value, worked out on your own tagging server and sent with the conversion. Google Ads, Meta and Microsoft then do what they’re good at, finding more of what you value, except now that’s profit.
Google AdsTarget ROAS on profit, new customer goal
MetaValue optimisation on profit
Microsoft AdsTarget ROAS on profit
Shopify & online shopsProduct costs, fees and refunds
CRMs for lead generationLead value and real outcomes
(01) What we run
Send the value that matters, not just the order total.
New-customer value
Each sale flagged as new or returning, so Google’s new customer acquisition goal and Meta’s value rules can favour the customers you don’t already have.
03
Lead value bidding
For lead generation: each enquiry valued by how likely it is to close and what it’s worth, then qualified, booked and won outcomes sent back as offline conversions.
Refunds and cancellations
Refunded or cancelled orders adjusted in Google Ads, so the algorithm doesn’t keep chasing sales that never stuck.
Margins kept private
Send real profit, or a profit index (profit × a fixed factor only you know) so the platforms learn what’s worth more without seeing your margins.
Daily reconciliation
Shop or CRM numbers checked against what the platforms received every day, with an alert if they drift apart, so bidding never runs on bad data.
(02) How we work
Agree it, test it, then switch.
- 01
Agree the value
We work out with you what a sale or lead is really worth: the profit formula for a shop, or the lead-value rules for a service business. You sign it off.
- 02
Shadow test
Profit is tracked alongside your current conversions for two to four weeks, but not used for bidding yet, so we can check the numbers and set the right target.
- 03
Switch, step and review
Bidding moves to profit with a target translated from your current one, then stepped gradually, with each change logged and reviewed after 14 days.
A profit formula you sign off
Product costs, fees, delivery and VAT, or lead-value rules, written down and agreed.
Server-side set-up
Values worked out on your own tagging server and sent with each conversion.
New-customer flag
New and returning customers told apart for Google and Meta.
Refund adjustments
Cancelled and refunded orders taken back out of Google Ads.
Daily reconciliation
Shop or CRM numbers checked against the platforms, with alerts on drift.
Logged changes and reviews
Every target change recorded with what we expect, then checked after 14 days.
(04) The problem
Why revenue bidding leaks profit.
Revenue hides margin
A £100 order at a 15% margin and a £100 order at 50% look identical to ROAS bidding, so budget drifts to whatever sells, not what pays.
Returning customers flatter results
Loyal customers convert easily, so the algorithm chases them, even though many would have bought without the ad.
Not all leads are equal
A form fill from a small enquiry and one from your ideal client count the same unless the platform is told otherwise.
Platforms learn from what you send
Smart Bidding and Meta’s optimisation can only maximise the value they’re given. Give them the wrong number and they get very good at the wrong thing.
(05) How it fits
An add-on to management, built on clean data.
Profit-based bidding is in beta: an add-on to our media management, currently with a small number of pilot clients, set up once your server-side tracking is in place. Ask for a quote.
It works best with clean measurement underneath: our measurement work makes sure the numbers are right, and incrementality testing shows how much of that profit the ads really add. Not sure where you stand? Work out your current figures with the MER and POAS calculator, or read what POAS means.
(06) FAQ
Profit bidding questions.
Anything else, ask the person who would run your account.
Ask a question →01Is profit-based bidding fully available yet?
It’s in beta. We’re running it with a small number of pilot clients first, alongside their existing bidding, and we’ll share results here once those pilots have run long enough to judge. If you’d like to be one of them, get in touch.
02What is value-based bidding?
Value-based bidding means the ad platform bids for the conversions worth most to you, not just the most conversions. Google Ads (Maximise conversion value or target ROAS) and Meta (value optimisation) do this using the value you send with each conversion. Send revenue and they chase revenue; send profit and they chase profit.
03What is POAS?
POAS is profit on ad spend: the profit from a sale, after product costs, fees and delivery, divided by what you spent on ads. ROAS uses revenue instead, so two products with the same price but very different margins look identical. Bidding on POAS points your budget at the sales that actually make you money. Try our MER and POAS calculator.
04How is profit bidding different from ROAS bidding?
The bidding strategy is the same (target ROAS or value optimisation); what changes is the value it learns from. Instead of the order total, each conversion carries its profit, so a £100 order with a 15% margin is worth less to the algorithm than a £100 order with a 50% margin.
05Do Google and Meta see my margins?
Only if you want them to. Many brands send a profit index instead: the real profit multiplied by a fixed factor that only you know. The platforms still learn which sales are worth more, without seeing your true margins.
06Do I need server-side tracking?
For profit bidding, yes. Product costs, fees and refunds live in your shop or finance data, not the browser, so the value is worked out on your own tagging server and sent from there. We set that up as part of the work. See server-side tracking.
07Can it favour new customers?
Yes. Each sale can be flagged as a new or returning customer, so Google’s new customer acquisition goal and Meta’s value rules can weigh new customers more heavily. That stops budget drifting to people who would have bought anyway.
08Does it work for lead generation?
Yes. Instead of profit, each enquiry gets a value based on how likely it is to become a customer and what that customer is worth, then real outcomes from your CRM (qualified, booked, won) are sent back as offline conversions. The platforms learn to find leads that turn into revenue, not just form fills.
09How long does it take to work?
We run a shadow period of two to four weeks first, with profit tracked alongside your current conversions but not used for bidding, so we can check the numbers and set the right target. Then we switch and step targets gradually while the algorithm re-learns, with a review 14 days after each change.
10Will my ROAS go down?
Reported ROAS can, because the platform stops chasing low-margin revenue. What should improve is profit. That’s why we agree the success measure up front: total profit or contribution, not platform ROAS.
11What does it cost?
It’s an add-on to our media management, quoted up front once we’ve seen your shop, data and tracking. Tagging-server hosting is paid at cost, straight to the provider.
(07) Next step
Make your ads chase profit. → Tell us what you sell, your rough margins and the platforms you run, and we’ll tell you whether profit bidding is worth it for you.