ACoS vs TACoS: Which Ad Metric Actually Matters for Your Brand?
ACoS tells you how efficient your ads are. TACoS tells you whether ads are actually growing your brand. The difference matters enormously for how you interpret performance and set bids.
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Run the numbers →ACoS: Advertising Cost of Sale
ACoS = Ad Spend / Ad Revenue × 100
ACoS measures how much you spent on advertising per dollar of revenue from those ads. A 25% ACoS means $0.25 in ad spend generated $1.00 in ad-attributed revenue.
Break-even ACoS = your contribution margin before ads. If your CM is 35% before ads, you break even on ads at 35% ACoS. Below 35% ACoS means ads are profitable. Above 35% means ads are eating into margin.
TACoS: Total Advertising Cost of Sale
TACoS = Ad Spend / Total Revenue × 100 (both ad-attributed AND organic)
TACoS is the more meaningful metric for brand health. A low ACoS with a high TACoS means you're running efficient campaigns but they're not contributing to organic growth — your brand is ad-dependent. A declining TACoS over time means your organic ranking and repeat purchase rate are improving — your brand is growing stronger relative to its ad spend.
For most healthy FBA brands: target ACoS at or below your break-even ACoS, and track TACoS to ensure it's declining or stable over time as you scale.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ACoS on Amazon? ▾
Break-even ACoS = your CM% before ads. Healthy brands operate at 60–80% of break-even ACoS to leave margin for contribution. At a 32% CM pre-ads, a target ACoS of 20–26% is healthy.
What is a good TACoS on Amazon? ▾
TACoS under 10% is typically healthy for established brands. New launches at 20–25% TACoS are normal as you build organic rank. A rising TACoS over time suggests increasing ad-dependency — usually a warning sign.