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Money and efficiency

TACOS

Total Advertising Cost of Sale

Ad spend divided by total sales for the same dates, scope and currency. It is not a direct measure of profit or causation.

By AutoPPC Inc. · Updated

TACOS = advertising spend ÷ total sales × 100. Total sales includes ad-attributed and organic sales. If ad spend is $100 and total sales is $1,000, TACOS is 10%. If ad-attributed sales is $400, ACOS for that same spend is 25%.

Use matching marketplace, currency, date window and ad-format coverage. Never substitute ad-attributed sales for total sales. With zero total sales the percentage is undefined, and missing total sales should stay missing.

TACOS describes advertising's share of revenue; it does not establish that ads caused organic sales or that the business made a profit. Falling TACOS can reflect non-ad demand, pricing, promotions or other changes. Read the underlying spend and sales alongside product contribution margin.

AutoPPC supports true TACOS when seller total-sales data is supplied and keeps US and Canada separate. Without valid total-sales input it does not invent the denominator. See why total sales is needed and what advertising is worth.