Our newsletterVendor reportTriple Whale, 18 Aug 2026
In 2026, Meta ads returned $1.88 of revenue per dollar spent this year, holding steady against $1.86 in 2025
Performance measurement
Overall Benchmarks for Meta Ads: Return on ad spend (ROAS) for Meta Ads, current vs prior 12-month period (ratio)
Overall Benchmarks for Meta Ads: Return on ad spend (ROAS) for Meta Ads, current vs prior 12-month period (ratio)| Time period | ROAS (ratio) |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 to July 2026 | 1.88 |
| Aug 2024 to July 2025 | 1.86 |
- Reader Note:
- A 1% move, which is why the claim says held steady rather than rose. Revenue here is what Meta attributes to the ad divided by spend, so it inherits each brand's own pixel setup and attribution window, neither of which the report states. Across the 17 categories the spread is far wider than this single figure suggests, from 1.13 at the bottom to 2.35 at the top.
- Evidence:
- Observed behaviour
- Vendor interest:
- Moderate — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
- Sample:
- Performance data from over 40,000 brands using Triple Whale, covering Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram) and grouped into 17 ecommerce industry categories; selection details not disclosed.
Reader Note:
Evidence:
Vendor interest:
Sample:Good for
Comparing yourself against a similar segment, and choosing what to test next.
Not for
- Saying that one thing caused another, or predicting what you would get.
- This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
- This is an aggregated or average number that covers very different cases. Real results in a particular segment may differ.
- Nobody counted this directly — it's a calculation. The publisher worked it out itself, or took the ad platform's word for what its ads achieved.
- The source says how much it looked at, but not how any of it was chosen.
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