Instant Games

ROAS Measurement (Beta)

Updated: Mar 3, 2026
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ROAS Measurement is a dashboard for Instant Games that measures your return on ad spend.
Note: ROAS Measurement is currently in beta. Features, metrics, and data availability may change as the tool evolves. See Limitations of the Beta for details.

What does ROAS Measurement measure?

ROAS Measurement reports your campaign performance by tracking several key metrics:

Core metrics

MetricDescription
LTV (Lifetime Value)
The total revenue a player generates over their lifetime in your game, combining both IAA (ad revenue) and IAP (purchase revenue).
kLTV (Viral Lifetime Value)
LTV plus the additional value generated by players your acquired users bring in through social sharing and viral mechanics. kLTV includes the revenue from these socially acquired players in the value of your acquisition spend.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
The ratio of player LTV to the cost of acquiring that player. A ROAS of 100% means you have earned back your acquisition cost.
kROAS (Viral Return on Ad Spend)
The ratio of kLTV to acquisition cost. kROAS is always equal to or greater than ROAS because it includes the viral value. A campaign with a ROAS below 100% may still be profitable when kROAS is above 100%.
Social Installs
The number of new players who came to your game as a result of sharing and social activity by players you acquired through paid campaigns. These installs cost you nothing but add value to your campaigns.

Why kROAS matters

Traditional ROAS only measures the direct revenue from acquired players. For Instant Games, this significantly undervalues your campaigns because it ignores the viral loop. When a player you acquired shares your game with friends, and those friends also play and generate revenue, ROAS Measurement attributes the friends’ revenue back to your original campaign spend.
kROAS includes the value of social installs, giving you a more accurate picture of campaign profitability.

How to access ROAS Measurement

  1. Go to the Facebook App Dashboard.
  2. Select your Instant Games app.
  3. Look for ROAS Measurement in the left navigation under the Instant Games section.
To use ROAS Measurement, you need:
  • An active Instant Game with Audience Network ad placements configured
  • At least one active acquisition campaign running through Ads Manager
  • Sufficient data volume (the dashboard requires a minimum number of installs and revenue events to generate meaningful results)

Reading and interpreting the dashboard

The ROAS Measurement dashboard is organized into several sections:

Campaign overview

The Campaign Overview, the top-level view of the ROAS Measurement dashboard, shows aggregate performance across all your campaigns. You can see:
  • Total spend over the selected time period
  • Total LTV and kLTV generated by acquired players
  • Overall ROAS and kROAS percentages
  • Total social installs attributed to your campaigns

Campaign-level breakdown

Drill down into individual campaigns to compare performance. This view helps you identify:
  • Which campaigns are profitable (ROAS or kROAS above 100%)
  • Which campaigns drive the most social installs
  • How LTV and kLTV evolve over time for each campaign’s cohort of players

Cohort analysis

ROAS Measurement tracks player cohorts based on their install date. This lets you see how LTV and kLTV accumulate over time. Key things to look for:
  • LTV curve shape: A steep early curve that flattens out suggests players generate most of their value in the first few days. A gradual, sustained curve indicates long-term engagement.
  • kLTV divergence from LTV: A large gap between kLTV and LTV means your game has strong viral mechanics. Existing players are sharing the game and bringing in new players who generate revenue.
  • Time to break even: How many days does it take for a cohort’s cumulative LTV (or kLTV) to exceed the cost of acquiring them?

Time period selection

Use the date range controls to analyze specific periods. This is useful for:
  • Evaluating the impact of game updates or new ad placements
  • Comparing seasonal performance
  • Assessing the effect of campaign changes

Using ROAS data to optimize campaigns

Identify your best campaigns

Compare ROAS and kROAS across campaigns. Allocate more budget to campaigns with high kROAS, even if their direct ROAS is moderate. The viral value they generate can make them your most profitable acquisition channels for your game.

Optimize for viral players

If certain audiences or creatives produce players with high social install rates, prioritize those segments. Players who share your game add revenue from social installs on top of your ad spend.

Adjust bids based on kLTV

Use kLTV data to set more accurate bid caps in Ads Manager. If you know a player cohort will generate $2.00 in kLTV, you can afford to spend more per install than if you were only looking at direct LTV.

Monitor break-even timelines

Track how quickly cohorts reach profitability. If a campaign’s cohort breaks even on kROAS within 7 days, you can scale spend with confidence. If it takes 30 or more days, consider whether your cash flow supports that timeline.

Test and iterate

Use ROAS Measurement to evaluate the impact of:
  • New ad creatives and formats
  • Different target audiences
  • Changes to your game’s sharing and viral mechanics
  • Updates to your ad placement strategy within the game

Limitations of the beta

As a beta product, ROAS Measurement has some limitations to be aware of:
  • Data latency: Metrics can be delayed by up to 48 hours. Real-time data is not available.
  • Minimum data thresholds: Campaigns with very low install volumes may not generate enough data for reliable metrics. The dashboard may show incomplete or unavailable metrics for small campaigns.
  • Attribution windows: The attribution model and lookback windows are fixed during the beta and may not match the settings in your Ads Manager campaigns exactly.
  • Viral attribution methodology: The model for attributing social installs to paid campaigns is being refined. Results may change as the methodology improves.
  • Limited historical data: ROAS Measurement may not have data for campaigns that ran before the beta launched.
  • Regional availability: The tool may not be available in all regions or for all app configurations during the beta period.
  • Feature changes: Dashboard layout, available metrics, and functionality may change without advance notice as the product evolves.
If you encounter issues or have feedback about the beta, please report them through the Facebook Developer Support portal.