Prove Incrementality Before Adding Ads
Andrew Yates, CEO of Promoted.ai, on when marketplaces should layer on ads
A marketplace only earns real confidence in ranking or ad changes when the test shows more money at the end of the flow, not just more clicks at the top. In practice that means measuring whether better search and discovery actually create more completed bookings, orders, or contracts, then asking how much of total GMV passes through those surfaces. If search is where most transactions start, even a small lift there can move overall ARPU and margin in a visible way.
-
The key distinction is incrementality. A marketplace can get more clicks by pinning louder listings or adding sponsored slots, but the useful test is whether users who saw the new experience ended up purchasing more often, or buying higher value items, than the control group.
-
This is why Promoted frames ads as one configuration of a broader ranking and measurement system. The same machinery can optimize organic results, promotions, and paid placement, because the real job is deciding what to show on a limited screen and tracing whether that choice created downstream value.
-
At scale, this measurement discipline becomes the bridge to monetization. Mirakl added retail media as a fast growing layer on top of marketplace software, and Rokt built a large business by proving checkout placements generate revenue for both merchants and advertisers. In both cases, the money follows surfaces with clear transaction intent.
Going forward, more marketplaces will treat search, recommendations, and ads as one revenue engine with one scoreboard, incremental gross profit and ARPU. The winners will be the platforms that can prove each ranking change improves completed transactions first, then selectively turn that proven attention into higher take rates or paid placement without hurting the buyer experience.