Google Meridian: ROI and Marketing Mix Modeling

Are you really measuring the effectiveness of your investments?

Do you ever wonder if your marketing activities are truly generating the return on investment you expect?

Do you feel that part of your budget is being wasted on advertising channels that aren’t effective?

Would you like to clearly understand the contribution each channel makes to achieving your business goals?

These doubts are common for many companies. Isolated performance data is no longer enough: businesses need advanced tools to analyse the overall effectiveness of campaigns, integrate years of data, and minimise the margin of error in strategic decisions.

That’s why more and more businesses are turning to Google Meridian, the open-source marketing mix modeling (MMM) solution that helps optimise budget allocation and clearly measure the ROI vs marginal ROI of each advertising channel.

What is Google Meridian and why is it different

Google Meridian (also known as Meridian Google or Meridian Google MMM) is a marketing mix modeling solution developed by Google and made open-source in 2025.

But what exactly is Google Meridian?

It is an advanced statistical model that analyses historical marketing and business data (years of available data) to estimate the effectiveness and contribution of each advertising channel, both online and offline.

This solution stands out because:

• Meridian integrates complex and diverse data (digital, TV, radio, social, search, external factors);
• Meridian offers transparency, being open-source and adaptable to each company’s needs;
• it uses advanced metrics such as Google Query Volume (GQV), which measures latent user demand;
• it allows you to compare ROI vs effectiveness and analyse the marginal ROI of each channel.

In short, Meridian represents a turning point for companies that want to make decisions based on data, not assumptions.

How to install Google Meridian

Installing Google Meridian is relatively simple since it is an open-source project available on GitHub. To get started:

1. Download the source code: access the official Google Meridian repository on GitHub and download the files.
2. Set up your environment: Meridian is built in Python, so you need Python 3.8+ and libraries such as TensorFlow, PyMC, or equivalent for statistical computation.
3. Upload your data: prepare your historical datasets on ad spend, sales, and external metrics. The data must be formatted according to Meridian’s required schema.
4. Run the model: launch the provided notebooks or scripts to execute the MMM model.
5. Analyse the results: generate reports and insights on channel performance, comparing ROI vs marginal ROI and optimising budget allocation.

Tip: if you don’t have an internal technical team, you can rely on a certified Google partner or an expert consultant to customise the implementation.

How to use Google Meridian in your business

Adopting Meridian Google MMM means equipping yourself with a structured and scientific approach to measure campaign effectiveness.

Here are the key steps:

• Collect historical data
  Aggregate years of data on ad spend, sales, seasonality, external events, and market trends.
• Integrate advertising channels
  Meridian integrates data from each channel (search, social, display, YouTube, TV, radio, print, outdoor campaigns), estimating the contribution of each channel to the overall result.
• Analyse ROI vs marginal ROI
  The model shows not only total return on investment but also marginal ROI, i.e. how much each additional euro spent in a specific channel generates.
• Optimise budget allocation
  Meridian offers optimal allocation scenarios, simulating how to redistribute the budget to increase performance without raising total spend.
• Reduce the margin of error
  Thanks to advanced statistical models and the ability to include years of data, Meridian significantly reduces the margin of error in estimates.

Practical benefits for businesses

Using the Google Meridian marketing mix model brings tangible benefits:

• Integrated view: finally see the combined effect of all your marketing activities.
• Transparency and control: as an open-source tool, you can adapt the model to your needs.
• Data-driven decisions: make informed choices on where and how much to invest.
• Budget optimisation: with optimal redistribution you can achieve more with the same investment.
• Advanced ROI vs marginal ROI analysis: know exactly whether to invest more in a channel or cut back.
• Focus on effectiveness: assess ROI vs effectiveness for each channel, considering not only economic return but also strategic impact.

Google Meridian case studies

According to Think with Google, several companies in sectors such as fintech, real estate, and e-commerce have successfully adopted Google Meridian.

• Akulaku (Fintech) used Meridian to overcome the limits of last-click attribution. Thanks to Meridian, it discovered that paid media contributed 75% of GMV and that budget optimisation could increase generated value by 16%.
• NoBroker (Real Estate) redefined its KPIs and discovered that YouTube had a cost per lead 69% lower than OTT platforms. Search also emerged as the most effective performance channel, allowing a potential revenue increase of 40% through strategic budget reallocation.

These examples show how Meridian represents a key tool for businesses seeking sustainable growth.

FAQ on Google Meridian