Google introduces Meridian, an open-source marketing mix model

Investing.com -- Google (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:GOOGL) announced the launch of Meridian, an open-source marketing mix model (MMM). Meridian is designed to assist marketers and data scientists in making intelligent, data-driven decisions when measuring outcomes across different channels.

Meridian was developed by Google to cater to the needs of today’s consumer journeys. The model was tested with hundreds of brands worldwide, incorporating their feedback to create a tool that can be customized to suit individual needs. An example of its successful implementation is Finder, an Australian financial company with operations in the UK, US, and Canada.

Meridian is designed to provide a modern approach to MMMs, which have traditionally been built for offline media and branding. Traditional MMMs often struggle to fully measure performance media, such as Search ads, and AI-powered campaigns. Meridian, however, is built on a Bayesian causal inference that combines prior knowledge with real-world data to reveal the true incremental impact of marketing efforts.

Meridian enables advertisers to access the MMM Data Platform, offering core MMM data for Google media, including impressions, clicks, and cost. It also provides new value-add dimensions such as Google Query volume, giving a more accurate picture of how paid search dollars are driving results.

Meridian’s open-source nature allows for full transparency, providing users with the ability to modify the code and model parameters to fit their specific needs. It analyzes campaign performance based on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sales, website visits, profit, and conversions. This allows for a better understanding of historical performance and the ability to run multiple optimization scenarios to make the best use of budget.

The model also accounts for reach and frequency, not just impressions, to help maximize the impact of video investments. It integrates incrementality experiment results as priors, irrespective of the channel or the experiment, allowing for more accurate outcomes aligned with actual business goals.

Google also announced a partner program to support marketers in their implementation of Meridian. The program includes over 20 measurement partners trained and certified on Meridian. One of these partners is Analytics Edge, a company ready to help marketers make better budget decisions using Meridian.

Google plans to continue investing in Meridian in the coming months, adding new features and improving the methodology to enhance its power. Access to Meridian can be obtained by downloading its code on GitHub.

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