Why is an item a cost driver?
Last updated: 31 October 2026 · The MargenOptimierer app is in German. Button and menu names are shown exactly as you see them, with the English meaning in brackets.
An item is a cost driver if it's in the red or below its target margin. It's also a cost driver if its ACoS is above the target ACoS of its product group or, without a group, above the target ACoS of your account. You'll find the cost drivers on the Marge (margin) page, with the item furthest over target at the top. Every row names the reason. If the reason is ads or returns, a button takes you to Optimierung (optimization).
How it works
- Open the Marge page.
- Click the Kostentreiber (cost drivers) tile at the top. The page jumps to the card with the items.
- In a row, read the reason next to the item's name, such as „Werbung zu teuer“ (ads too expensive).
- Read the amount next to it. For ads that are too expensive, that's the part of your ad spend in the period that's above your target ACoS.
- Next to the row, click Werbung optimieren → (optimize ads). The Optimierung page then opens for this item only, and you can lower the bids of its targetings.
Example: The oak table as a cost driver
Say the oak table made 1,700 € of revenue in the period, 1,000 € of it after clicks on its ad. It belongs to the garden furniture product group with a 25% target ACoS. Its ads cost 340 € for 680 clicks, which is 34% ACoS. The target would allow 25% of 1,000 €, so 250 €, and the 90 € above that is the amount in its row.
The margin includes the 340 € of ad spend. After VAT, OTTO commission, own costs and ads, 255 € of contribution margin is left from the revenue, which is a 15% margin. That's exactly its target margin of 15%, inherited from the account, so it isn't below it. The table is still a cost driver, because its ads are above their target. Its row therefore names the reason „Werbung zu teuer“.
Bei 25 % Ziel-ACoS darf die Werbung für 1.000 € Werbeumsatz 250 € kosten, die übrigen 90 € liegen über dem Ziel.
When the reason or the number doesn't fit
When the row names a different reason
„Zu viele Retouren“ (too many returns) means the item's return rate is above its target return rate. The amount is then the part of the refunds above target, and the button next to it is Retouren ansehen → (view returns). If ads and returns are both above target, the row names the reason with the larger amount. „Preis oder Einkauf prüfen“ (check price or purchase price) means neither ads nor returns are above target. The amount is then what's missing up to your target margin, and there's no button. Click the row to see the item's full calculation, and check your selling price and your own costs there.
When an item with expensive ads is missing
An item only becomes a cost driver because of its ads from 10 clicks in the period. These are the minimum clicks, and 10 is the default. If ad numbers are still missing for the period, no item is a cost driver because of its ads. How to change the minimum clicks is covered in When does MargenOptimierer start rating my targetings?
When the number in the tile doesn't match the reason
The Kostentreiber tile counts every item only once. Below it you see how many of them are in the red, below their target margin or above their target ACoS. An item in the red counts there as „im Minus“ (in the red), even if its ads are too expensive. Its row still names the reason „Werbung zu teuer“, because the row says what's causing it.
Next
- How do I lower or raise bids based on my targets?
- Which items come back too often?