How do I choose a period and compare it?
Last updated: 6 November 2026 · The MargenOptimierer app is in German. Button and menu names are shown exactly as you see them, with the English meaning in brackets.
You choose the period at the top right, and it applies for you on every page with numbers. If your period runs up to today, your numbers end yesterday, because a day only counts once it's over. In the same menu you choose what MargenOptimierer compares it with. That's either the same number of days directly before or the same days one year earlier.
How it works
- Click the field with your period at the top right, for example „27.09.2026 – 26.10.2026“.
- Click a period in the menu, for example Letzte 30 Tage (last 30 days). The menu closes, and the page shows the numbers for the new period.
- If you want your own days, click the first day and then the last day in the calendar instead.
- Open the field again and, under Vergleichen mit (compare with), choose what MargenOptimierer compares with.
Example: Last month and its previous period
On 27 October 2026 you choose Letzter Monat (last month), which is 1 September 2026 to 30 September 2026. That's 30 days. The Vorzeitraum (previous period) is the 30 days directly before, so 2 August 2026 to 31 August 2026, and not all of August. If you choose the previous year under Vergleichen mit, MargenOptimierer compares with 1 September 2025 to 30 September 2025.
If you choose Letzte 30 Tage on the same day, 27 September 2026 to 26 October 2026 count. OTTO only finishes calculating yesterday's ad numbers in the course of today. Until they arrive, your ad numbers show „Werbezahlen bis 25.10.2026“ (ad numbers up to 25 October 2026). On the Übersicht (overview) and the Marge (margin) page, MargenOptimierer then compares margin, contribution margin and ACoS only up to that day, with the same number of days in the comparison period. On the Marge page you'll see a note under the number, for example „▲ 1,2 Punkte zum Vorzeitraum, gerechnet bis 25.10.2026“ (▲ 1.2 points versus the previous period, calculated up to 25 October 2026). On the Übersicht it's behind the info icon at the top right of the tile. Once yesterday's ad numbers are in, MargenOptimierer compares the whole period again.
What else counts about the period
What the periods in the menu mean
The last 7 and the last 30 days end yesterday. Letzte Woche (last week) is Monday to Sunday of the previous week. Letzter Monat is the whole previous month. Dieser Monat (this month) runs from the 1st to today, counted up to yesterday. These periods move forward every day, and days chosen in the calendar stay fixed. If your period runs up to today, „ohne heute“ (without today) appears next to the field. If you haven't chosen anything, the last 30 days and the comparison with the previous period apply.
Where your choice applies
Your choice applies on every page with numbers and stays saved, but only for you and only in the browser where you made it. Your colleagues choose their own period.
When a sentence appears instead of a comparison
If numbers are missing in the comparison period, MargenOptimierer doesn't compare. A sentence then appears that begins with „Kein Vergleich“ (no comparison) and names what's missing. On the Übersicht the tile then only has an info icon at the top right, with this sentence behind it. This happens mostly with the previous year, because OTTO only releases ad numbers for the last 91 days. MargenOptimierer therefore has no ad numbers from more than 91 days before you connected, and for the previous year the ad numbers are missing in the first 9 months after connecting.
If the numbers are there but don't produce a value, it says what there wasn't. An ACoS needs ad revenue, and a margin needs revenue. If you had ad spend but no ad revenue in the comparison period, the info icon at ACoS on the Übersicht says „Vorher kein Werbeumsatz.“ (no ad revenue before).
Next
- What does the Übersicht (overview) page show me?
- How do I read the margin?