Metrics
LTV
Lifetime value — total revenue from one customer over time.
LTV (lifetime value, sometimes called CLV) is the total gross profit a customer produces over their relationship. For subscription products LTV is months-of-stay × MRR × margin; for e-com it includes repeat purchases. Operators with strong LTV can outbid ROAS-only buyers at the auction because they value a $50 first-purchase customer at $200 over 24 months. Misuse: trailing-12-month LTV is hindsight; cohort-projected LTV is what your bidding model needs.
Example
DTC supplement brand: $52 first-order AOV but 38% of buyers re-order quarterly for ~14 months. 24-month projected LTV = $187. Bidding off LTV instead of AOV unlocks a 3× larger addressable audience.