Google has rolled out an open-source marketing mix model (MMM) called Meridian that aims to help in formulating cross-channel media strategies in the current environment of fragmented media consumption and privacy changes. As marketers contend with Google’s plan to sunset the use of third-party cookies by the end of this year, MMMs — classic tools of yesteryear — “are experiencing a renaissance,” says the search giant. MMMs are statistical analyses companies use to help measure the impact of cross-channel marketing sales. Google says it has “observed more customers turning to MMMs, especially performance and full-funnel marketers.”

In a blog post, the search giant cites a Kantar study that indicates “60 percent of U.S. advertisers are currently using MMMs, and 58 percent of those not using these models are considering doing so in the future.”

MediaPost notes that “the migration from licensed to open-source software continues to gain momentum as consumer privacy increases in importance,” while “searches related to ‘MMM’ rose about 32 percent in 2023 compared with 2022, according to Google Trends data.”

Meridian, according to Google, is built to drive better outcomes. It does this by anchoring on four pillars detailed in the Google Ads & Commerce blog:

• Innovation that “helps make MMMs more accurate, actionable and analytically rigorous.”
• Transparency that allows anyone to evaluate the underlying code and change it to meet their business needs.
• Actionability through “richer data inputs, offering modeling guidance aligned to the innovations, and enabling cross-channel budget optimization.”
• Education through “comprehensive technical documentation” and connectivity to “Google and partner support.”

Meridian can also “help marketers make better decisions by offering data inputs, model guidance, and cross-channel budget optimization,” according to MediaPost, while Search Engine Land says its aim is to “help advertisers analyze campaign performance while prioritizing user privacy.”

Though it incorporates the word “model,” Google was mum on how or whether it would use artificial intelligence to inform Meridian or help with its interface. Media mix modeling predates the current AI craze, having been around since the 1950s, though it didn’t really take off until the ’60s and ’70s. It has been in continuous use ever since, and some say is regaining popularity due to the an increased reliance on data aggregated from multiple sources as well as ta surge in mobile advertising.

A Google/Deloitte study that ran from October 2022 to February 2023 found that “C-Level leaders that placed high importance on marketing mix modeling were over 2X more likely to exceed revenue goals by 10 percent or more,” per Google.