Glossary/Measurement & Attribution/Lift Study
Measurement & Attribution
Lift Study
A test comparing exposed and unexposed groups to measure an ad's causal effect.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Appears in Lesson 8 of Programmatic 101
Short answer
A lift study is a controlled test that measures an ad's causal effect by comparing outcomes between a group exposed to the campaign and a similar group that was not. The difference represents the lift. Lift studies can measure brand metrics like awareness and recall or business outcomes like conversions, and they underpin incrementality measurement.