---
title: "Growth-share matrix: the four types | Product Metrics"
description: "The growth-share matrix, or BCG matrix, divides businesses into four types by market share and growth. See the quadrants and how our segments differ."
canonical: "https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/growth-share-matrix"
pageType: article
language: en
publisher: "Product Metrics"
author: "Berend Vrakking"
datePublished: 2026-10-07
dateModified: 2026-10-07
---

> Content index: https://www.productmetrics.io/llms.txt

# Growth-share matrix (BCG matrix)

The growth-share matrix, or BCG matrix, is a Boston Consulting Group framework that divides businesses into four types by market share and market growth.

## Example

Four product lines in the matrix:

| Product line | Market share | Market growth | Type |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trail running shoes | High | High | Star |
| Everyday socks | High | Low | Cash cow |
| Smart insoles | Low | High | Question mark |
| Cotton laces | Low | Low | Dog |

Share and growth drop each line into a quadrant, and each quadrant comes with its own investment advice, from backing the star to retiring the laces. Illustrative data.

## For one product, and for an account

The BCG matrix was built for a company’s businesses or product lines. Its two axes, market share and market growth, describe a market. Neither says anything about what one product earns from your ads. Boston Consulting Group’s logic is that market leadership leads to sustainable superior returns.

Product Metrics borrows some of the names and none of the axes. Its six segments (Stars, Question Marks, Cash Cows, Dogs, Drainers and Ghosts) are set by volume (ad clicks) and return (ROAS or POAS against your target), and it does not claim to implement the BCG model.

## Common mistake

Hearing ‘Star’ and thinking BCG. A BCG Star has a high market share in a fast-growing market; a Star in Product Segmentation earned its place on volume and return.

## Questions

### What are the four quadrants of the BCG matrix?

Stars have high growth and high share. Cash cows have low growth and high share. Question marks have high growth and low share. Pets, often drawn as dogs, have low share and low growth. Boston Consulting Group places businesses in these four types.

### What is the BCG matrix used for?

It helps a company decide where to put investment across its businesses. Boston Consulting Group suggests investing significantly in stars, taking cash from cash cows to reinvest, investing in or discarding question marks depending on their chance of becoming stars, and liquidating, divesting or repositioning pets.

### Are Product Metrics segments the same as the BCG matrix?

No. The names overlap, but Product Metrics segments each product by its own ad volume and return, while the matrix places businesses by market share and growth. Product Metrics also has two segments the matrix lacks: Drainers and Ghosts.

## Sources

- [BCG: What is the growth-share matrix?](https://www.bcg.com/about/overview/our-history/growth-share-matrix)

## Keep reading

- [Product Segmentation](https://www.productmetrics.io/product-segmentation): See each product in one of six segments, by volume and return.
- [ROAS](https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/roas): The return measure behind a product’s segment.
- [Break-even ROAS per product](https://www.productmetrics.io/blog/break-even-roas-per-product): Set the return bar a product has to clear.

---

Written by Berend Vrakking, founder of Product Metrics. Last updated 2026-10-07.

HTML version: https://www.productmetrics.io/glossary/growth-share-matrix