How does Propeller Ads pay their publishers?

One of our most frequently asked questions is how does Propeller Ads pay their publishers?

Answer: we use a highly advanced optimization algorithm that is based on ad focused on providing website owners and webmasters with the highest prices in the industry for their ad inventory. In a nutshell, irrespective of the payment model used by our advertisers (CPM, CPA/CPL or CPC), your ad inventory units will always generate the greatest revenue possible.

As a publisher you will receive 80% profit of all ads displayed on your website or mobile app. We work with a number of well known advertisers from around the world who all implement different payment models.

Propeller Ads combines all payment models together and places them under the “eCPM” umbrella, which is highly optimized to providing the best possible payouts based on a number of variables.

CPA, CPC and CPM – What does it all mean?

Let’s start by understanding the different payment models used for our adverts. We provide advertisers with a number of different payment model for their ads, these include:

CPA (Cost per action) – Works off what the advertiser is willing to pay per action. An action can be anything from a sale, newsletter opt-in, impression, click or contact request. For example, if an advertiser wishes to pay $2 each time someone opts-in to their newsletter via their advert, the cost per action is $2.

CPC (Cost per click) – Is a pricing model where the advertiser pays for each click their advert receives. The advertiser sets the maximum bid they are willing to pay per click, each time an ad is clicked they are charged. For example, if they have set their CPC to $0.1, they will be charged $0.1 each time someone clicks their advert.

CPM (Cost per thousand impressions, “mile”) – Is a common pricing model used by our clients. An advertiser pays a fixed amount per every 1000 impressions severed of their ad. An impression is anytime the ad is viewed.

Effective cost per mille (eCPM) – Also referred to as ‘effective cost per thousand’, eCPM is the amount you will earn as a publisher per 1000 impressions of our ad units. eCPM combines all payment models together, regardless of the actual pricing model used by the advertiser (CPA, CPM, etc), providing you with an optimized average per 1000 impressions.

How eCPM for publishers is calculated

The maths behind eCPM is very easy.
Let’s take the following example, a website receives 200,000 impression per month and has three Propeller Ads’s ad units strategically placed on their website. During the last 30 days the website generated $1,000 in revenue using Propeller Ads.
The maths:

In the calculation above, for every 1,000 impressions the website received, it earned $5 in revenue (eCPM rate = 5 USD). This is worked out by dividing the total revenue amount against the total number of website impressions.

eCPM reveals how much revenue your website is generating per 1,000 impressions combing all advertisers’ campaigns together.

How our eCPM optimization algorithm works

The example above is exactly that – an example. The amount your website earns per 1,000 impressions will vary depending on a number of factors. Propeller Ads’s optimization algorithm takes a few days (longer for sites with low traffic) to optimize your ad units to provide you with the highest possible eCPM rates.

It will test various campaigns and analyze which ads are best suited for your audience. This is to provide each publisher with the greatest results while still maintaining an awesome experience for viewers.

The more traffic your website brings the quicker the optimization process is completed. It may take a week before you see the maximum effect of our fully optimized eCPM rates.

Best tactics to optimizing eCPM

As a publisher, you also have a part to play in increasing your overall eCPM. Here’s 5 simple yet highly effective ways to increase your overall revenue.

1. Ads placement optimization

If you’re using banners ads, don’t forget to optimize their placement according our recommendations. For example, banner ads which appear above the fold tend to provide a higher eCPM as they get viewed and clicked more often. Aim to have at least one ad unit above the fold, but be sure not to overdo it as your website many get punished by search engines if you have too many.

2. Use heatmaps

Heatmaps are a great way to see where your traffic is placing their mouse courses when browsing your site. Once you know where your audience is looking, place ads in hot concentration areas to increase your click-through rates.
Here are the most popular heatmap services:

• Crazy Egg
• MouseFlow
• Clickheat (free)
• Hotspots Analytics WordPress Plugin (free)

3. Use multiple ad units to maximize coverage

A simple way to maximize your eCPM rate is to place ad units of more than one type (onclick pop-unders, mobile dialog ads, banners or others) and in different sizes on your pages.

This way, your visitors are served more ads and offers that are highly engaging and draw their attention, especially if you have a large share of mobile visitors.
Test various ads to see which yield the greatest ROI income based on your audience and website theme.

4. Driving traffic

Take advantage of every medium you can think of from forums to social media to drive traffic to your site. The more traffic you bring the bigger your profits will be.

5. Make ads stand out

Consider your ad units like call-to-actions, they need to stick out and be clear. The easier they are to spot the more they will be viewed and clicked, this will greatly increase your eCPM.

Summary

Propeller Ads’s eCPM takes all the hard work out of managing your ads, we have optimized everything to make your life easier. You simply place our ad units on your website, drive traffic and watch the money roll in.