{"id":152,"date":"2025-12-22T11:26:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T11:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.tradehouse.media\/resources\/insights\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:12:37","slug":"the-case-against-ecpm-as-a-kpi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tradehouse.media\/resources\/insights\/the-case-against-ecpm-as-a-kpi\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case Against eCPM as a KPI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When reviewing metrics to ascertain performance as a publisher, there are several options. One of the most common is to look at eCPM<\/a>. However, eCPM is a flawed metric from a publisher performance perspective when comparing how one platform performs against another. In this article, we attempt to explain why, using real-world examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a publisher should ignore eCPM as a KPI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Consider the following two scenarios:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>Example A<\/strong><\/td>Example<\/strong> B<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Traffic on Page<\/td>1,000,000<\/td>1,000,000<\/td><\/tr>
Ads on Page<\/td>3<\/td>2<\/td><\/tr>
Ad Script Load<\/td>3,000,000<\/td>2,000,000<\/td><\/tr>
Average Ad Refresh<\/td>()<\/td>3<\/td><\/tr>
Impressions Recorded by Platform<\/td>2,863,620<\/td>6,000,000<\/td><\/tr>
eCPM<\/td>$ 1.75<\/td>$ 1.33<\/td><\/tr>
Traffic RPM<\/td>$ 5.00<\/td>$ 8.00<\/td><\/tr>
REVENUE<\/strong><\/td>$ 5,000.00<\/strong><\/td>$ 8,000.00<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In these examples, we are A\/B testing two monetisation solutions on a page visited one million times per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Solution A has 3 ad slots served on the page, which results in 3M ad script loads. Solution B has 2 ads per page, which results in 2M ad script loads.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Solution A does not refresh the ads. It also filters out what it deems invalid ad calls<\/em> from its reporting count, giving us a 2.8M ad calls\/pageviews\/ad requests\/impressions (the naming of these metrics differ wildly from platform to platform).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Solution B refreshes ads 3 times on average every time the page loads and\u2014unlike solution A, it reports all ad calls, valid or invalid, giving us a 6M ad requests number.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In these examples, solution A generated $5,000 at the end of the month and its eCPM is $1.75. Solution B generated $8,000 at the end of the month and its eCPM is $1.33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If we were to refer to eCPMs at the KPI, which are based purely on platform count, solution A is clearly performing better. However solution B has generated 40% more revenue out of the same traffic\u2014an ultimately more successful result. Knowing this, is eCPM really the metric we should be looking at?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At the end of the day, solution B generated more revenue for each visit. It did so by using less screen real estate (2 ads vs. 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are really two things we can trust to be accurate: On one hand, we have the number of users <\/strong>interacting with the site. On the other, the revenue generated by advertising. Whatever sits in the middle means very little in such a comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    SO I SHOULD NEVER USE ECPM?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Is that to say eCPM should never be used as a metric? Absolutely not. eCPM would be relevant if, for example, you were comparing two ad units belonging to the same setup. Or performance of a campaign you were delivering on your inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, if comparing performance between one advertising vendor or platform against another, there are too many variables which affect the output to make eCPM a meaningful metric for comparison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When reviewing metrics to ascertain performance as a publisher, there are several options. One of the most common is to look at eCPM. However, eCPM is a flawed metric from a publisher performance perspective when comparing how one platform performs against another. In this article, we attempt to explain why, using real-world examples. When a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[27,28],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-ecpm","tag-kpi"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Case Against eCPM as a KPI - Trade House Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Optimising for eCPM can actively damage your yield. 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