CPA (cost per action)
CPA is a pricing model where the advertiser pays only when a defined action happens, such as a sale, a registration or a deposit.
How it works
The advertiser defines the action and its price. Traffic is free until a conversion is reported, usually by a server-to-server postback carrying the click ID that started the visit. CPA moves most of the risk from the advertiser to the network and its publishers, so networks rank CPA bids by their expected value per impression.
Cost = conversions × CPA bid
The term is also used as a result metric under any pricing model: cost per action = total spend / actions.
Example
You pay $3.00 per registration. 40 registrations cost 40 × $3.00 = $120, however many impressions or clicks they took. If 10% of those registrations deposit and each deposit is worth $50 to you, the 4 deposits return $200 on $120 of spend.
On UluMob
CPA is available for popunder, push, banner and domain redirect campaigns, from a default floor of $0.50 per conversion. A CPA campaign can also be an offer on the offer wall, with a payout per event (lead, sale, rebill) and a hold before the affiliate's share is approved (CPA offer guide). Impressions and clicks are free; you are charged your CPA bid when a signed postback reports a conversion for a click from your campaign. The payout value in the postback is for reporting only and does not change the charge.
Each click counts once per conversion type within the attribution window (7 days by default) unless that type allows repeats, and a conversion cap can stop serving after a set number per day. Setup steps are in postback setup.