Mobile CPC vs. CPI

If you’ve been in the digital space for just a bit, you know what these acronyms mean. If not, here are the basic definitions:

  • CPC = Cost Per Click.
  • CPI = Cost Per Install, or Cost Per Acquisition (tied to some sort of performance element).

So as an app developer/publisher, this type of comparison pops up all the time. Should I go with a CPC based network or a CPI based network? The reality is that it depends on where you fall on the publishing spectrum. If you have a quality audience, CPI based campaigns are going to perform really well and that’s where you want to place your efforts. If it’s a low quality audience, you want to take advantage of the CPC traffic where advertisers don’t pinpoint the exact conversion back to your app or site. In other words, you get the advantage of the high converting publishers that sit within the network reach, yet don’t get paid full value for their traffic.

You are arbitraging the better performance of your peers.

Likewise, if you’re a high-converting publisher and running CPC traffic, you’re likely squandering that edge.

How do you know where you sit on the spectrum?

Test!