This post was most recently updated on September 6th, 2019
Ever been at a loss as to how you should price your CPMs on your websites? It can sometimes feel like a bit of a guessing game. How do you know what price will attract buyers? Are you leaving money on the table? What happens if you price too high? Too low?
Well, worry no more. Google DoubleClick for Publishers has introduced a minimum CPM recommendation feature that will recommend a minimum price for the ads you run on your website. This is based on historical bid data, and it’s surprisingly effective.
Google has a massive wealth of data from which to draw upon, and they use this data to give you highly specific (and accurate) CPM recommendations. We at MonetizeMore recommend that you use this feature and follow Google’s minimum CPM recommendations.
The pricing of your ad spots is a complex task, of course. Price it too low, and you’ll get tons of ad buys but not enough revenue per impression. Price it too high, and you don’t get enough buyers. Google’s minimum CPM recommendation feature shows you a horizontal bar graph that shows percentile increase or decrease of revenue and impressions for each price point.
With it, you’ll be able to see just how much money you’ll be leaving on the table (based on historical data) if you price an ad spot at a certain point vs. another point. The line graph in the minimum CPM recommendation feature uses data points to demonstrate the relationship between minimum CPMs, revenue, and impressions.
The sampling and forecasting in this feature are derived from seven days of transaction and bid data prior to the most recent CPM recommendation. This data may vary from time to time, but it is updated once per day. Due to its update frequency, it is often highly accurate and up-to-date. However, bear in mind that inventory without enough impressions will not be part of the sample for forecasting
There are some limitations to this feature. Performance variation among tags, spikes, and traffic dips may cause results to fluctuate, resulting in skewed data. For example, if you’ve just had a fantastic (yet atypical) month, your CPM recommendations might be skewed. You know your site better than anyone else, so bear in mind the possibility for flukes before you take minimum CPM recommendations as gospel.
However, flukes aside, minimum CPM recommendations are incredibly useful for most people who run Google DoubleClick for Publishers. If you run ads on your website, this feature will help you understand your ad pricing and revenue streams. It might even help you make more money. Once you understand the relationship between the price of your ad units and the revenue you bring in, you’ll be able to hit the sweet spot of high CPMs and high fill-rates — maximum revenue optimization.
Contact MonetizeMore to learn how we can help optimize your ad revenue by 25-50%, as we have for other clients. We help clients get access to Google’s premium ad network, DoubleClick Ad Exchange. We’d love to help you get access, too.
Kean Graham is the CEO and founder of MonetizeMore & a pioneer in the Adtech Industry. He is the resident expert in Ad Optimization, covering areas like Adsense Optimization,GAM Management, and third-party ad network partnerships. Kean believes in the supremacy of direct publisher deals and holistic optimization as keys to effective and consistent ad revenue increases.
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