CPM & Impression Tracking

Available in:

• Post Affiliate Pro
• Post Affiliate Pro Ultimate
• Post Affiliate Network

What is CPM Tracking?

CPM stands for Cost Per Mille (mille being Latin for “thousand”). In affiliate marketing, CPM is a commission model where affiliates are rewarded for every 1,000 impressions their promotional banners receive. An impression is recorded each time a banner is displayed on a visitor’s screen, regardless of whether they interact with it.

CPM tracking is particularly valuable for:

• Brand awareness campaigns where visibility is the primary goal
• Publishers with high-traffic websites who can generate significant impression volumes
• Advertisers who want to compensate affiliates for exposure rather than just conversions
• Display advertising programs where banner visibility metrics are important

Unlike CPC (Cost Per Click) or CPS (Cost Per Sale) models, CPM focuses on reach and visibility rather than direct engagement or conversions.

How Impression Tracking Works

Post Affiliate Pro tracks impressions through a lightweight tracking mechanism that records each time a banner is displayed. Here is how the process works:

1. Banner Display - When a visitor loads a page containing an affiliate banner, the tracking code fires
2. Impression Recording - The system records the impression with details including the affiliate ID, banner ID, channel, timestamp, and visitor IP
3. Aggregation - Impressions are aggregated hourly to optimize database performance
4. Commission Calculation - Once an affiliate accumulates 1,000 impressions, a CPM commission is automatically generated

The impression tracking code generates a small 1x1 pixel image request that captures the necessary tracking data without affecting page load performance.

Setting Up Impression Tracking

To track impressions for your banners, Post Affiliate Pro automatically generates tracking codes. The impression tracking pixel is embedded in banner codes and follows this pattern:

<img style="border:0" src="https://your-domain.com/scripts/imp.php?a=AFFILIATE_ID&b=BANNER_ID" width="1" height="1" alt="" />

The tracking URL includes:

• Affiliate ID - Identifies which affiliate referred the impression
• Banner ID - Identifies which banner was displayed
• Channel (optional) - For sub-ID tracking and campaign segmentation
• Extra data fields - Additional custom data parameters

CPM Commission Configuration

To enable CPM commissions in Post Affiliate Pro:

1. Navigate to Configuration > Features in your merchant panel
2. Locate and activate the CPM commissions feature
3. Configure the feature settings according to your preferences

CPM Feature Settings

When configuring CPM commissions, you have two key options:

Count Impressions Type:

• All - Counts every impression, including repeated views from the same visitor
• Unique - Counts only unique impressions, preventing the same visitor from generating multiple impressions

Count Impressions Per:

• Banner - Impressions are counted separately for each banner. An affiliate must generate 1,000 impressions for a specific banner to earn a commission
• Campaign - Impressions from all banners in a campaign are aggregated. This allows affiliates to reach the 1,000 threshold faster when promoting multiple banners

Note that changing the grouping setting (from Banner to Campaign or vice versa) will reset all existing impression counts to zero.

Configuring CPM Commission Values

After enabling the CPM feature, you need to set commission values in your campaigns:

1. Go to Campaigns and select the campaign to configure
2. Navigate to the Commissions tab
3. Find the CPM commission type
4. Set the commission value (this is the amount paid per 1,000 impressions)
5. Configure approval settings (automatic or manual)
6. Save your changes

You can set different CPM commission values for:

• Different campaigns
• Different commission groups
• Different affiliate tiers (if using multi-tier commissions)
• Different geographic regions (if using geo-targeting)

CPM Per Clicks Feature

In addition to standard impression-based CPM, Post Affiliate Pro offers CPM Commissions per Clicks. This hybrid model combines the CPM pricing structure with click-based tracking.

With CPM per clicks:

• Affiliates earn a commission after their banners receive 1,000 clicks (not views)
• This model rewards affiliates for driving engagement rather than just visibility
• It provides a middle ground between pure impression tracking and per-click commissions

Configuring CPM Per Clicks

1. Navigate to Configuration > Features
2. Activate the CPM commissions per clicks feature
3. Configure the settings:

Count Clicks Type:

• All - Counts all clicks including repeated clicks from the same visitor
• Unique - Counts only unique clicks

Count Clicks Per:

• Banner - Clicks are counted per individual banner
• Campaign - Clicks are aggregated across all banners in the campaign

4. Set commission values in your campaign settings under the CPM per clicks commission type

Banner Impression Tracking

Every banner type in Post Affiliate Pro supports impression tracking:

• Image banners
• HTML banners
• Text link banners
• Banner rotators
• Lightbox banners
• PDF banners
• Peel banners

When using a banner rotator, impressions are tracked for both the parent rotator banner and the individual banner being displayed, allowing for comprehensive tracking of your promotional materials.

Impression Data Captured

For each impression, Post Affiliate Pro records:

• Date and time - When the impression occurred (aggregated by hour)
• Affiliate - Which affiliate generated the impression
• Banner - Which banner was displayed
• Parent banner - If part of a rotator, the parent banner ID
• Campaign - The campaign the banner belongs to
• Channel - Any sub-ID or channel information
• Country - Geographic location (if GeoIP is enabled)
• IP address - Visitor IP for uniqueness detection
• Custom data - Additional data fields (data1, data2)

Performance Considerations for High-Traffic Sites

CPM tracking is designed to handle high volumes of impressions efficiently. Here are key performance features and recommendations:

Asynchronous Processing

Post Affiliate Pro uses an asynchronous impression processing system:

1. Raw impressions are quickly written to a buffer table
2. A background processor aggregates and processes impressions
3. Multiple worker threads can process impressions in parallel
4. Impressions are grouped by hour to minimize database records

This architecture ensures that impression tracking does not slow down page loads, even on high-traffic websites.

Configurable Worker Threads

For very high-volume installations, you can configure multiple impression processor workers to handle the load. This is particularly useful when:

• Processing millions of impressions per day
• Running a large affiliate network with many active affiliates
• Using multiple high-traffic banner rotators

Database Optimization

The impression tracking system optimizes database performance through:

• Hourly aggregation - Instead of storing individual impressions, data is aggregated by hour
• Indexed queries - Impression tables use optimized indexes for fast lookups
• Batch processing - Impressions are processed in configurable batch sizes
• Table rotation - Multiple raw impression tables prevent locking during high-volume periods

GeoIP Considerations

If you do not need geographic data for impressions, you can disable GeoIP for impressions to improve performance. This setting is separate from GeoIP for clicks and sales, allowing you to optimize impression tracking while maintaining geographic data for conversions.

Reporting on Impressions

Post Affiliate Pro provides comprehensive impression reporting:

Impression Statistics

View impression data in:

• Quick Report - Overview of impressions alongside clicks and sales
• Trends Report - Track impression trends over time
• Campaign Reports - Impressions broken down by campaign
• Banner Reports - Impressions for individual banners
• Affiliate Reports - Impressions generated by each affiliate

CPM Transaction Records

When a CPM commission is generated (after 1,000 impressions), it appears as a transaction with:

• Transaction type: CPM (or CPM per clicks for the click-based variant)
• The commission amount configured for the campaign
• The affiliate who earned the commission
• The banner or campaign that generated the impressions

Unique vs. Raw Impressions

Reports distinguish between:

• Raw impressions - The total number of times banners were displayed
• Unique impressions - Impressions from unique visitors only

This distinction helps you understand both total reach and unique audience size.

Best Practices for CPM Campaigns

Setting Appropriate Commission Values

When determining CPM rates:

• Research industry standard CPM rates for your niche
• Consider your profit margins and customer lifetime value
• Start conservatively and adjust based on performance
• Factor in the quality and targeting of your affiliate traffic

Fraud Prevention

To prevent impression fraud:

• Use the unique impressions setting to count only unique views
• Monitor for unusual impression spikes from specific affiliates
• Review impression sources and patterns regularly
• Combine CPM with other commission types for balanced incentives

Combining Commission Models

CPM works well in combination with other commission types:

• CPM + CPS - Pay for visibility and reward conversions
• CPM + CPC - Compensate for reach and engagement
• CPM + Recurring - Build long-term affiliate relationships

This multi-model approach ensures affiliates are compensated fairly while aligning incentives with your business goals.

Related Features

• CPC (Cost Per Click) - Commission based on clicks
• CPS (Cost Per Sale) - Commission based on sales
• Banner Rotator - Rotate multiple banners with impression tracking
• Fraud Protection - Prevent fraudulent impressions
• Types of Commissions - Overview of all commission types