Billing for Data Feed Buyers
Audience Marketplace data buyers agree to report all ad impressions served using traits contained in the data feed priced on a cost per thousand ad impressions (CPM) basis. CPM usage is due on the 5th day of each calendar month and includes data for previous month. Flat fee subscribers do not need to report usage.
How to Report CPM Usage
Audience Marketplace data buyers agree to report all ad impressions served using traits contained in the data feed priced on a cost per thousand ad impressions (CPM) basis. CPM usage is due on the 5 day of each calendar month and includes data for previous month. Flat fee subscribers do not need to report usage.
Audience Marketplace offers two ways to report CPM usage:
- Segment-level reporting: this is the recommended CPM usage reporting method. When you report CPM usage at segment level, the data feed-level reporting section is automatically filled in with the corresponding usage amounts, based on the algorithms described in Cost Attribution for CPM Data Feeds.
- Data feed-level reporting: this method requires you to individually report the CPM usage for each data feed, based on the algorithms described in Cost Attribution for CPM Data Feeds. However, this method is more tedious and prone to error than segment-level reporting.
Report CPM Usage at Segment Level
The Segment Usage tab allows you to report segment-level usage, while displaying the segments grouped by the destinations they are mapped to.
After reporting CPM usage at segment level, Audience Marketplace automatically assigns the corresponding data feeds the correct usage, based on the Cost Attribution for CPM Data Feeds.
To report CPM usage at segment level:
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Go to Audience Marketplace > Payables.
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Select the Segment Usage tab.
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Fill in the usage for your segments. You can use the Search box to filter the segments if you only need to report usage for some of them.
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Click Edit Segments Usage.
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Enter the CPM usage amount in the Usage column.
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Click Save when you’re done and review the confirmation dialog.
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Click Confirm.
See also our video demonstration of how you can report segment-level usage:
Report CPM Usage at Data Feed Level
Data feed-level reporting is a more tedious and prone to error process, since you must individually calculate CPM usage for each data feed. We recommend that you Report CPM Usage at Segment Level instead.
To report CPM usage at segment level:
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Go to Audience Marketplace > Payables.
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Select the Feed Usage tab.
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Use the Search box to filter the data feeds and identify the ones that you need to report usage for.
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Click Edit Feeds Usage.
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Calculate the CPM usage for each data feed based on the Cost Attribution for CPM Data Feeds, and enter it in the Usage column.
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Click Save when you’re done and review the confirmation dialog.
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Click Confirm.
Bulk Reporting
To reduce errors and overhead while reporting CPM usage, you can use the bulk reporting option to download a CSV file containing the data feeds and segments, fill in the usage, and upload it back to Audience Manager. You can use bulk reporting to report both feed and segment usage.
To update CPM usage in bulk:
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Go to Audience Marketplace > Payables.
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Select the Feed Usage or Segment Usage tab, depending on the type of reporting that you want to update.
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Click Edit Feeds Usage or Edit Segments Usage.
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Click download the current usage to make sure you use a valid CSV file.
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Open the file on your computer and fill in the usage report.
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Click Choose a CSV file to upload the updated usage report.
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Audience Manager validates the file as soon as you upload it and prompts you if it detects any errors in the file.
Bulk Reporting Validation Errors
CPM Reporting Best Practices
For CPM impression totals:
Report the total number of impressions, without using decimals. Audience Manager automatically calculates the CPM based on the total number you report.
If you need to report 1,234,567 impressions, report it exactly like that. You do not need to divide the total number of impressions by 1,000 to calculate the CPM.
Traits used to optimize your web or app content (Content Optimization) using tools such as Adobe Target or an Analytics destination do not contribute to the Usage totals for CPM plans. Data providers are typically compensated for Content Optimization using flat fee plans.
See Cost Attribution for CPM Data Feeds for more information.
The report system closes after the 5th of each month. If you fail to report CPM usage by then, you must add that amount to the report for the following month. For example, say you use 1000 impressions in October, miss the October reporting deadline, and use 1000 impressions in November. In this case, you report the October and November total (2000) in December, between the 1st and the 5th.
Tip: You should always try to report CPM usage for the previous month between the 1st and 5th days of the following month.
You can report CPM usage as late as the 5th of the new calendar month, but this is not recommended. Reporting CPM usage before the 5th of each month gives Audience Manager time to check and process the data.
Cost Attribution for CPM Data Feeds
In Audience Marketplace you must self-report impression amounts each month, for each of your segments. We recommend reporting CPM usage at segment level, so that cost attribution is done automatically.
Billing Summary
You must submit CPM data feed impression amounts between the 1st and the 5th days of each calendar month. To do this correctly, we recommend that you Report CPM Usage at Segment Level.
Should you need to Report CPM Usage at Data Feed Level, you must individually compile all impressions delivered for each feed in the previous calendar month, and report them according to the billing allocation described in this article.
After you report CPM number for the previous calendar month, Adobe will do the following:
- Create an invoice and bill you based on the CPM rate for each subscribed data feed.
- Pay data providers (sellers) fees owed based on your reported CPM use.
Assign Impressions at Feed Level Based on Trait Qualification Rules
The Activation use case lets you use traits in the corresponding data feed to create segments in Segment Builder and map those segments to a destination. The Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT let you set the conditions for trait and segment qualification.
When you Report CPM Usage at Data Feed Level, you must allocate impressions proportionally for each data feed, according to the Boolean operators used in the trait qualification rules. The following table lists how to properly allocate impressions by Boolean rule or trait type.
Apply weighted allocation of the delivered impression totals to all the provider traits in a rules-based segment that uses a Boolean OR condition. Weighted allocation is calculated using the following formula:
(Trait Population / Segment Population) * Number of Impressions * Cost of CPM
Billing Examples
The examples below are meant to illustrate how CPM usage allocation is done at data feed level.
Let’s consider the following scenario:
Case 1: Segments With AND Qualification Rules
This segment contains 3 traits from separate data providers. Since segment qualification is based on an AND condition, visitors have to realize the traits from all three feeds to qualify for the segment.
With an AND condition, you must assign 100% of the impressions received during the month to all three data providers. In the Audience Marketplace > Payables section, you credit each provider with 1,000,000 impressions.
This example applies to segments that use Boolean NOT operators or for segments that contain algorithmic traits.
Case 2: Segments With OR Qualification Rules
This segment contains 3 traits from separate data providers. Since segment qualification is based on an OR condition, visitors have to realize at least one of the three traits to qualify for the segment.
We cannot tell which trait is responsible for an impression because qualification is based on an OR condition. As a result, in the Audience Marketplace > Payables section you credit each provider with a weighted allocation of the total impressions, based on trait population.
Case 3: Segments with Modeling and Activation Use Cases
This example describes attribution based on two Data Feed use cases - Modeling and Activation. In the example, we are looking at two data providers, with the following information:
In the table further below, Segment X contains two traits, T1 and T2, with the segment rule T1 OR T2, where:
- T1 is a trait from Data Feed A;
- T2 is an algorithmic trait modeled after third-party traits from Data Feed A and Data Feed B.
The segment is mapped to a destination and 1,000,000 impressions are entered for this segment in a month, using Segment-Level Reporting.
Of these 1,000,000 impressions:
- T1 makes up 40% of the segment population, which translates to 400,000 impressions for Feed A.
- T2 makes up 60% of the segment population, which translates to 600,000 impressions for Feed A and Feed B.
At a data feed level, the way the impressions are allocated is:
- Data Feed A receives 600,000 impressions from trait T2 (which is modeled on traits from Data Feed A and Data Feed B, so both receive the impressions) and 400,000 impressions from trait T1 (which is a trait from Data Feed A), totaling 1,000,000 impressions.
- Data Feed B receives 600,000 impressions from trait T2 (see explanation above) and 0 impressions from trait T1.
The at-a-glance breakdown by data feed and use case is as follows:
Billing and Impression Allocation for Flat Fee Data Feeds
A flat fee data feed bills you a fixed amount each month, regardless of when the subscription starts or how many impressions you use. Fees are not prorated for partial month usage or intervals. As with CPM billing, Adobe will generate an invoice and bill you at the monthly, flat fee rate for your subscribed data feeds.
For example, let’s say you decided to turn on certain traits in a feed in the middle of the month. You will still be billed at the full, monthly rate regardless of when you started the subscription or activated specific traits.