KPI (Key Performance Indicators) — are numerical metrics used to evaluate the success of an advertising campaign and the quality of the acquired traffic.
In traffic arbitrage, KPIs are set by the advertiser or affiliate program as benchmarks for evaluating how high-quality the audience brought by the media buyer is.
Why KPIs Are Needed in Traffic Arbitrage
When an affiliate marketer launches traffic to an offer, the affiliate network and advertiser monitor whether the metrics stay within the required profitability range.
If traffic quality falls below the established threshold, the advertiser may reduce the payout or stop the campaign. For serious fraud and bot traffic, payouts are canceled and accounts may be blocked, but if the traffic simply does not reach the required numbers, it usually results in stopping the advertising or revising the terms.
Main KPIs in Traffic Arbitrage
The set of metrics depends on the vertical and the specific offer, but the following indicators are most commonly evaluated:
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CR (Conversion Rate): conversion from a click to a target action (registration, purchase, or deposit).
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FTD (First Time Deposit): the number of users who made their first deposit, or the fact of the first deposit itself.
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Retention: the percentage of users who return to the platform and make repeat deposits.
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ROI: return on advertising investment — shows how profitable or unprofitable the campaign was relative to its costs.
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Share of valid/non-fraudulent traffic: the absence of bots, click fraud, and prohibited incentivized traffic.
Important: traffic quality requirements are usually specified in the offer terms or affiliate program rules. Before launching advertising, you should always review these rules to understand which criteria will be used to evaluate the result and what profitability benchmark needs to be maintained.
