Pricing: per scan, per result or per view
You choose how you pay on the second step of the campaign wizard. The price itself is set by SofAds, not by an auction, so you see exactly what you will pay before you submit. This page explains the pricing models. It doesn't list prices: they depend on your campaign, and you see them in the dashboard once you're logged in.
Three ways to pay
| Pricing model | You pay | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Pay per view (CPM) | For every 1,000 times your ad is shown on a TV. | Reach and awareness. |
| Pay per scan (CPS) | When a viewer scans your QR code with their phone. Only the first scan of each ad shown counts. | Visits to your site or app. |
| Pay per result (CPA) | When your tracking reports a result, such as a sign-up or a purchase, through the postback. | Campaigns where you measure conversions. |
What decides your price
The price depends on where your ads run: the countries you target, and with them the rest of your targeting. A campaign for the largest TV ad markets costs more per view, scan or result than one for smaller markets.
- After login only. Exact prices appear in the advertiser area, never on public pages: on the pricing step of the wizard, and in the reach panel as soon as you pick countries in targeting.
- Fixed when you submit. The price shown when you submit is fixed on the campaign. A later price change doesn't change a submitted campaign.
- One currency. Prices, budgets, your balance and your spend are all in US dollars.
Pay per result: fixed or reported payout
For a CPA campaign you also choose:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Which results count | Any event, or the ones you pick: lead, sign-up, install, trial started, purchase, deposit, subscription, or a custom event name (lower case letters, digits and _, as your tracking sends it). |
| What you pay per result | Fixed price: the SofAds price for your campaign. Your reported payout: the payout your tracking sends with each result, up to a maximum you set. The wizard shows the lowest maximum it accepts. |
| Attribution window | 1, 7, 14, 30 (default), 60 or 90 days after the scan. Results reported later are recorded but not paid. |
| Allowed IP addresses | Optional: accept postbacks only from your tracking's servers. |
How results reach SofAds, and when one counts, is on the postback page.
What is never billed
- Test ads. Apps that aren't live yet, test devices and the live demo only ever show SofAds test ads, which are never billed and never count in your stats.
- More than your balance. Spend comes from your prepaid balance, and every campaign pauses when it reaches zero.
- More than your budgets. A campaign stops at its total budget and at its daily budget for the day.
- The same thing twice. A scan counts once per ad shown, and a conversion once per click and event, or per transaction ID.
Keep reading
- Creating a campaign: where you choose all this.
- Stats: your impressions, scans, conversions and spend.