What is a conversion? What is a transaction?

Cost per action (CPA) is a measurement for ad effectiveness. This method is ideal for advertisers since it only count performance that would directly impact ROI of an ad campaign.

Conversion

A click-through conversion occurs when an ad click leads directly to a valuable user-action such as a purchase, sign-up, registration, lead, or view of a key page. Conversion rate measures the effectiveness of unique clicks. The formula is Conversion Rate = Conversions ÷ Unique Clicks.

A view-through conversion occurs when an ad view leads directly to a valuable user-action such as a purchase, sign-up, registration, lead, or view of a key page. Conversion rate measures the effectiveness of unique impressions. The formula is Conversion Rate = Conversions ÷ Unique Impressions

Transaction

A transaction is recorded on every invocation to the conversion tracking code. Essentially, a visitor can make multiple transactions but only a single conversion.

Examples

A visitor clicked on ad FashionPromo on May 1st. She purchased a $100 purse on May 10 at the advertiser's website. Next day, May 11, she bought a dress for $200. Conversion stats would report one conversion and two transactions for May 1st for a total value of $300.

A visitor viewed ad SportTicket on November 1st but did not click on it. He then remembered the ad offer later that week and visited the advertiser's website directly. He purchased a $50 ticket on November 10. Conversion stats will report one view-through conversion and one transactions for November 1st for a total value of $50.