Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

CPA pricing shifts all performance risk to the publisher. Instead of paying per impression (CPM) or per click (CPC), the advertiser pays only when a conversion occurs: a purchase, a lead form submission, a signup. The publisher therefore has to deliver not just reach, but reach that converts, and takes the loss on impressions that didn't drive action.

CPA dominates direct-response digital advertising and is increasingly common in podcast sponsorships, where unique promo codes provide clean attribution. For terrestrial broadcast, true CPA pricing is rare because attribution is harder; instead, hybrid models blend guaranteed CPMs with CPA-style performance bonuses. The long-term industry trend is toward more performance-style pricing across all broadcast media.