Smarter bidding, stronger conversions
What is CPA Tune and How it WorksHow to Enable CPA Bidding
Best Practices - Product Campaigns
Best Practices - Search Feed Campaigns
FAQ
What is CPA Tune and How it Works
CPA Tune is an AI-driven bidding algorithm that focuses on conversions at your desired cost-per-acquisition (CPA). You’re still charged per click, but bidding decisions prioritize impressions most likely to convert, so you can average out at (or below) your target CPA and protect ROI.
Use CPA Tune if:
- Hitting a specific CPA is your primary goal.
- You want automated bidding around a certain CPA, or you already run CPA strategies elsewhere.
Key points to understand how CPA Tune works:
Prediction over guesswork: The system bids only when conversion likelihood is medium to high.
Live CPC adjustments: Real-time bids factor in predictions, competition, user context, and behavior to steer spend toward the most promising traffic.
Always optimizing: It begins with a higher-than-average CPC to quickly gather relevant traffic and moves into optimization after the first conversion.
The more conversions the campaign gets, the better the prediction model provides. Avoid pausing the campaign before the model stabilizes (it reaches the optimization stage and stabilizes the performance).
Tracking required: Set up conversion tracking for at least your primary goal, as it optimizes towards the main conversion goal.
How to Enable CPA Bidding
Please note that if you are registered as a self-serve account in order to get access to the CPA Tune in the interface, your fund must be at least $1,000.
To enable CPA bidding in AdSpace Adskeeper, follow these steps:
- In campaign setup, open Budget and limits. Under the Bidding strategy, click CPA to activate CPA Tune.
- As an affiliate, consider the payout for a successful conversion in your network to estimate a comfortable target CPA.
- As a product owner, set the maximum amount you’re willing to spend to acquire one conversion.
Also, please take a look at the best practices listed below.
3. Set a daily budget equal to 5–7× your tCPA to capture enough daily conversions.
4. Keep targeting broad enough to allow volume.
5. Conversion tracking: enable at least the main conversion goal (consider additional goals to diagnose the funnel better and optimize accordingly).
Best Practices - Product Campaigns
Please consider following these key recommendations when working with CPA Tune within product campaigns:
Start with a realistic target: Begin around 20% higher than your ideal CPA to give the model room to learn. Also, it helps prevent premature bidding restrictions that can limit scale.
Use tCPA as your main lever: Raising tCPA makes bidding more aggressive (more volume). The lower the target, the more organically lower the win rate and costs will be.
Set up a daily budget to aim for 5–7x your CPA target: A higher budget gets enough conversions, which gives the algorithm more opportunities to learn and optimize faster. We suggest slightly increasing daily limits, in case they are not achieved. It will help the advertising campaign's breaking mechanism prevent blocking the model's ability to reach the initially expected daily limit.
Keep creatives limited to ten or fewer: The algorithm performs best with a limited set of ads - ideally 10 or fewer. Pause weak performers and upload fresh ones.
Refresh after the exploration phase: Add new creatives once the initial exploration finishes to unlock new traffic pockets.
Instrument the funnel of conversion tracking: Track top/mid/bottom events (at least the main goal is required) to enrich signals and spot issues.
Don't set up targeting settings to be too narrow: Give the model space to find scale.
Allow 7-14 days of learning: Optimization improves after 10-30 conversions; avoid significant changes to budget, targeting, or creatives during this period.
Test strategies: Start on CPC then switch to CPA, or A/B run CPC vs. CPA. Expect some volatility. Hitting your CPA target and quality traffic are the priorities.
Best Practices - Search Feed Campaigns
Please consider following these key recommendations when working with CPA Tune within search feed campaigns:
There is no need for you to manually handle buyouts: The model manages buyouts automatically.
Tune creatives and CPA together: Monitor ad creatives (remove low-performing ones, add new ones). Keep no more than 10 ad creatives in active status. Control the fact average CPA (payout). Set the target CPA 15–20% lower than the actual.
Manage launch spend: Let the first $200–300 run at break-even or even with a small loss. Set the target CPA so that the campaign spends at least $100 per day.
In the first few days, ensure continuous delivery throughout the whole day, without pauses due to lack of budget, to study the full daily cycle.
Treat tCPA as guidance: Target CPA accuracy is a guideline for the model, not the exact cost per conversion. The model may miss (for example, if you set 0.5, it comes out as 0.4).
Adjust campaign as it runs: Check the campaign 1–2 times per day. If the margin is strong, raise the tCPA; if the margin is thin, lower it. If the margin is low, you should decrease the target CPA.
FAQ
1. Is this a new pricing model?
No. Billing remains CPC. CPA Tune simply automates CPC bidding to achieve your target CPA by buying only the clicks most likely to convert.
2. How are bids decided?Each impression is scored using historic results and real-time signals (device, location, context, behavior). The system bids according to the conversion probability to avoid waste and prioritize promising traffic.
3. Which campaign types support CPA Tune?
Product campaigns and search feed campaigns.
4. Can I change CPC manually in a CPA campaign?
No. Manual CPC controls are disabled so the algorithm can optimize toward your target CPA. Adjust tCPA instead.
5. Can I change my target CPA after launch?
Yes, but try not to during the learning window (first 7-14 days or until 10-30 conversions). tCPA is your main control.
6. What if my tCPA is too low?
The system may struggle to buy traffic and deliver conversions, if your target is unrealistically low. Start with a CPA target around 20% higher than your actual goal to give the algorithm room to learn, and then gradually optimize downwards.
7. How much daily budget do I need to run CPA Tune?
The daily budget should be at least 5–7× the CPA target. For example, if your target CPA is $30, you should allocate at least $150–210 per day. This ensures the algo can deliver enough conversions within a given tCPA.
8. Why is the actual CPA above the target?
It’s common early on. If it persists, validate target realism, budget sufficiency, and that conversion events are firing properly. With time and data, actual CPA typically trends to target or better.
9. Do I lose control over my campaign with CPA Tune?
No. You control tCPA, budget, targeting, and creatives. The system automates only CPC bidding within your settings. The algorithm adjusts bids within the framework you define, ensuring it optimizes performance while staying aligned with your goals.
10. What should I do if the average CPC is high at first?
This is expected. In the early stage, the model focuses on gathering quality traffic and conversion data. As the system learns, CPC naturally stabilizes and aligns with performance goals.
11. Why don’t I see CPA Tune in my account?
For self-registered accounts, fund at least $1,000 to unlock the feature in the interface.