Understanding EPC and Conversion Metrics

Comparing affiliate offers on payout alone is a trap. A $120 CPA that rarely converts can earn you less than a $40 CPA that converts often. To compare fairly, you need to read a handful of metrics together — and understand what each one hides.

EPC: the great equalizer

Effective earnings per click (EPC) is the average revenue you earn per click sent to an offer. Because it blends payout with conversion rate, it lets you compare CPA, PPS and RevShare offers on one scale. Higher EPC generally means more money per unit of traffic — but remember EPC is an average based on a particular traffic mix, so your real EPC depends on your audience quality.

Conversion rate and approval rate

Conversion rate is the share of clicks that turn into the tracked action. Approval rate is the share of those conversions the advertiser actually accepts and pays for. A high conversion rate with a low approval rate is a warning sign — it can mean the traffic looks good but does not hold up to review, or that refunds are high. Always read the two together.

Cookie window and recurring value

The cookie (or attribution) window is how long after a click a conversion still credits you. Longer windows capture users who convert after thinking it over. For subscription products, also look at whether the offer pays on renewals — recurring commissions can make a modest first-conversion payout far more valuable over time.

Reading them together

• Start with EPC to shortlist offers on earning power per click.
• Check conversion rate and approval rate together to gauge quality and payment reliability.
• Weigh cookie window and recurring terms for how much long-tail value you'll capture.
• Confirm the data-confidence label so you know how firm each number is.

A note on confidence

Marketplace metrics are aggregated from public pages, network listings and estimated benchmarks, so treat them as a starting point, not a promise. Send a small amount of traffic, measure your own EPC, then scale into what actually performs for your audience.