--- title: "What Is CPM? Definition, Examples & How It Works" canonical: "https://froggyads.com/what-is-cpm/" markdown_url: "https://froggyads.com/what-is-cpm.md" description: "CPM explained in plain language: definition, how it works in media buying, examples and when to use it. From the FroggyAds learning hub." language: "en" --- [Home](https://froggyads.com/)/[Learn](https://froggyads.com/glossary/)/What is CPM? Learning hub # What is CPM? CPM, or cost per mille, means you pay per thousand impressions. Here is how it works and when it is the right model. [Start advertising ](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) [Glossary ](https://froggyads.com/glossary/) ![What is cost per mille diagram](https://froggyads.com/assets-redesign-2026/images/hero-k-what-is-cpm.svg) Key takeaways ## What is CPM? at a glance ### How does cost-per-thousand advertising work? **Quick answer:** CPM means cost per 1,000 impressions. Calculate it as media spend divided by counted impressions, multiplied by 1,000. Impressions are not unique visitors, attentive views or guaranteed sales. FroggyAds publishes Display starting bids from $0.10 CPM; your actual rate and delivery depend on the campaign's buying conditions. | Section | Distinct excerpt from this page | |---|---| | How CPM pricing works | Check the counted impression, its context and the resulting response rather than assume every delivery received attention. | | CPM vs CPC, and when to use it | If you care primarily about clicks and conversions, CPC formats like Push and Native may fit better. | | Which FroggyAds formats are CPM? | Display banner and rich-media placements are priced on a CPM basis from $0.10. | Reference for What Is CPM? Definition, Examples & How It Works: [Google Ads: Cost-per-view definition](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2382888?hl=en). - **Planning:** How CPM pricing works. - **Control:** CPM vs CPC, and when to use it. - **Decision:** See what is cpm? inside the platform. CPM, or cost per mille, expresses cost per 1,000 counted impressions. The media charge does not require a click. Use impression-based buying for a suitable campaign objective, then evaluate delivery quality and the business result separately. A CPM campaign can be assessed for sales or leads as well as awareness. ## Ready to turn What is CPM? into a measurable traffic test? Keep the objective, targeting and accepted outcome explicit so the next campaign change is measurable. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) ## Turn What is CPM into one measurable FroggyAds test Launch What is CPM with a written loss limit and one stable conversion definition so the next budget decision can be explained from data. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) **Pricing**Display from $0.10 CPM **Reach**Desktop & mobile web **Scale**20B+ daily impressions **Re-engage**Retargeting How it works ## How CPM pricing works A CPM bid expresses the price offered per 1,000 eligible impressions. The measured CPM comes from actual spend and the impressions counted under the campaign's rules. Check what qualifies as an impression and whether separate viewability information is available; an impression count alone does not establish that every ad was visibly viewed or noticed. On FroggyAds, Display banner inventory is bought on a CPM basis from $0.10 across desktop and mobile web. You control targeting and budgets, and FroggyAds uses Adscore and internal controls to help identify and filter invalid or low-quality traffic. ## Use FroggyAds to validate the next What is CPM decision Use the What is CPM guidance above to choose only the controls that affect the real buyer journey, then reconcile campaign and backend evidence. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) ## Use FroggyAds to validate the next What is CPM? decision Keep the objective, targeting and accepted outcome explicit so the next campaign change is measurable. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup)Why it matters ## CPM vs CPC, and when to use it CPM suits awareness, branding and retargeting, where consistent visibility matters more than a single click. It is also useful for high-reach campaigns where you want predictable cost per thousand views. If you care primarily about clicks and conversions, CPC formats like Push and Native may fit better. Many advertisers combine CPM Display for reach with CPC formats for response – both available on FroggyAds. FroggyAds platform ## See what is cpm? inside the platform For What is CPM, the FroggyAds self-serve workflow keeps campaign setup, targeting, budget controls, source-level reporting and optimization in one dashboard so advertisers can make evidence-led keep, cap, exclude and retest decisions. - Set targeting, bids and budgets in one workflow - Read performance down to the source ID - SmartCPC and Adscore work in the background [Start advertising ](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) ![What is CPM? dashboard preview on FroggyAds](https://froggyads.com/assets-redesign-2026/images/showcase-what-is-cpm.svg) ## Move from What is CPM planning to a bounded live campaign Keep the next What is CPM step reversible: define one accepted outcome, protect the learning budget and use source-level results before expanding. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) ## Take the next What is CPM? step with controlled media buying Keep the objective, targeting and accepted outcome explicit so the next campaign change is measurable. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) Keep learning ## Related pages ### [What is CPC?](https://froggyads.com/what-is-cpc/) The click-based pricing model. ### [CPM Ad Network](https://froggyads.com/cpm-ad-network/) Buy CPM traffic on FroggyAds. ### [Buy Display Traffic](https://froggyads.com/display-ads/) Banners from $0.10 CPM. ### [Display Ads](https://froggyads.com/display-ads/) Format details and specs. Ready when you are ## Buy CPM traffic on FroggyAds Open your account and run impression-based campaigns from $50. [Start advertising ](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup) [View pricing](https://froggyads.com/pricing/) For What Is CPM, this page is reviewed against FroggyAds platform documentation, traffic-quality controls and current campaign workflows; verify live settings, policy and eligibility before launch. Share[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffroggyads.com%2Fwhat-is-cpm%2F)[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffroggyads.com%2Fwhat-is-cpm%2F)Continue your research ## Related FroggyAds resources Use the resources below to move from What is CPM? to the next buyer decision: compare relevant platforms, ad formats, markets, targeting, pricing or measurement. [**Six core online ad formats, plus more options.**Compare FroggyAds ad formats, including Push, Native, Display, Pop, Video, Interstitial, Telegram and audience targeting.Open resource →](https://froggyads.com/ad-formats/)[**What is a DSP?**Learn how to understand a dsp and apply it to real campaign decisions with FroggyAds. Plan targeting, conversion tracking, source decisions.Open resource →](https://froggyads.com/demand-side-platform/)[**What is ad fraud?**Learn how to understand ad fraud and apply it to real campaign decisions with FroggyAds. Plan targeting, conversion tracking, source.Open resource →](https://froggyads.com/what-is-ad-fraud/)[**What is an SSP?**Learn how to understand an ssp and apply it to real campaign decisions with FroggyAds. Plan targeting, conversion tracking, source decisions.Open resource →](https://froggyads.com/global-ad-inventory/) ## CPM meaning: canonical scope and decision controls For What is CPM?, a second page for the assigned wording would repeat the same definition, examples or cost framework and create avoidable cannibalization. This owner is materially expanded so the exact wording is answered while the site preserves one strong canonical resource for the intent. cpm meaning ### Definition boundary State the billable event, campaign scope and business question before comparing performance or costs. ### Measurement contract Reconcile spend and platform events to analytics and accepted business outcomes with documented attribution rules. ### Quality control Review queries, placements, invalid activity, duplicate outcomes and rejection reasons instead of relying on volume alone. ### Decision rule Use a capped test, a break-even threshold and a reversible keep, revise, pause or expand decision. ### Official references - [Google Ads: Cost-per-view definition](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2382888?hl=en) - [Google Ads: Actual cost-per-click definition](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6297?hl=en) - [Google Ads: Understanding bidding basics](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2459326?hl=en) - [Google Ads: About average daily budgets](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6385083?hl=en) - [IAB: Digital Ad Operations Certification Study Guide](https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IAB-Digital-Ad-Operations-Certification-Study-Guide-August-2017.pdf) - [Google Ads: Understand conversion tracking data](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6270625?hl=en) ## What is CPM? operating worksheet This worksheet turns the definition into a documented, reversible process. Use the controls below with the page's formulas, examples and official references. ### Definition and measurement rules Write the operational definition for what is cpm? before a report or platform is selected. Name the event, denominator, eligibility rule, time zone, currency, attribution scope and data owner. Those phrases should resolve to the same documented decision boundary rather than producing competing calculations across teams. The definition contract for what is cpm? should include examples of what is included and excluded. Record how duplicates, invalid activity, delayed events, refunds, rejected leads, view-through credit and incomplete page loads are treated. A metric or workflow becomes governable only when another analyst can reproduce the number from exported evidence and explain any difference from a platform dashboard. ### Decision owner and approval path Assign one accountable owner for each decision inside what is cpm?. The owner is responsible for the input quality, the change log, the approval threshold and the rollback action. Contributors can recommend changes, but responsibility should not disappear across an agency, platform, analytics team and finance team. A named owner also makes exceptions visible instead of allowing them to become permanent undocumented settings. Create an approval path for what is cpm? that distinguishes routine optimization from material risk. Small bid, pacing or placement changes may follow a documented operating range. New conversion definitions, large budget increases, new markets, tracking changes and contractual commitments should require explicit review. The approval record should state what changed, why it changed, what evidence supported it and when the decision will be re-evaluated. ### Forecast range and scenario planning Forecast what is cpm? with ranges rather than a single point estimate. Build a conservative case, an expected case and an upside case using transparent assumptions for volume, price, quality, conversion maturity and operational capacity. The model should show which assumption creates the largest change in outcome so the first test can focus on the uncertainty that matters most. Every what is cpm? forecast needs a failure case. Estimate the maximum acceptable learning loss, the earliest reliable signal, the amount of delayed outcome data and the conditions that would stop delivery. Scenario planning is valuable because it turns a budget or target into a reversible decision. It also prevents teams from treating a platform forecast as guaranteed inventory, price or business value. ### Source and placement evidence Preserve source-level evidence for what is cpm? wherever the buying environment allows it. Record campaign, ad group, creative, query, placement, publisher, device, geography and time identifiers in stable exports. When a platform withholds a dimension, document the limitation and avoid making quality claims that require evidence the system cannot provide. Analyze what is cpm? by meaningful cohorts instead of relying only on account averages. A blended result can hide a strong market and a weak market, a valid placement and an accidental placement, or mature conversions and recent unqualified events. Cohort reporting should use minimum sample rules and should not expose personal data that is unnecessary for the decision. ### Measurement reconciliation Reconcile what is cpm? across delivery, analytics and business systems. Delivery systems record billable events and spend. Analytics systems record sessions and attributed behavior. Business systems record accepted leads, purchases, revenue, reversals, margin and capacity effects. Differences are expected, but unexplained differences should block scale until the team understands the measurement boundary. Create a reconciliation table for what is cpm? with the platform total, analytics total, business total, variance, known cause, unresolved amount and owner. Use the same time zone, currency and maturity window before comparing systems. Preserve raw exports so a later tracking change does not rewrite the historical explanation or make an old decision impossible to audit. ### Experiment design and learning agenda Turn what is cpm? changes into explicit experiments. State the hypothesis, primary outcome, guardrail metrics, audience or inventory scope, minimum evidence, maximum loss and decision date. A useful experiment can end with keep, revise, pause or expand. It should not continue indefinitely because the team did not define what evidence would be sufficient. Prioritize experiments for what is cpm? by expected value of information. Fix broken tracking and obvious quality leakage first. Then test the largest uncertain driver of economics, such as audience fit, placement, message, landing continuity, bid method or budget constraint. Avoid changing several major layers at once unless the bundle itself is the decision being evaluated. ### Budget guardrails and pacing Apply budget guardrails to what is cpm? at the level where risk occurs. Use account, campaign, source, geography, device and daypart controls when available. Compare planned and delivered spend, remaining opportunity, outcome maturity and marginal cost. Hitting a daily budget is not proof that the budget was allocated to the best opportunities or that additional spend would remain profitable. Define pacing exceptions for what is cpm?. Sudden acceleration, delivery concentration, a tracking outage, a landing-page failure or a material change in accepted outcome rate should trigger review. The response can be a cap, exclusion, bid change or pause. Automatic rules should be tested with safe limits and should create a visible record rather than silently changing the account. ### Quality and invalid-activity controls Quality control for what is cpm? should separate valid delivery from useful business activity. Review invalid traffic signals, accidental interactions, duplicate outcomes, self-referrals, bot patterns, incentive conflicts and source anomalies. Platform filtering is one layer of protection, not a substitute for business-owned validation and rejection reasons. Create a quality-adjusted version of the main what is cpm? metric. Examples include cost per accepted lead, viewable cost per thousand qualified impressions, cost per completed landing session or spend per non-refunded acquisition. The adjusted metric should remain linked to the raw metric so the team can identify whether a change came from media price, traffic quality or business processing. ### Creative and landing continuity Connect what is cpm? to the actual message and destination experience. Record which creative version, claim, format and call to action produced the delivery. Confirm that the landing page preserves the promise, loads on target devices, discloses material conditions and presents the intended next step without deceptive friction. Monitor creative fatigue and destination drift within what is cpm?. A campaign can keep delivering while the message becomes stale, a product changes, a form breaks or a policy requirement is no longer satisfied. Use versioned creative and landing identifiers, scheduled reviews and an emergency replacement process so technical delivery does not continue after commercial validity has changed. ### Weekly operating review Run a weekly what is cpm? review with a fixed evidence pack. Include spend, delivery, quality-adjusted outcomes, pacing, source or placement changes, creative status, tracking health, unresolved discrepancies and the next decision. The meeting should end with named actions and dates, not only observations about whether a chart moved. Compare recent cohorts with the established baseline during the what is cpm? review. Cumulative averages can hide deterioration after a budget increase or creative change. Separate mature and immature outcomes, and note when seasonality, inventory availability, product changes or sales capacity make a direct historical comparison unreliable. ### Scale, rollback and concentration risk Scale what is cpm? in controlled increments. Increase one constraint at a time, observe marginal cost and quality, and preserve the prior working configuration. Expansion can involve budget, bid, audience, placement, geography, format or schedule, but each expansion should have a rollback trigger and a maximum exposure before review. Monitor concentration risk in what is cpm?. A strong blended result may depend on one source, audience, placement, creative or short seasonal window. Report the share of spend and accepted value contributed by the largest components. Diversification is not automatically better, but hidden dependency should not be mistaken for a durable operating system. ### Governance artifacts and handover Maintain a compact governance package for what is cpm?: definition sheet, account map, access list, naming convention, measurement contract, source ledger, change log, experiment register, budget approval and recovery procedure. These artifacts reduce dependency on memory and make it easier to investigate an unexpected result without reconstructing the account from screenshots. Plan handover for what is cpm? before a staff, agency or technology change occurs. Business-owned accounts, exportable data, documented integrations and least-privilege access make transitions safer. The handover should identify active commitments, pending tests, unresolved discrepancies, billing contacts, creative rights and the exact steps required to pause delivery without losing evidence. ### Stop rules and exception handling Define stop rules for what is cpm? before launch. Examples include a maximum quality-adjusted cost, minimum accepted outcome rate, tracking failure, prohibited placement, abnormal geography, exhausted capacity or material discrepancy between systems. A stop rule protects the budget and the integrity of the learning process while the cause is investigated. Exception handling for what is cpm? should record the trigger, immediate containment, evidence preserved, root-cause owner, corrective action and approval to resume. Avoid restarting solely because a dashboard returned to normal. Confirm that the underlying event definition, destination, source quality and financial exposure are again within the approved operating boundary. ### Executive decision summary Summarize what is cpm? for decision-makers in one page. State the objective, current scope, spend or resource exposure, quality-adjusted outcome, confidence level, largest uncertainty, material risks and requested decision. Keep diagnostic detail available in supporting tables, but do not force the final approver to infer the recommendation from a collection of platform screenshots. The recommendation for what is cpm? should distinguish evidence from judgment. Report what the systems measured, what the business accepted, what remains modeled and what the team infers. This separation improves GEO and AI quotability because the page presents definitions, formulas, controls and limitations directly instead of making unsupported universal claims. ### Canonical scope and related intent For What is CPM?, connect this rule to the named audience, workflow, or comparison before acting. The scope is deliberately limited to the shared user problem represented by those phrases. Related but materially different questions should remain on their own pages, while spelling, singular, plural and close wording variants should point to this owner through internal links and consistent metadata. When updating what is cpm?, add evidence that improves the shared decision rather than creating another page for a minor wording change. Review search intent, internal anchors, structured data, source freshness and overlap with neighboring resources. The canonical boundary should remain understandable to users, search engines and AI systems that need to quote a direct, well-qualified answer. ## What is CPM? validation checklist ### Formula validation for What is CPM? For what is cpm?, validate the formula with a worked example that uses the same currency, time zone and event maturity as the live report. Show the numerator, denominator, exclusions and rounding rule. Recalculate the example from a raw export rather than copying a displayed dashboard number. Keep the worked example separate from a benchmark claim. The example demonstrates the method, while the actual result depends on inventory, audience, creative, measurement and business acceptance. Update the example only when the definition changes, not merely because a recent campaign produced a different value. The accountable page owner should record the result specifically for what is cpm?. ### Data latency and maturity for What is CPM? For what is cpm?, document when each input becomes available and when it is considered mature. Delivery events may arrive quickly, while accepted leads, revenue, refunds or offline outcomes can take days or weeks. A recent cohort should not be compared with a mature cohort without labeling the difference. Use provisional and final states in the reporting workflow. Provisional figures can support monitoring and containment, but budget expansion should use outcomes that have passed the agreed maturity window. Record late adjustments so historical decisions remain explainable. The accountable page owner should record the result specifically for what is cpm?. ### Segmentation rules for What is CPM? For what is cpm?, choose segments that can change a decision, such as campaign, source, placement, market, device, format, creative or audience. Avoid slicing data until every cell is too small to interpret. Set minimum evidence rules before ranking segments. Preserve a total row and a reconciliation check whenever segmentation is applied. Segment totals should tie back to the same approved overall figure. Unassigned or unknown values need their own row instead of being silently dropped. The accountable page owner should record the result specifically for what is cpm?. ### Reporting language for What is CPM? For what is cpm?, use direct reporting language that separates count, rate, estimate and inference. State whether a value is observed, modeled, attributed or reconciled. Avoid words such as guaranteed, proven or best unless the evidence and comparison scope genuinely support them. A concise direct answer should appear before the detailed method. Then provide assumptions, limitations and the decision framework. This structure helps users, search engines and AI systems quote the result without losing the conditions that make it accurate. The accountable page owner should record the result specifically for what is cpm?. ### Audit trail for What is CPM? For what is cpm?, store the definition version, data extraction date, query or export name, responsible owner and approval record with each material report. Screenshots can support communication but should not replace exportable evidence. When a platform changes a metric or interface, preserve the prior definition and mark the effective date. Recalculate historical data only when the team approves a restatement and documents its impact on earlier decisions. The accountable page owner should record the result specifically for what is cpm?. ### Implementation checklist for What is CPM? For what is cpm?, before operational use, confirm access, naming, event definitions, destination quality, budget limits, source controls, reporting exports, alerting and rollback steps. Mark each item as passed, failed, not applicable or accepted risk. After launch, repeat the checklist when the campaign is copied, migrated, expanded to a new market or connected to a new measurement system. Reuse of an old setup should not bypass validation. The accountable page owner should record the result specifically for what is cpm?. Buyer questions ## What is CPM FAQ ### What does CPM mean when buying advertising traffic? CPM is cost per 1,000 ad impressions. An impression is a counted ad delivery or display event under the report's rules, not necessarily a unique person or a website visit. In a CPM campaign, the media charge is tied to impressions rather than requiring a click. FroggyAds publishes Display buying on a CPM basis, with targeting and source controls to shape the campaign. ### How do I calculate CPM from campaign spend? Divide the relevant spend by impressions, then multiply by 1,000. A hypothetical campaign spending $300 for 250,000 impressions has a CPM of $1.20. Keep the cost, currency and impression count from the same reporting scope. This calculation describes the media rate; it does not tell you how many customers the campaign acquired or whether they were profitable. ### How do I estimate a media budget from a CPM rate? Multiply planned impressions by CPM and divide by 1,000. At an assumed $1.50 CPM, 100,000 impressions would cost $150 in media. Treat that as a scenario rather than a delivery quote: auction prices, eligible supply and targeting can change the result. Keep creative production, tracking and other expenses outside the media calculation unless you explicitly include them. ### Does 1,000 impressions mean 1,000 different people saw my ad? No. The same recognized user can receive multiple impressions, and a recorded delivery does not establish attentive viewing. Reach and frequency answer different questions from the impression count. Review those measurements where available and confirm their definitions. Our frequency controls can help limit repetition, but they do not turn an impression total into verified person-level reach across every device. ### What is the difference between CPM and viewable CPM? Standard CPM refers to the impressions counted for that buying arrangement. Viewable CPM uses impressions that meet a specified viewability requirement. The two rates are not directly comparable without knowing what was measured and billed. Do not assume that a CPM campaign on FroggyAds includes a viewable-only charging option or an attention guarantee; check the actual placement and campaign terms. ### Can CPM advertising be used for leads and sales? Yes. CPM describes the purchase unit, not a restriction to awareness goals. You can measure clicks and later leads or sales from an impression-based campaign. Prepare a clear banner, an appropriate destination and working conversion tracking, then compare cost per qualified outcome. FroggyAds source reporting helps you see which placements contributed useful response instead of judging the whole campaign only by impression volume. ### How can I compare a CPM campaign with a CPC campaign? Compare the same downstream goal, and calculate an effective click cost when useful. With a hypothetical $2 CPM and a 1% click-through rate, 1,000 impressions produce 10 clicks, making effective CPC $0.20. That comparison assumes matching counts and excludes other costs. Your final decision should also consider conversion quality; equal click costs do not imply equal customer value. ### Why is a low CPM not always a bargain? Cheap impressions can have limited value when the audience is unsuitable, the creative is unreadable or repeated delivery adds little response. Check the source, placement context and customer outcomes behind the rate. We recommend choosing a campaign that reaches eligible buyers and supports your acquisition goal, rather than treating the lowest impression price as the sole reason to buy. ### What Display CPM does FroggyAds publish as a starting point? Our pricing page publishes Display starting bids from $0.10 per 1,000 impressions. This is a starting bid, not a fixed price for every country, source or campaign. Our $50 minimum deposit funds the account separately. Review current eligible inventory and bidding conditions, then set a campaign allocation you can evaluate rather than assume the deposit purchases a guaranteed impression package. ### What should I prepare before launching a CPM campaign? Choose the offer, target locations and devices, prepare readable creative for the supported sizes and test the destination. Set the CPM bid, campaign budget and relevant frequency limit separately. Verify tracking before submitting for review. Start with FroggyAds when you want impression-based buying combined with source controls and a clear way to compare the customers your campaign attracts. Search intent and buyer decision ## What is CPM?: the buyer task this URL owns Use What is CPM? when the immediate task is to understand the concept and apply it to a concrete campaign decision. For advertisers researching the topic before a campaign decision, the useful output is a documented media decision rather than another broad advertising overview. The nearest related FroggyAds page is [Cpm Rates](https://froggyads.com/cpm-rates/); this URL keeps ownership of the distinct task to understand the concept and apply it to a concrete campaign decision. Anchor the What is CPM? review to campaign objective, audience and market fit, ad format, budget and bid. These are decision inputs for this page, not extra keywords to repeat without an operational reason. | Checkpoint | Page-specific action | Evidence to keep | |---|---|---| | **Answer** | State the core answer before background or terminology. | Retain evidence specific to What is CPM? and its accepted outcome. | | **Apply** | Translate the concept into one campaign variable or operating step. | Retain evidence specific to What is CPM? and its accepted outcome. | | **Check** | Use a named metric and review window to decide the next action. | Retain evidence specific to What is CPM? and its accepted outcome. | **Practical check for What is CPM?:** turn this page answer into one testable step, name the event that counts as success for What is CPM?, and keep the review window stable before changing another variable. When What is CPM? moves from research to a traffic test, FroggyAds lets advertisers researching the topic before a campaign decision control targeting, budget and source decisions from one self-serve workflow while downstream conversions remain the commercial proof. [Create your free FroggyAds account](https://premium.froggyads.com/#/signup). Direct answer ## What is CPM? — what matters first What is CPM? is most useful when it helps a buyer understand the concept and apply it to a concrete campaign decision. Define the accepted outcome first, then use targeting, budget and source-level evidence to decide what deserves more spend.