What is Earnings Per Click (EPC)?

Quick Definition: Earnings Per Click (EPC) is a performance and affiliate marketing metric that calculates the average revenue generated every time a user clicks on an affiliate or tracking link. It is used by publishers and affiliate marketers to quickly determine the earning potential and overall performance of an advertising campaign.

An Introduction to Earnings Per Click

Earnings Per Click (EPC) is a vital, high-level metric used to measure the financial efficiency of ad traffic. While models like Cost Per Action (CPA) or Cost Per Install (CPI) define what an advertiser pays, EPC measures what a publisher or affiliate earns on a per-click basis.

It answers the fundamental question: “For every click I send to this offer, how much money do I make on average?” This allows marketers to compare the performance of different offers directly, even if those offers have vastly different payout structures (e.g., a low-payout/high-conversion offer vs. a high-payout/low-conversion offer).

The formula is simple:

EPC=Total Earnings Generated / Total Number of Clicks

Note on timeframes:
EPC can vary a lot day to day, especially with small traffic samples. Many publishers look at EPC over a 7-day or 30-day period to smooth out volatility and spot reliable trends.

How Earnings Per Click Works: An Example

Imagine an affiliate is promoting two different mobile game offers.

• Offer A:
  Pays $2.00 per install (CPI). The affiliate sends 100 clicks and generates 10 installs.
  • Total Earnings: 10 installs * $2.00/install = $20.00
  • Total Clicks: 100
  • EPC for Offer A: $20.00 / 100 clicks = $0.20
    
• Offer B:
  Pays $10.00 per first-time purchase (CPA). The affiliate sends 100 clicks and generates 3 sales.
  • Total Earnings: 3 sales * $10.00/sale = $30.00
  • Total Clicks: 100
  • EPC for Offer B: $30.00 / 100 clicks = $0.30

Conclusion
Even though Offer A has a higher conversion rate (10% vs 3%), Offer B is the better-performing campaign because its EPC is higher ($0.30 vs $0.20).

Why is EPC Important?

• Performance Benchmark
  EPC is the great equalizer. It provides a single, universal metric to compare the profitability of various campaigns.
• Traffic Optimization
  Affiliates and publishers use EPC to decide which offers to promote most heavily, dedicating their best traffic to the campaigns with the highest EPC.
• Offer Discovery
  On affiliate networks and Offer Servers, high EPC is a strong indicator of a well-converting, profitable offer. This leads to the practice of EPC Sorting.

Limitations of EPC

While EPC is one of the most valuable benchmarks, it has its limitations:

• Traffic Quality Matters
  High EPC doesn’t guarantee sustainable performance; poor-quality clicks (e.g., accidental clicks or bots) can inflate results.
• Short-Term Volatility
  With low click volumes, EPC can swing dramatically. Broader timeframes (7 or 30 days) give more reliable insights.
• Advertiser Caps & Payout Changes
  An offer with a great EPC may run out of budget or adjust payouts, which can quickly change performance.
• No Volume Context
  An offer with a $2.00 EPC but only a handful of clicks may generate less total revenue than a $0.50 EPC offer at scale.

Takeaway
EPC is best used as a comparison metric, but it should be paired with other KPIs like conversion rate, total revenue, and volume to guide strategy.

EPC Sorting with GoKart

Tracking EPC is valuable, but acting on it in real time is where publishers gain the most impact. That’s why GoKart includes a built-in EPC Sorting feature for offer walls.

• Automatic EPC Sorting
  Offers are ranked in descending order by EPC, ensuring the most profitable offers appear at the top for the app user.
• Real-Time Adjustments
  EPC calculations, sorting, and budget checks are updated in real time.

Publishers don’t just measure EPC; they use it to maximize revenue from every session. By automatically surfacing the highest-earning offers, GoKart helps keep offer walls fresh, profitable, and user-friendly.

Related Terms

• EPC Sorting: The practice of ranking available advertising offers by their EPC to identify the top performers.
• Cost Per Action (CPA): The payout model that often determines the “Earnings” part of the EPC calculation.
• Rewarded Ads: One of the most popular and effective types of in-app ads.
• Offerwall: A specific ad unit that presents a collection of in-app ad offers.

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