Your question is Define KPIs for Ad Optimization. Take a moment with it on the right.
Talk me through your thinking if you like. When you're confident, submit your answer and I'll grade it like a real screen (7/10 or better passes).
AdNova runs a performance advertising platform that serves sponsored listings across mobile apps and web publishers. The company recently launched a new ad optimization system that changes bid selection, ranking, and pacing in real time, and leadership wants a clear KPI framework to evaluate whether the system is improving marketplace outcomes.
Last month, the platform served 420M ad impressions, generated 8.4M clicks, and delivered 252K advertiser conversions. Revenue was $6.3M, average CPC was $0.75, advertiser ROAS was 2.8x, and publisher fill rate was 91%. After the new optimizer launch, CTR increased from 1.8% to 2.0%, but conversion rate fell from 3.4% to 3.0%, while CPM rose from $14.20 to $15.00. Advertiser complaints about lead quality increased 18%, and user ad hide rate rose from 0.35% to 0.48%.
The Head of Ads asks you to define the most important KPIs for the optimization system, explain how they should be prioritized across users, advertisers, and publishers, and identify which movements suggest true improvement versus metric gaming.
ad_impressions: impression_id, user_id, advertiser_id, publisher_id, timestamp, placement, bid, predicted_ctr, predicted_cvr, costad_clicks: click_id, impression_id, timestamp, device_type, countryconversion_events: conversion_id, click_id, conversion_value, conversion_type, timestampuser_feedback: impression_id, hide_flag, report_flag, session_length_after_adadvertiser_campaigns: advertiser_id, campaign_id, budget, target_cpa, target_roas, vertical