Introduction
OddBytes offers two metrics that can be used to understand volume levels: Average Rank and Win Rate. The article below will cover both metrics to better explain what they are and how they can be used.
What is Average Rank and Win Rate?
Average Rank:
A Keyword's ranking compared to advertiser competition on the same Keyword. An "average" ranking is calculated based on the timeframe selected on the platform's Date Picker, and the rank may change based on a Keyword's Max Bid adjustment and/or changes in advertiser competition and bids. To view the most current rank, use the Current Hour option in the Date Picker, although Today will still provide a fairly accurate rank.
Average Rank is calculated differently based on the ad unit:
Display and Lightbox: Based solely on the Keyword's Max Bid The advertiser's Keyword with the highest Max Bid will have the highest ranking.
Push and Textlink: Based on a Keyword's Quality Score, representing both the Max Bid and Click-Through Rate (CTR)The advertiser's Keyword with the highest Quality Score will have the highest ranking.
The higher the numerical ranking, the better, with a ranking of #1 being the highest. If there is no numerical ranking (HIGH, MEDIUM or LOW is displayed instead), then a Keyword has not yet received enough traffic to calculate a numerical rank.
Win Rate:
The percentage of auctions ‘won’ at the Campaign, Creative and Keyword levels. A rate is calculated based on the timeframe selected on the platform's Date Picker, and the rate may change based on applied targeting, settings, bids and/or changes in advertiser competition and bids. To view the most current rate, use the Current Hour option in the Date Picker, although Today will still provide a fairly accurate rate.
A high Win Rate can indicate:
Highly competitive Max Bids
Low advertiser competition for the traffic being targeted by the Campaign, Creative or Keyword level
Restrictive Creative Settings
- By using restrictive Campaign or Creative settings (frequency cap, targeting, etc.), the overall pool of auctions is small, giving a Campaign, Creative or Keyword a higher chance of winning the auction.
A low Win Rate can indicate:
Low Max Bids
High advertiser competition for the traffic being targeted by the Campaign, Creative or Keyword level
How Can I Use Average Rank or Win Rate?
Average Rank and Win Rate can be used as separate metrics, but also can be taken into consideration together.
Average Rank is useful to understand how your own Keywords' Max Bids compare to advertisers' Max Bids. If a Keyword's rank is on the lower end and traffic is lower than desired, it's very likely due to the Max Bid being uncompetitive on the network.
Win Rate is useful to understand how successful your Campaign, Creative or Keywords are at winning eligible auctions. A high Win Rate may not necessarily mean high volume levels, as the rate may be skewed due to the limited number of auctions being participated because of very restrictive Creative and/or Targeting settings.
Using Average Rank and Win Rate together can also be beneficial. Below are a few examples of this:
If the Win Rate is low, check if the Average Rank is also low. If so, try increasing Max Bids as much as possible to increase both Win Rate and Average Rank.
If the Win Rate is high but volume is low, check the Average Rank. If the Rank is also high, try removing targeting restrictions or open up Creative settings to be able to participate in additional auctions and "win" more impressions.
If both Win Rate and Average Rank are high, and you'd like even more traffic, try expanding targeting even further. Some suggestions are adding new Keywords, increasing the frequency cap, increasing bids even further to compete with other Keywords in the URL string, etc.