Effective Cost Per Action or eCPA (as it is often initialized to) is a phrase often used in online advertising and online marketing circles.

CPA is considered the optimal form of buying online advertising from the advertiser s point of view. An advertiser only pays for the ad when an action has occurred. An action can be a product being purchased, a form being filled, etc. (The desired action to be performed is determined by the advertiser.)

effective Cost Per Action is used to measure the effectiveness of advertising inventory purchased (by the advertiser) via a Cost Per Click, Cost Per Impression, or Cost Per Time basis. In other words, the eCPA tells the advertiser what they would have paid if they purchased the advertising inventory on a CPA basis (instead of a Cost Per Click, Cost Per Impression, or Cost Per Time basis).

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