Xpend—cost aggregation overview

At a glance: Learn about methods for advertisers to aggregate and view marketing cost data.

Related articles: Cost operations | Cost ETL | Ad Spend Ingestion

Cost aggregation

Xpend:

Provides aggregate advertising cost data, including LTV performance metrics. These are available in the dashboards and in performance reports.
Reports include ROI, ROAS, clicks, impressions, campaign ROI, and average effective cost per installation (eCPI) over time.
Supports different cost models used by the partner, for example, CPI, CPA, CPC, and CPM.
Records advertising cost by API, ad spend ingestion (CSV file upload), and cost by click.
Agencies can access Xpend cost data for advertisers with an Xpend subscription.

The following metrics are available to advertisers without an Xpend subscription:

Cost data by click.
SRN clicks and impressions data, configured via the SRN integrated partner Cost tab.

Principles of cost data aggregation

This section describes the main principles of campaign cost data aggregation.

Cost aggregation methods

Cost data is obtained from partners using one or more methods. If cost is reported by more than one method then the cost prioritization mechanism determines which data is used. This ensures that cost data is not inflated.

After AppsFlyer processes the data, it displays in UTC timezone (default), or as per your app-specific timezone settings.

Cost aggregation method	Cost models supported	Data granularity	Data freshness	Remarks
API*	All	Level depends on the integration	Intraday	Data may change after the cost event as we try to receive data 7 days back. This enables us to take into account retroactive changes made by the ad network.
Ad Spend Ingestion (file upload)	All	Level depends on the file uploaded	Up to 4 hours after ingestion	Cost reported can be reverted and corrected data submitted for up to 90 days.
Clicks (attribution link)	CPI	User-level	Minimum: realtime Maximum: Up to 4 hours after click	No change possible
* API integrations between partners and AppsFlyer is by either Cost API or InCost API (never both). The API used and data granularity provided is partner-dependent.

Cost data availability and reports

Cost data is available in:

Overview, Cohort, and SKAdNetwork dashboards. For retargeting campaigns use Cohort unified view.
Cost ETL reporting tool containing the complete set of data. This includes campaign hierarchy details (media source, campaign name, adset, and the dimensions made available by the ad network, including geo, channel. site ID, and keywords).
Click cost data is available in raw-data reports.

In the Overview dashboard, Aggregated Performance Report contains: cost, clicks, impressions, ROI, and average eCPI data.

The type and model of cost data reporting depend on the aggregation method used.

Cost prioritization mechanism

For a given media source, cost can be provided by more than one aggregation method. To avoid cost inflation, a campaign cost prioritization mechanism decides which cost data is made available in the platform. Priority is given according to the aggregation method. The priority from highest to lowest is: API > Ad Spend Ingestion > Click. If available, use API, as it is the most accurate.

Campaign cost aggregation method prioritization

This mechanism impacts aggregate data reports and dashboards.
Click cost data available in raw data reports are not impacted by the prioritization mechanism.

Example

Scenario: An ad network reports cost per click, but you decide to enable the ad network's Cost API.

Result: Cost is aggregated by both click and Cost API. Since Cost API has priority, click costs are ignored.

Outcomes:

Possible to implement multiple cost-aggregation methods. The actual reported cost is affected by the cost aggregation method priority rules set out in the table below.
Change affects agency-generated traffic in the same manner. This includes both transparent and non-transparent agencies.
The change has retroactive impact. Historical aggregate cost data can change.

Cost aggregation method priority rules
Method	Description
API	Highest priority Most precise [best practice] Cost API vs. Ad Spend Ingestion: If an integrated partner has ad cost-aggregating API, then Ad Spend Ingestion is disabled. Note! This occurs even if the API isn't activated. Enable API: On any day Cost API is enabled, click cost is ignored. On the day you enable the API, it gets cost data for the entire day; it doesn't matter at what time during the day it was enabled. Click cost is ignored for the entire day. It may take several hours for data to be available after you enable the API. Disable API: On the day you disable the API, click cost is ignored until the beginning of the next day. Example: On Monday at 14:00 Tokyo time, the API is disabled. On Tuesday from 00:00 Tokyo time, clicks are no longer ignored.
Ad Spend Ingestion	At the site ID and keyword level, has priority over click cost data. Ad Spend Ingestion vs. click cost on a given campaign day: Priority is given to cost recorded by ingestion for that day; click cost is ignored. Example: abc_campaign on 5 and 10 December Record ingest campaign costs. Click costs are ignored. No other campaigns or dates are impacted. If an ad network has an ad-cost aggregating API, then Ad Spend Ingestion is disabled for that same ad network.
Click	Lowest priority

List of ad networks

Ad networks supporting Cost API

The following table lists all ad networks supporting Cost API, with the data granularity available for each:

Dimensions
Supported features and their characteristics
Metrics (as reported by the ad networks)

Download file: CSV, XLS

Traits and limitations

Trait	Remarks
Agencies	Can access Xpend cost data for advertisers with an Xpend subscription.