CPI or Cost per Installation

Aksana Shakal
Jul 14, 2024
2 min

CPI or Cost per Installation meaning

CPI or Cost per Installation is a model where you get paid for every app download. The catch here is that the user must install it instead of just launching/viewing it in their browser window.

Some networks may also require an active installation — which means the program must be opened up and used by the end-user at least once. They are not likely to pay if they find out your affiliate link was clicked but never followed through with any action on the end-user’s side (like downloading).

If you are buying traffic, let’s say Richads‘ push notification ads or pop ads, it is imperative that you use a landing page to filter traffic and warm the audience up.

Advantages of CPI Model

CPI offers pay almost the same as CPL offers, making it a good choice for beginner affiliates. The number of CPI offers has also been increasing recently, so there’s a lot of opportunities here.

Disadvantages of CPI Model

Unfortunately, Cost per Installation offers doesn’t have much variety when compared to other models like CPL or CPA. Most CPI offers fall under games, finance, and antivirus or VPN.

Another downside to the Cost per Installation model is that most of them have a cap or a limit to the number of conversions you can achieve per day. Once hit, you will no longer be paid for conversions even if you continue sending traffic. To automatically pause your campaigns when the cap is hit, you should set up conversion tracking and automated rules.

Should You Choose the CPC Earning Model?

Most definitely. CPI is one of the easiest conversion flows to get started with. Once mastered, it will give you great ROI on your marketing efforts!

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Aksana Shakal

Aksana Shakal has been in affiliate marketing for more than 5 years and is currently the Head of Content at RichAds, an ad-tech holding company. Her sphere of interest lies in affiliate marketing and SEO copywriting. In her articles, Aksana provided in-depth expertise in gaining traffic with different ad formats (push and in-page push ads, popunders and native ads) and verticals (Gambling, Dating, Nutra, Finance and much more). Aksana also loves reading novels and watching interviews on YouTube.