Your floor CPM is the most important pricing decision you make as a publisher. Set it wrong and you either leave money on the table or watch inventory go unsold. This guide shows you how to find the sweet spot.

What Floor CPM Actually Does

Floor CPM is your minimum acceptable price per thousand impressions. When a buyer bids below your floor, their bid is rejected - even if no other buyer is bidding.

The Tradeoff

Higher floor = Higher revenue per impression, but fewer impressions sold
Lower floor = More impressions sold, but less revenue per impression

Your goal: maximize total revenue, not just CPM or fill rate individually.

Starting Point: Market Research

Before setting floors, understand market rates:

By Geography

Tier	Countries	Typical CPM Range
Tier 1	US, UK, CA, AU, DE	$1.50 - $4.00
Tier 2	FR, IT, ES, NL, JP	$0.80 - $2.00
Tier 3	BR, MX, PL, RU	$0.30 - $0.80
Tier 4	IN, ID, PH, VN	$0.05 - $0.25

By Traffic Type

Premium content sites: Can command 20-50% premium
Entertainment/streaming: Average market rates
Downloads/file hosting: Often below average
Adult content: Varies wildly by geo

The Data-Driven Approach

Step 1: Start Low, Gather Data

Begin with floors at 50% of expected market rate:

Ensures high fill rate initially
Collects bid data across all demand
Reveals what buyers actually pay

Step 2: Analyze Bid Distribution

After 1-2 weeks, examine your bid data:

What percentage of bids fall in each price range?
Where is the concentration of bids?
What is your effective CPM (revenue / impressions)?

Step 3: Calculate Revenue at Each Floor Level

Model what revenue would look like at different floors:

Floor $0.50: 10,000 impressions × 95% fill × $0.65 avg = $6,175
Floor $0.75: 10,000 impressions × 80% fill × $0.90 avg = $7,200
Floor $1.00: 10,000 impressions × 60% fill × $1.15 avg = $6,900
Floor $1.25: 10,000 impressions × 40% fill × $1.40 avg = $5,600

In this example, $0.75 floor maximizes total revenue.

Step 4: Test and Iterate

Implement your calculated optimal floor, then:

Monitor for 1-2 weeks
Compare actual vs predicted revenue
Adjust based on real results

Geo-Specific Floor CPM

One global floor leaves money on the table. Set different floors by country:

Why It Matters

US traffic at $0.30 floor when buyers pay $2.00 = lost revenue
Indian traffic at $1.00 floor when market is $0.10 = zero fill

Implementation

PopTrade supports geo-specific floor CPM:

Go to placement settings
Find "Geo Floor CPM" section
Add country-specific floors
Set default floor for unlisted countries

Time-Based Pricing

Demand varies by time of day and day of week:

Peak Hours (Higher Floors)

Business hours in target geos
Evening prime time (7-10 PM)
Weekday lunch hours

Off-Peak Hours (Lower Floors)

Late night / early morning
Weekend mornings
Holiday periods (depends on vertical)

Common Mistakes

Setting and Forgetting

Market conditions change. Review floors monthly at minimum.

Ignoring Fill Rate

A $2.00 CPM means nothing if fill rate is 5%. Track both metrics together.

Racing to the Bottom

Dropping floors too quickly can train buyers to bid lower. Decrease gradually.

Uniform Global Pricing

Treating all traffic the same guarantees suboptimal results somewhere.

Advanced: Dynamic Floor Optimization

For sophisticated publishers:

A/B test floors - Split traffic between floor levels
Seasonal adjustments - Q4 typically commands premium
Buyer-specific floors - Premium buyers get lower floors to ensure fill
Category-based floors - Different rates for different ad categories

Your floor CPM is a lever that directly controls revenue. Treat it as an ongoing optimization, not a one-time setting.

Floor CPM Strategy: How to Price Your Inventory for Maximum Revenue