When you target a Third Party Audience, a data fee is charged by the data vendor for the use of each selected segment. AdRoll passes this fee through to your account, and it is reflected in the total invoice cost. The sections below explain how the fee is calculated, where you can see it in the platform, and how it appears on your invoice.
How data fees are charged
- Each segment has its own CPM. Every third-party segment available in AdRoll has a data fee expressed as a CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions). The CPM varies by segment and reflects what the data vendor charges for use of that audience attribute. See the Data fee CPM range per segment column in this article for indicative pricing by parent category.
- Fees are added on top of your impression CPM. When AdRoll serves an impression to a user qualified by your Third Party segment, the per-segment data CPM is added to your impression (media) CPM. Your effective CPM for those impressions is:
Effective CPM = Impression (media) CPM + Per-segment data fee CPM- Charges accrue only on impressions served. Data fees are incurred when impressions are delivered against a segment. There is no upfront or fixed charge for selecting a segment in the Audience Builder.
- The highest segment CPM determines your data fee. When your audience includes multiple segments, AdRoll charges the data fee at the highest segment CPM rate for all impressions served. For example, if your audience includes Segment A ($0.75 CPM) and Segment B ($1.00 CPM), you are charged $1.00 CPM for all impressions delivered.
Where can you see data fees in the platform?
You can review every data fee before you confirm your audience. During segment selection in the third-party audience builder, the CPM is displayed in two places:
- Next to each segment in the category list. As you browse the segment tree (e.g., Purchase Predictors → In-Market → Automotive), the segment CPM is shown to the right of every segment name, for example, Body Style – Luxury Cars … $1.00.
- In the segment detail tooltip. When you focus on a segment, a tooltip displays the full segment path along with the Segment CPM for that segment (e.g., Segment CPM: $1.00).
Audience Data Fees
Third Party audiences have a per-segment CPM (shown next to each segment) that’s added to your impression CPM. All audience data fees are included in total media cost.
How data fees appear on your invoice
For US AdRoll customers on automated billing:
- Shown in your invoice total. Audience data fees are included in your invoice total, not as a separate line item. The Invoice Total line displays the combined amount, with a subtext line noting the third-party audience data fee amount (e.g., “Includes third-party audience data fees: $38.25”).
- Charged with your regular billing cycle. Data fees accrue across the billing period as impressions are delivered and are charged on your scheduled invoice through your account’s automated billing method.