Facebook Click-Through Rates Increase, Costs Per Click Down 20-40% in Q3

• Tweet
• Buffer

Two reports out just ahead of Facebook's Q3 2012 earnings call paint a picture of plummeting CPCs for ads on the social network. The average cost per click for Facebook ads in Canada and the US has fallen back to 2010 levels, according to TBG Digital.

This quarter, they report, the average CPC fell 40 percent in the United States and 27 percent in Canada. Spruce Media puts the CPC decrease at 18.2 percent, compared to Q3 2011.

It's not all bad news, says Spruce Media. Click-through-rates have increased at a faster rate; advertisers are seeing improved performance per ad viewed, making CPMs worth more to advertisers. CPMs have increased 27.5 percent YoY, while CTRs are up 57.2 percent. In the United States, they report, CPMs rose 40.5 percent while CTRs rose 61.1 percent.

"From a Facebook perspective, the increase in CPMs is good news," Spruce Media's Justin Kistner writes of his findings. "Increased CPMs means they are increasing their revenues per impression. If Facebook is maintaining their inventory sell through rate, then it should equate to more revenue per user," he explained.

TBG Digital expects CPCs to increase, noting, "High click-through rates provided by News Feed ad placements have meant that advertisers do not have to spend as much. This may have had a positive effect on CPCs. Expect to see CPCs rise as competition for inventory increases."

TBG Digital and Spruce Media each evaluated billions of Facebook ad impressions for their reports.

Facebook will report their Q3 2012 earnings later today, beginning at 5pm EST.

This article was originally published on Search Engine Watch.