This is an illustrative example built to show the process and the arithmetic. The numbers are realistic but not taken from a specific BFOUNT publisher; your results will differ by vertical, season and execution.
The offer
A home insurance pay-per-call campaign pays $30 per billable call. Billable means the caller stays on for 90 seconds, is a homeowner in one of 30 accepted states, and calls during buyer hours (9am–8pm Eastern, Monday to Friday). Duplicates within 30 days are not billable.
Week 1: the test
The publisher builds a call-first landing page, sets up a Google Ads campaign with responsive search ads and a call asset, restricts targeting to the 30 states and schedules ads to buyer hours. Budget: $1,000.
- Clicks: 500 at an average $2.00
- Calls: 60 (a 12% call rate)
- Billable calls: 24 (a 40% billable rate)
- Revenue: 24 × $30 = $720
- Result: −$280
Break-even CPC at these rates is $30 × 0.40 × 0.12 = $1.44. Paying $2.00 means losing money on every click.
Week 2: find the leaks
Listening to recordings and reading the search terms report shows three problems:
- Many short calls came from people searching for their existing insurer's customer service number.
- Several calls were from renters, who do not qualify.
- Calls on Friday evenings often arrived after the buyer's queue closed.
Fixes: add negatives for "customer service", "claim", "login" and insurer brand names; change the headline to "Homeowners: compare home insurance quotes"; add "for homeowners" to ad copy; end the ad schedule 30 minutes before the buyer closes.
Week 3: the new numbers
- Clicks: 450 at an average $1.80 ($810 spend)
- Calls: 63 (a 14% call rate — the clearer page converted better)
- Billable calls: 35 (a 56% billable rate)
- Revenue: 35 × $30 = $1,050
- Result: +$240
New break-even CPC: $30 × 0.56 × 0.14 = $2.35. The average CPC of $1.80 now leaves a healthy margin.
Week 4 onward: scale carefully
- Import billable calls into Google Ads and switch to Target CPA around $23 per billable call.
- Raise budget in 20–30% steps while cost per billable call stays under target.
- Copy the campaign to Microsoft Ads with its own tracking number.
- Share results with the network manager and ask about a higher payout or cap once quality is proven.
The lesson
The campaign did not become profitable because of a bigger budget. It became profitable because the publisher measured, listened to calls and fixed the leaks — and the improvements multiplied. That process works in every vertical.
Ready to run your own test? Join BFOUNT and pick a campaign with published buffers, hours and states.