How surface pricing works
Two placements, two auctions — your campaign picks one.
Kickbacks ads run on two kinds of surface. They are genuinely different placements, so they carry different prices — the same way a homepage takeover and a footer link don't cost the same.
| Surface | Where it renders | Attention | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extension | Inside the editor — the assistant's thinking line, banner, and status bar while the developer is reading the response | In the developer's eye line at a natural pause | Higher CPM |
| Terminal | The CLI status line and spinner verb at the bottom of a terminal | Ambient, peripheral — glanced at, not read | Lower CPM |
For advertisers
When you buy a campaign, you choose its surface with a simple toggle on the buy form:
- Extension — your ad renders inside the editor at the moment the developer is reading the response. Premium placement, clickable, higher CPM.
- Terminal — your ad runs on the CLI status line. Ambient, high-volume, lower price.
Your bid is simply the price for that placement. The two surfaces run as completely independent auctions: an extension campaign competes only against other extension campaigns, a terminal campaign only against terminal ones — and your campaign never serves, and is never billed, anywhere except the surface you chose. Want both placements? Buy one campaign of each, priced for what each is worth to you.
For developers
Your share doesn't change: you earn 50% of what the advertiser actually pays on every impression your machine shows, on both surfaces. Because the extension surface clears at a higher CPM, an impression shown in the editor pays you more than one shown on the terminal line.
Practical upshot: if you only run the CLI today, installing the extension puts your impressions on the higher-value surface, and your per-impression earnings go up. Your account page shows your earnings split by surface, so you can see the difference.
Why we split the price
- Honest billing. Advertisers pay for what a placement is actually worth instead of a blended average that overcharges the terminal and undercharges the editor.
- Cleaner data. Every impression is attributed and priced per placement — for you and for our ad partners.
- Real price discovery. Two auctions mean the market, not us, decides what each surface is worth over time.
Questions? Read the FAQ or email support@kickbacks.ai.