AD PLATFORM

> METRICS DESIGN FOR AN AD-SUPPORTED STREAMING PLATFORM // 0 TO 1

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The founding analytics engineer on a new ads business. No dashboards exist. No metrics are defined. The product team is building an ad-supported streaming tier, and the first question is: what do we measure?

This project simulates that 0-to-1 journey. The domain models an ad-supported streaming platform end-to-end — impression requests, real-time auction, ad delivery, viewability measurement, and billing reconciliation. Every metric was chosen because it answers a specific business question a stakeholder will ask in the first 90 days.

THE CHALLENGE

When nothing exists yet, stakeholders arrive with questions — not requirements. The analytics engineer must translate ambiguity into measurable signals:

  • > "Is our inventory monetizing?" — Fill rate, eCPM, revenue per subscriber hour
  • > "Are campaigns delivering on schedule?" — Pacing ratio, budget burn, over/under detection
  • > "Is our audience valuable to advertisers?" — eCPM by genre, completion rates, viewability
  • > "Are we showing too many ads?" — Frequency cap compliance, ad fatigue signals
CAPABILITIES

METRICS DESIGN

Fill rate, eCPM, completion, viewability, RPSH

Formulas, thresholds, and business context for each

CAMPAIGN PACING

Budget tracking, delivery status, over/under detection

Pacing ratio with configurable alert thresholds

REVENUE ANALYTICS

Advertiser mix, genre monetization, HHI concentration

Revenue diversification and pricing health signals

SELF-SERVICE TOOLING

Campaign Pacing Monitor for business users

Streamlit app — no SQL required for ad ops teams

TECHNOLOGY STACK

DATA LAYER

PostgreSQL 16 — analytical database

dbt Core — 20 models across 3 schemas

Python + NumPy/Faker — synthetic ads data generation

10 ad verticals modeled (auto, CPG, tech, pharma, etc.)

PRESENTATION LAYER

Metabase OSS — ad platform health dashboard

Streamlit — Campaign Pacing Monitor

8 core metrics with formulas and thresholds

HHI concentration index for revenue diversification