CPM (Cost Per Mille)
The cost to show an advertisement to one thousand people. It is the standard currency of the display advertising world.
CPM Calculator (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions)
Calculate your Cost Per Mille (CPM) and compare it against 2025 benchmarks for YouTube, Facebook, and Programmatic Display.
CPM Calculator
Enter any two values to calculate the third one.
Apply This Metric
CPM works differently depending on whether you are buying ads (Advertiser) or selling them (Publisher).
How to Calculate CPM (Step-by-Step)
CPM stands for "Cost Per Mille" (Mille is Latin for thousand). It represents the cost of 1,000 views of your advertisement. It is the standard metric for Brand Awareness campaigns where visibility is more important than clicks.
The Formula:
CPM = (Total Ad Spend / Impressions) × 1,000
A Real-World Example:
You spend $200 on a YouTube Brand Awareness campaign. Your video receives 40,000 impressions (views).
- Step 1: Take Ad Spend ($200)
- Step 2: Divide by Impressions (40,000)
- Step 3: Result is 0.005
- Final: Multiply by 1,000 = $5.00 CPM
FAQs & Benchmarks
CPM varies drastically by format. Video is expensive; banner ads are cheap. Here are the averages:
| Platform | Avg. CPM | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook Feed | $8.00 - $15.00 | High quality visual feed. Expensive during holidays (Q4). |
| YouTube Ads | $15.00 - $25.00 | Video content demands high attention, thus higher cost. |
| Display (Banner) | $0.50 - $2.00 | Programmatic ads. Very cheap, but low attention span. |
If you are paying too much for impressions, check these factors:
| Cause | The Fix |
|---|---|
| Audience too small | Expand your targeting. Targeting only "CEOs in New York" is expensive. |
| Ad Fatigue | People are seeing your ad too often. Refresh your creatives. |
| Low Quality Score | Facebook/Google hates your ad. Improve engagement rates. |
Use CPM for brand awareness, new product launches, or retargeting campaigns where you just want to stay "top of mind".
Use CPC for direct response campaigns where you want a specific action (sale, lead, signup). Don't pay for views if you need sales.
CPM is not static. It fluctuates wildly depending on the time of year due to advertiser demand. Here is the typical cycle:
| Period | CPM Trend | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 (Jan - Feb) | 📉 Lowest | "Ad Hangover." Budgets are exhausted after the holidays. Best time for cheap reach. |
| Q3 (Summer) | ➖ Stable | Average costs. Lower usage as people are outdoors, but less competition too. |
| Q4 (Nov - Dec) | 📈 Highest (+50-100%) | Black Friday & Christmas. Every brand is bidding aggressively. |
Advertisers pay for Purchasing Power. Traffic is often categorized into "Tiers" based on the GDP and ad maturity of the country:
- Tier 1 (USA, UK, CA, AU): Highest CPM ($10+). High competition and wealthy consumers.
- Tier 2 (Europe, BR, RU): Moderate CPM. Good balance of volume and value.
- Tier 3 (IN, PH, VN): Lowest CPM (<$1). High volume, but lower conversion value for dollar-based products.
Key Terms for this Calculator
Impressions
A count of how many times an ad is fetched from its source and is countable. It does not guarantee the user actually "saw" it.
Viewability
A metric that tracks if at least 50% of the ad pixels were visible on the user's screen for at least 1 second.
Reach vs. Impressions
Reach is the number of unique people who saw your ad. Impressions is the total number of views (including repeats).
eCPM (Effective CPM)
A metric used by publishers to measure revenue per 1,000 impressions, regardless of the buying method (CPC, CPA, or CPM).
Frequency
The average number of times a single person sees your ad. Formula: Impressions / Reach.