CPM Calculator

What Is Cost Per Mille (CPM)?

In online advertising, CPM is a metric that refers to the cost of showing an advertisement to 1,000 users. CPM stands for cost per mille where the letter "M" signifies "mille," a Latin term that means "thousands." It is often used as a benchmark to compare the cost-effectiveness of marketing campaigns and to calibrate advertising budgets.

For example, if a company paid $10,000 for an online ad campaign that received 500,000 impressions, the CPM would be calculated as:
CPM = ($10,000 / 500,000) x 1,000
CPM = $20
So the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for this ad campaign would be $20.

Why Is CPM Important?

CPM is important in digital advertising because it allows advertisers to plan their ad spend, strategize their marketing campaign, and manage the advertising budget more efficiently. It's also a useful metric for publishers who can use it to determine the value of their ad inventory and set competitive pricing. Publishers often have a target CPM that they aim to achieve and it is typically influenced by factors such as their audience demographics, the type of content, etc.

What Is the Difference Between CPM and eCPM?

The difference between CPM and eCPM is that where CPM is an advertiser-centric metric, eCPM is a publisher metric. CPM measures the cost of 1,000 ad impressions to an advertiser, whereas eCPM measures the revenue generated for a publisher by 1,000 ad impressions.

In other words:

• CPM (Cost Per Mille): What advertisers pay for 1,000 impressions
• eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille): What publishers earn from 1,000 impressions

If you're a publisher looking to calculate your revenue per 1,000 impressions, you might want to check our eCPM Calculator instead.