In depth
CPM stands for Cost per Mille — the price advertisers pay per 1,000 served ad impressions. It is determined by real-time bidding in each platform's ad auction and reflects how valuable a given audience is to advertisers.
Creators do not earn the full CPM. After the platform's revenue share, the creator earns RPM. On YouTube the split is 55/45 in the creator's favour for long-form video and roughly 45/55 for Shorts. On Facebook in-stream ads it is also 55/45.
CPM is the right metric when you compare advertiser demand by niche or country. RPM is the right metric when you forecast your own income.
What affects CPM (Cost per Mille)
- Niche — finance and B2B SaaS attract premium-CPM advertisers.
- Audience country — Tier 1 traffic (US/UK/CA/AU/DE) commands the highest bids.
- Format — pre-roll and mid-roll CPMs are higher than bumper or display.
- Seasonality — Q4 CPMs spike during holiday advertising; January CPMs collapse.
- Brand safety — content flagged as Limited (LMA) earns drastically lower CPM.
Worked example
A US tech channel sells ad inventory at $24 CPM. After YouTube's 45% cut, the creator's RPM is approximately $13.20 per 1,000 views.