CPM (Cost Per Mille)

CPM pricing is the standard for display and video advertising where reach matters more than direct clicks. When you buy on a CPM basis, you pay a fixed rate for every 1,000 times your ad is shown, regardless of whether anyone clicks. Typical CPM rates on Facebook range from $5 to $15 for broad audiences in the US, while push notification networks can offer CPMs as low as $0.10-$0.50 in Tier 3 GEOs like India or Bangladesh. Premium placements on YouTube or connected TV can command CPMs of $20-$40. For traffic arbitrage, CPM buying can be highly profitable if you achieve a strong CTR — buying 1,000 impressions at $2 CPM and getting a 2% CTR gives you 20 clicks at an effective $0.10 per click. Media buyers who specialize in CPM campaigns focus heavily on creative quality and audience targeting to maximize the CTR from those paid impressions. In the affiliate marketing industry, CPM campaigns are common when testing new creatives or scaling proven funnels on native ad platforms like Taboola or MGID. Understanding the relationship between CPM, CTR, and your effective cost per click is essential for calculating whether a campaign can be profitable before committing a large budget.