CPM Calculator

What to calculate

Budget

Impressions

Result

CPM$60.00
Impressions500,000
Budget$30,000.00
Cost of one impression0.06
Impressions per CPM unit1,000

The currency of display advertising

Cost per thousand impressions, or the reach a given budget can buy at a given CPM.

CPM is the price of a thousand impressions and the basic unit of display buying. Unlike cost per click, you pay for the ad being shown, whether or not anyone reacts.

The model suits reach objectives: brand awareness, a launch announcement, staying front of mind. For direct response it is riskier — you pay for impressions and whether clicks follow depends entirely on the creative.

What this calculator shows

CPM from spend and impressions, or reach from budget and CPM
The cost of a single impression
The budget-to-reach relationship in both directions

What to keep in mind

An impression is not a view: an ad can count as served while sitting below the fold. Some inventory is sold on viewable impressions, and its CPM is higher.
Reach and impressions differ: one person can see an ad several times, so reach is lower than the impression count.

FAQs

When should I buy on CPM rather than CPC?

When the objective is reach and recall rather than an immediate click. CPM also wins if your creative earns an above-average CTR: you pay for impressions and collect the extra clicks free.

How do impressions differ from reach?

Impressions count every appearance, reach counts unique people. At a frequency of three, reach is a third of the impression count.

What are viewable impressions?

An impression counts as viewable when at least half the ad is on screen for a second or more. Buying on viewability is fairer, and the CPM is noticeably higher.

What CPM should I expect?

Display networks from 30 to 100, social from 100 to 400 depending on targeting, video from 200. A narrow professional audience costs many times a broad one.

Worked example

A display campaign

Input: 30,000 budget across 500,000 impressions

Output: CPM 60, one impression costs 0.06

Note: Sixty per thousand is ordinary for display networks. Social platforms with precise targeting run several times higher, but the audience is warmer.

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CPM Calculator

Result

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