What Is CPM?

CPM (cost per mille) is the price advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions served on a creator's videos, before YouTube takes its share (45% on long-form ads, 55% on Shorts feed revenue). CPM is set by auction and varies by niche, audience country, season (Q4 peaks), and ad format. Because one view can carry zero, one, or several ad impressions, CPM and views don't map 1:1, which is why creators should plan on RPM, the post-cut, per-view figure, instead.

Why it matters for faceless channels

A $20-CPM finance video still nets ~$11 RPM. Plan your channel economics on RPM using the earnings data.