What does CPM stand for?

CPM stands for cost per mille - the Latin for thousand. It is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions, and it is the standard unit for buying display, pop and video inventory.

How do I calculate CPM?

Divide your total spend by the number of impressions delivered, then multiply by 1,000. A $500 spend that delivered 250,000 impressions is a $2.00 CPM.

Is a low CPM always better?

No. A low CPM on inventory that nobody clicks is more expensive per click than a high CPM on engaged traffic. Convert both to an effective CPC at your real CTR before comparing them, which is exactly what this calculator does for you.

What is a good CPM for pop or push traffic?

It depends almost entirely on the GEO. On TrafficSigma, pop inventory starts at a $1.00 CPM floor in Tier-3 countries and a $2.00 floor in Tier-1 countries such as the US, UK and France. Load a GEO preset above to see the average rate we publish for it.

How is CPM different from CPC and CPA?

CPM charges for impressions, CPC charges for clicks and CPA charges for conversions. Each moves risk between the buyer and the network: with CPM you carry all of it, with CPA the network carries most of it, and the price reflects that.

Does this calculator store what I type?

No. Everything runs in your browser. The share button simply puts your inputs into the page URL so you can send the exact scenario to a colleague.

CPM Calculator

Work out what a CPM buy actually costs you. Enter any two of budget, CPM and impressions and this calculator solves the third, then translates the buy into clicks, an effective CPC and the payout you need to break even. Built by the media buyers at TrafficSigma, with our published GEO rates loaded in.

Load a GEO rate

Fills the CPM with the average pop rate we publish for that country. Every figure stays editable.

Budget

Total spend for the campaign or the flight you are planning.

CPM

Cost per one thousand impressions - what the network charges you.

Impressions

Ad views the budget buys. Leave this to be solved, or type it to solve the budget instead.

Expected CTR

Share of impressions that become clicks. Push typically runs far higher than pop.

Expected conversion rate

Share of clicks that convert on your offer. Drives the break-even payout below.

Enter any two of budget, CPM and impressions - the third is solved automatically. The field you touched least recently is the one that moves.

What this buy looks like

$1,000.00 at a $2.80 CPM buys 357,143 impressions. At a 0.5% CTR that is 1,786 clicks, so you are effectively paying $0.56 per click. That is enough volume to read a result from.

At a 2% conversion rate this budget produces 36 conversions, so the offer has to pay at least $28.00 per conversion to break even.

The numbers behind it

Clicks at this CTR: 1,786
Effective CPC: $0.56
Conversions at this CR: 36
Break-even payout per conversion: $28.00
Your CPM vs the floor that applies: $2.80 / $2.00

How to read a CPM

CPM is the price of one thousand impressions. It is the only ad-pricing model where you pay for exposure rather than for an action, which makes it the cheapest way to buy reach and the easiest way to waste a budget: an impression that nobody sees still bills.

That is why the effective CPC above matters more than the headline CPM. A $2.00 CPM at a 0.5% CTR costs you $0.40 a click. The same $2.00 CPM at a 0.1% CTR costs $2.00 a click - five times the price for identical inventory. Before you compare two CPM offers, convert both to an effective CPC at the CTR you actually expect to see.

The last number to check is the break-even payout: the amount your offer has to pay per conversion for the campaign to return the money you put in. If that figure is higher than what your advertiser pays, the buy is unprofitable before it starts, no matter how cheap the CPM looked.

The CPM formula

CPM = (budget / impressions) x 1,000
Impressions = (budget / CPM) x 1,000
Budget = (impressions / 1,000) x CPM
Effective CPC = budget / (impressions x CTR)
Break-even payout = budget / (impressions x CTR x CR)

CPM calculator FAQ

What does CPM stand for?: CPM stands for cost per mille - the Latin for thousand. It is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand ad impressions, and it is the standard unit for buying display, pop and video inventory.
How do I calculate CPM?: Divide your total spend by the number of impressions delivered, then multiply by 1,000. A $500 spend that delivered 250,000 impressions is a $2.00 CPM.
Is a low CPM always better?: No. A low CPM on inventory that nobody clicks is more expensive per click than a high CPM on engaged traffic. Convert both to an effective CPC at your real CTR before comparing them, which is exactly what this calculator does for you.
What is a good CPM for pop or push traffic?: It depends almost entirely on the GEO. On TrafficSigma, pop inventory starts at a $1.00 CPM floor in Tier-3 countries and a $2.00 floor in Tier-1 countries such as the US, UK and France. Load a GEO preset above to see the average rate we publish for it.
How is CPM different from CPC and CPA?: CPM charges for impressions, CPC charges for clicks and CPA charges for conversions. Each moves risk between the buyer and the network: with CPM you carry all of it, with CPA the network carries most of it, and the price reflects that.
Does this calculator store what I type?: No. Everything runs in your browser. The share button simply puts your inputs into the page URL so you can send the exact scenario to a colleague.

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