Cost Per Mille (CPM)

The traditional definition of “cost per mile” (CPM) as an advertising term would refer to the cost of a certain distance traveled by working vehicles. In the world of mobile apps, it means much the same thing. CPM is what advertisers will pay developers and publishers for every 1000 views of an advertisement.

Rather than waiting to get paid for when a consumer actually clicks on an ad, a publisher can instead get paid for every 1000 views of a certain ads. Ad networks are willing to pay publishers based on how often their ads are just simply viewed by the variety of consumers and customers who have downloaded the publisher’s app.

CPM Calculations

Advertisers will typically measure the cost per mile by dividing the cost of the advertisement by the number of views (typically 1000) that it generates. For example, if the cost of the CPM campaign is $200, and the number of ad impressions is 1000, the CPM is $200.

CPM advertising campaigns can work a little differently than CPC campaigns. This is because the advertiser is less concerned with getting consumers to click on the ad, and more concerned with the popularity of the app itself and how many total customers it has.

What to Expect

A mobile developer or publisher should expect to earn anything from $0.05 to $15 per CPC campaign, or per 1000 views of a certain advertisement. It is hard to guess how much revenue a certain CPM campaign will generate, as it can greatly differ from publisher to publisher or from campaign to campaign.

Most advertisers will pay a fixed rate for a CPM campaign, meaning that a publisher or developer can come to expect the same amount every time 1000 views are reached. Most publishers may have multiple contracts with multiple advertisers, meaning that there is the possibility of multiple payouts. This is a great way for publishers and mobile app developers to earn extra revenue while increasing viewership and helping advertisers make a profit through their line of work as well.

Things to Consider

If you are considering a CPM campaign for your mobile app, there are a few things you may want to keep in mind before making the plunge:

• Anything from a banner ad to a pop up ad can count towards viewership – Think about all of the times that you have been playing a mobile game and you see an advertisement for another game pop up after each round. Or, perhaps there is a banner ad on the top or side margins of the mobile app you are viewing – just the fact that it is up on your phone means that it counts towards the 1000 mark for a CPM campaign.
• CPM campaigns are not good for every mobile app – If your app is just starting out, and you are struggling for viewers, it may be more profitable to go with a CPC campaign instead.
• Do not expect to make a lot at first – This can be good revenue in the long run, but it may not start out that way.

CPM campaigns have been a standard part of the advertising world since before the dawn of computers, and now they can be applied to increase the success and revenue of free mobile phone apps.