Running a YouTube channel doesn’t have to be only a hobby. Now more then ever during this covid pandemic people are searching for other sources of income due to loss of job, or cut hours, or sheer panic.
It can also be a nice source of income!
There are several ways of monetizing your content and finding the one that’s best for you is crucial!
In order to maximize your earnings, you need to do thorough research on everything related to making money and monetization on YouTube.
One of the words you’re bound to come across pretty often is YouTube CPM.
What Does CPM Stand For on YouTube?
CPM is one of the basic stats in the world of YouTube advertising. It’s the one that’s super-important for advertisers, but knowing more about it can certainly benefit the creators as well.
CPM is actually an acronym, standing for “Cost per Mille“.
The word “Mille” in this case refers to the Latin term for a thousand.
In the world of YouTube, this basically means that CPM is the cost per one thousand views!
This is the amount of money the advertiser has to pay each time their advertisement reaches a thousand views.
Note that the money goes to Google or YouTube, not directly to the creator.
The bad news is that YouTube Adsense takes quite a lot.
You will probably be disappointed to hear that they take almost half of your earnings. But, this doesn’t mean that you should give up.
There’s still plenty of money to be made in venues other than ads, from things like affiliate marketing, YouTube multi channel networks and sponsorships.
How Much You Actually Make per 1,000 Views?
As already explained, CPM refers to the amount advertisers pay to YouTube for every 1,000 views of their ads.
This raises the question:
How much goes to the creator?
YouTube takes 45% of the CPM, meaning that if the advertiser pays, for example, $7 for every thousand words, you will get $3.85.
NOTE: Check out how much money you can make for 1 million views
The amount the creators get from CPM is called RPM – Revenue per Mille!
Still, this doesn’t mean that the creators shouldn’t care about eCPM. On the contrary! The rule is simple – the higher the CPM, the higher the RPM!
Of course, even the highest CPM rate won’t do you any good, unless your videos are getting enough views. However, in order to get the most of it, it’s necessary to do your best to pump up the eCPM. In order to see if that’s possible, first, you need to calculate your current Cost per Mille!
How Do I Make CPM?
If you want to make money on youtube, you must have your AdSense account and advertise your videos. These ads are played at any time through video and come in the form of mid-rolls. The number of advertisements that play on your video depends on the video length, and the ad relies on the quality of the video, whether it can be used for ads or not.
Many videos uploaded on youtube have not been advertisable because there is a strict community of youtube which checks and determines which video allows for ads. Most of the footage with inappropriate content doesn’t allow to play ads.
If your video is with heavy language or hate speech, it is not accepted by youtube. For better CPM, make videos that have the best and explicit content. For a decent CPM, you have to maintain the quality of your content.
If you want to earn more from youtube, you have to work on the SEO of youtube. You have to learn the basics of youtube SEO for gaining more traffic and make your content famous. Many companies offer youtube SEO to invest in and earn more money by getting your video on the youtube search bar’s first page.
What Do I Earn CPM On?
You will earn by CPM when any users click on your ad or watch the entire ad. If they skip the ad, you will not make any money. Youtube allows YouTubers to add many options when adding ads to their video.
Some days early the youtube also allows the YouTuber to add the unskippable ads to the video, which will earn more money and generate good CPM.
Now youtube will allow the unskippable ads because no one likes the unskippable ads in a short video. It is irritating to have an unskippable ad in a short video the audience will completely disagree with this process. However, YouTube creators continue to upload, so it’s probably worth it putting at least a few of those in there.
There is a rumor about youtube CPM that mobiles users when seeing ads the youtube doesn’t pay the CPM. It is false. When any mobile or any user watches the complete ad, YouTube pays the CPM to YouTuber. If the mobile or any other user skips the ads, then there is no CPM for YouTubers.
Recently, a few ad blocker software is used to block ads; if the users use the ad-block, and your ads will not show, there is no CPM. Because of the ads blocker, many YouTubers are struggling very hard. If any of the users do that, YouTuber will block that user’s account but in a few cases.
If you want to earn more CPM, make excellent quality content that everyone likes and see all the ads, and don’t skip it, which will automatically increase your CPM, and you have a chance to earn more money from youtube.
What Types of Ads Are There on YouTube?
There are several different types of ads that creators can use for their videos.
The latest type of ad is trueview. The ads are made of 5 to 30 sec of length, and they can skippable from 5 sec. These ads don’t need completion to earn CPM. It is a good strategy that everyone can at least watch 5 sec of an ad and pay.
It is easy to handle the trueview ads because it contains different local and international marketing of our website ads. YouTubers can earn from these ads. But, the 30-sec ads pay more money than these right views ads.
In this era, review is the best type of ads because everyone is busy and has no spare time to watch the full 30sec ads. Trueview type of ad does not allow the viewers to skip before 5 sec. You earn almost good revenue from these ads rather than 30sec ads.
The non-skippable ads are ads which cannot skip before 30 sec. These are used to play 30 sec before video or in between video. But, YouTube changed the policy, and it can be unskippable for a maximum of 20 sec because mobile and other small users feel difficulty while playing any video.
Bumper ads are also unskippable, but it only lasts up to 6 sec. The payout of 30 second CPM is worth ads that have been viewed.
Things to Consider When Running Ads:
The ads depend upon your video’s length and content; you can add more ads in your video but overfilling the ads in your video makes your audience bored, and they can turn out from your video.
If you want to earn more, adjust ads according to your video maxim3 ads in one video. It will not disturb the audience, and they watch the video with comfort.
Try to add a variety of ads that are not boring for the viewer. Try to add 30-sec skippable advertisements that don’t disturb viewers. Choosing the ads for your video is also a trick. You add the ad in the pre role so people cannot turn off your video. People watched the whole video they wanted to see as you can earn a good CPM.
The essential thing in making more CPM is still your video’s high-quality content if your content is not good or exciting. Youtube does not allow you to play ads on your video.
Make excellent content for your viewer with hard work, and you will succeed in no time. If your content is exciting and you can get the viewer, it will automatically run more ads, and you earn the excellent CPM
Always focus on catchy titles, thumbnails; these small things will do what you want. These things are still crucial for making your video famous and to earn good CPM.
Also, add a suitable description and tags so people will easily find you. The CPM depends upon the viewer in your video; if your viewer is almost right, you will succeed on the youtube platform.
What Hurts My CPM?
If you make inappropriate content, it always hurts the youtube CPM. The content which is not friendly or has any hate speech is going to down your CPM. The adult and abusive content that families cannot watch is also going to hurt your CPM.
Youtube is always ruling out for their strict policy. They are very restricted to inappropriate content makers and block their video if they had any report on that video. Youtube has systems like anti-bullying hate speech, which will stop the users with that type of content.
Even the appropriate description, tags, and thumbnail can hurt your CPM. Youtube strictly blocked all the users with that type of content.
The copyright also hurt your CPM. If you’re going to use any video of anyone else, youtube detects that video and cannot allow the ad on that video or ban it. If you want to be successful on a youtube platform, make your good quality content, and succeed in the future.
It is essential to work on every basic youtube algorithm to earn some money from youtube.
Alternatives to CPM
Most of the YouTubers are not happy with their CPM. They are not delighted with youtube earning because 45% dreaded goes to youtube. So, they can use different methods to make their CPM.
They earn from affiliate marketing by inserting the product link in their youtube description of the video. Whenever a user clicks on a link and opens the product, they will get paid. Most Amazon products use affiliate marketing. Most brands also pay YouTubers for their promotion and links to online stores.
Youtube also gets highly paid sponsorship for different sponsors. They will spend the money on YouTubers for interesting links or ads in the video. The sponsors can increase more of YouTuber’s CPM. When any of the users buy that product from the link, the YouTuber gets the sponsor’s portion. It is a type of online business with sponsors.
The YouTuber also gets money from promotional merchandise and clothing brands by making videos on their products and adding their video links. They also promote different types of games and applications and get paid from owners.
In this way, the YouTuber can earn more CPM. There are lots of other ways to make money from youtube.
Calculating Your Channel’s CPM
In order to calculate the value of CPM, you first need to calculate your channel’s RPM.
Calculating the Revenue per Mille is a bit tricky, although not impossible.
All you got to do is follow these 3 steps:
- Check your monthly earnings! To do that, simply go to your AdSense account and click on “Payments” in the Settings section.
- See how many views your Youtube videos have received in the last month. To find that out, simply go to YouTube Analytics and take a look at the Monetized Playbacks (not on the number of views). In order to see the data for the previous month, just choose that option in the drop-down menu on the right side. The reason why you should take Monetized Playbacks into account is that not all of the views your videos get are monetized. In fact, a large percentage of them are not! For example, the views made on mobile devices are not monetized. The same goes for those made by the viewers who are using ad-blockers.
- Now it’s time to take the amount you earned in a month and divide it by the number of views your videos made in the same time period; then multiply it with 1,000. The number you get is your RPM!
For example, let’s say you earned $140 last month from ads and the number of views on your channel for the same period was 40k.
Here’s how you can calculate the RPM:
$140 ÷ 40,000 × 1,000 = 3.5
What this means is that you are earning $3.5 for every 1,000 views.
Video Views vs. Monetized Views?
The truth is that the number of views is the most important factor when it comes to making money on YouTube. However, it’s not the only one! In fact, in the world of YouTube, quality is equally important as quantity.
What this means is that in some cases, more views does not mean more money. The number of Monetized Playbacks is what really counts!
So, at this point, you are probably wondering what counts as a Monetized Playback. Well, each time an ad is shown to a viewer, YouTube will add it to the number of Monetized Playbacks. But, the condition is that the viewer has actually seen the advertisement!
Basically, this means that if the viewer skips the ad that runs before a video, it won’t count as a monetized view!
On top of that, there are a few other reasons why your channel might not be getting enough Monetized Playbacks. For example, if you’re a newbie vlogger, your YouTube channel might not be interesting to the advertisers. If there’s no one willing to pay for your ad space, you won’t earn anything!
Furthermore, YouTube is also careful about the convenience of the viewers. They pay special attention to ruin their viewing experience by overloading the videos with ads. What this means is that if a user is watching multiple videos, they won’t be getting too many advertisements at once.
So, how are you supposed to increase the number of Monetized Playbacks? Unfortunately, there’s no ultimate answer to this question. However, there are some things you could try!
Common Reasons for Low Number of Monetized Playbacks
In most cases, the reason for the low number of monetized views is a bad job done by the channel’s owner.
If your channel doesn’t have enough views, you can’t expect to earn a lot of money out of it. But, sometimes, this is not the fault of the YouTuber. If your channel is new, you simply have to wait and work hard in order to see results.
Of course, even that might not be enough. You also need to make sure that the SEO is done properly. If the viewers can’t find your videos, your channel won’t get enough views – it’s simple as that!
But, even if your videos are being watched by a decent number of people, it still doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll earn big money. Weak audience retention might be the cause of it!
The good news is that all of these issues can be solved. The bad news is that fixing them requires not only your time and energy, but also a lot of technical skills. Luckily for you, you’re at the right place! Our site is a great source of information that can help you learn how to run a successful YouTube channel!
Boosting the Number of Monetized Views
The key to increasing the number of monetized views is in improving the quality of your vlog. You can start by taking care of the search engine optimization. By using proper keywords in titles and descriptions of the Youtube videos you will be able to increase their visibility. The same principle applies to your channel’s description.
Speaking of the description, you need to match it to the content of videos. Some might think that writing false descriptions and using click-bait titles will bring more traffic, but that’s just not good advice. The viewers you get will go away as soon as they realize they’ve been tricked.
Instead, you need to focus on making the content as interesting to the viewers as possible. Whether that means providing them with the information they seek or simply entertaining them, you need to do your very best.
By this, we mean that you need to eliminate every factor that could make the viewers bored with your videos. So, try to make them shorter and more dynamic. Another good idea is to use interesting locations for shooting your videos. Also, you could try experimenting with video editing, trying new angles, and adding background music.
All of this may help you gather a massive following, made of viewers who will come back to watch your videos again. By doing that, they’ll be presented with more adverts, which in turn, will increase the number of Monetized Playbacks.
Unfortunately, even if you manage to improve the number of monetized views, it still doesn’t have to mean that you’re gonna make a lot of money. Your channel’s revenue depends on another important factor – the location of your viewers!
YouTube CPM Rates
In order to ensure a high eCPM (and RPM) rate, you need to target the audiences for whose views the advertisers are ready to pay a lot of money. This is something that differs from country to country, depending on a number of different factors.
Basically, the only thing that the advertisers worry about is whether their investment will pay off. That is why they will pay more money for the views coming from the countries with a large potential for their business.
Although this is something that depends a lot on the business niche, in general, some countries simply have higher YouTube AD rates.
The United States is the country that the advertisers focus the most. It’s not a surprise, given the fact that this is the world’s largest economy. On top of that, more than 50 percent of all Americans are using YouTube on a regular basis.
Average YouTube CPM Rates
At the moment, the average CPM (Cost per Mille) for the views coming from the United States of America is between 6 and 8 dollars.
Rather surprisingly, the United States is not the country with the highest YouTube CPM. The United Arab Emirates tops the list with a CPM that’s 8% higher than the one of the USA.
Other countries with high CPM rates ($5-8) include:
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- UK
- Austria
- Germany
- Switzerland
When it comes to the countries with the worst CPM rates, those include:
- Serbia
- Moldova
- Ukraine
- Liberia
You can check the data by going to YouTube analytics. That’s the place where you can see the current eCPM rates, but also the estimated number of monetized playbacks by county.
Other Factors that Determine Your Revenue
The Revenue per Month is something that doesn’t depend only on you, the creator, but the advertisers as well. That is why the RPM rates can differ quite a lot on a weekly basis. Here are some of the common factors that can have a strong impact on your channel’s revenue:
Season
Some months simply aren’t great for YouTubers. The reason is that advertisers have less demand in certain parts of the year, such as the post-holiday season. After spending a lot of money on Christmas and New Year’s marketing campaigns, some advertisers need to take a break in January.
Type of Advertisement
Depending on their preferences, some advertisers may be ready to pay more for certain types of advertisements. For example, some of them might be interested in getting ad clicks, not just views.
Final Word of Advice
Running a YouTube vlog can be a lucrative business if you do your job right.
Unfortunately, that implies investing a lot of time and work in making it successful.
It’s not just enough creating good content, but you also need to pay attention to many other details, regardless of how insignificant they might seem.
One of them is the YouTube eCPM rate, which can mean a real difference between a successful channel and one that’s destined for doom. Hopefully this article has helped you come up with a good CPM-boosting strategy!
5 Comments on “YouTube CPM”
Hi, may I ask you something?
Do you know what is RPM for USA for adsense?
Hey Michał,
We wrote a guide on how to calculate your own CPM/RPM
But, if you are just looking for general information, it depends on your niche and audience.
Excellent article! Thank you very much Zach 🙂 These tips are essential to help me grow my channel the right way
Is there any effect on your country settings for your channel? Because, I notice, you can simply change your channel country even though you are located in a different coutry.
One of the best articles and super informative Zach. 🙂