What is CPM and why does it matters?

CPM represents the cost for a thousand of ads displayed on digital devices. To have a good understanding of the fluctuations of the CPM rates around the world, we will use the example of YouTube through the course of that article.

Indeed, Google AdSense uses YouTube among other solutions to make money online by showing ads. These are the ads you usually see at the beginning of the videos. CPM on YouTube means the amount of money an announcer will give to YouTubers for a thousand ads displayed in videos over usually that many viewings.

This rate is changing considering the country you live in. It creates drastic inequalities, but it is also because the cost of life in different countries is not the same. CPM is usually calculated in US dollars (USD). That means that all the numbers you will see in this article are in USD and represent the amount of money announcers pay for a thousand ads displayed. 

A more precise way to measure how well your audience is monetized is to check the Earning Per Mille Visitors as the CPM is more a measure of how much the advertisers will pay for a specific target ad, but not much of how well your website monetization is working.

YouTube Video CPM Rates 2019 | bannerTag.com

CPM in English-speaking countries

Australia is ranked highest of the English countries with a solid 6,15. Joined right after by his closest neighbour, New Zealand, where the CPM is 5,63. After that are the USA, with 5,33. On the fourth spot is Canada, with 4,64. Finally, the top 5 ends with the United Kingdom, with 4,59. As we can see, the CPM does not vary a lot in English speaking countries.

CPM in Asian countries

On the other hand, in Asian countries, the CPM does vary a lot. The first place is taken by Pakistan, with 7,54. The second place is the United Arab Emirates, with 4,72. The podium is completed by Japan, with 4,60. Just one place of the podium lands South Korea, with 3,21. Lastly, the fifth place is taken by Saudi Arabia, with 3,09. More than 4 points between the first and the fifth place, while in English Speaking countries, it was less than 2 points.

CPM in Europe

Two countries stand out in Europe: it is Denmark, with 10,61 and Poland, with 9,23. After that, the CPM is very regular. Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany complete the top 5 with 5,18, 5,17 and 5,06.

CPM overall in the world

The Maldives is the highest CPM with an astonishing 15,47, almost 3 times higher than the USA. The reasons behind it are not so clear. Then lands Guadeloupe (10,97), and Denmark (10,61). As you can see, it is not the richest countries which have the biggest CPM. The Maldives and Guadeloupe are both islands.

Targetting the right countries matters

It is not because the CPM price or the AdSense rates are higher in a country that you should directly target it and start a YouTube channel focused on people living there. Indeed, just like we said in the introduction, the cost of life also changes.

For instance, think about Switzerland. The price of life here is very high. All is expensive. The CPM is also quite high, but not as high as in Poland for instance.

Basically, Poland has a higher CPM while having a lower price of life. That is a better solution. Then, you should also think about taxes. Indeed, the CPM is what the announcer gives, but it is not always what the content creator receives. Some taxes have their word to say in the middle.

Also, there are several alternative to Google AdSense but their CPM rates are usually considered as the main market point of comparison.