CPM vs CPV vs CPC: which video ad price should you buy?

Three prices for three moments

Every paid video passes through the same three moments. The platform shows it, some people watch part of it, and a smaller group clicks. CPM, short for cost per mille, puts the price on the first moment, CPV on the second and CPC on the third, and simple arithmetic links them. If 1,000 impressions cost $12 and 40 of those become counted views, each view cost $0.30. If 4 of those viewers click, each click cost $3.00. The spend is identical in all three cases; only the divisor changes. That is why comparing a CPM from one campaign with a CPV from another says nothing, and why the useful comparison is always the same metric across campaigns that share an objective.

What counts as a view changes the price

CPV is only as meaningful as the definition of a view, and the platforms disagree. On YouTube, cost per view bidding counts a view when someone watches 30 seconds of a skippable in-stream ad, or the whole ad if it is shorter, or interacts with it, whichever comes first. LinkedIn counts a view at two continuous seconds of playback with at least half the video on screen, and says its CPV includes paid views only. Meta's closest equivalent is cost per ThruPlay, the amount spent divided by the number of plays that reach 15 seconds, or the end of a shorter video. A two second view and a thirty second view are not the same purchase, so a low CPV on one platform and a much higher CPV on another can both be fair prices.

When each model is the right one to buy

CPM suits awareness work where the message lands in the opening seconds, such as a launch date, a sale or a brand name, because you are paying to be seen and a well built first scene does the rest. CPV suits a video whose value sits in the middle, such as a demonstration or an explanation, because you pay only when someone stays. CPC suits campaigns judged by what happens after the click, where a view with no visit is worth nothing. A practical habit is to choose the model from the structure of the video itself. If the offer is readable in the first frame, impressions are fair value. If the payoff arrives at second twenty, a view based model protects the budget from people who were never going to reach it.

Common mistakes

The first is reading a low CPV as success without checking the view definition, which rewards loose thresholds rather than attention. The second is comparing CPM across placements with very different viewing behaviour, since a cheap impression in a crowded feed can cost more per view than an expensive one on a watch page. The third is optimising for views when the goal is sales: the platform will find people who watch and never click, exactly as it was asked to. The fourth is ignoring length. A 60 second video bought on ThruPlay is paid at second 15, so the second half of the story may reach only a fraction of the people you were billed for.

Where it shows up in the product

The video builder here makes the ad, not the media buy. It does not run campaigns, set bids or report impressions, views or clicks, so every figure on this page comes from the ad platform after you upload the MP4. What it does shape is the thing those prices pay for. A promotional scene runs 2.5 to 4 seconds with 5 to 8 words of narration, so the offer can be on screen inside the window a CPM buyer is paying for. Captions are burned in and on by default, which matters because a viewer counted at two seconds is usually watching muted. And the short length setting targets about 10 seconds, so a short promo that finishes under the 15 second ThruPlay mark is only paid for on ThruPlay when it is watched to the end.

Questions people ask