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eCPM (effective cost per mille)

eCPM is what a campaign or placement actually costs or earns per thousand impressions, whatever pricing model it runs on.

How it works

eCPM puts different pricing models on one scale. Divide total cost (or revenue) by impressions and multiply by 1000:

eCPM = cost / impressions × 1000

Publishers use it to compare what each zone earns. Advertisers use it to compare what different campaigns really paid for reach. Ad servers use an expected version to rank bids of different types against each other:

  • CPC bid: eCPM = CPC × expected CTR × 1000
  • CPA bid: eCPM = CPA × expected conversions per impression × 1000

Example

A CPC campaign pays $0.04 per click and gets 300 clicks on 60,000 impressions. Cost = 300 × $0.04 = $12, so eCPM = 12 / 60,000 × 1000 = $0.20. A CPM campaign bidding $0.25 on the same zone would rank above it, because each thousand impressions pays the publisher more.

On UluMob

Every UluMob auction ranks eligible campaigns by eCPM. CPM bids count as they are; CPC, CPA and CPV bids are converted with an expected rate for the format, so a CPA campaign and a CPM campaign can compete for the same zone. Smart CPM campaigns pay one cent above the next-highest eCPM, capped at their own bid. Publishers see earnings per zone in their reports and can set a reserve, the lowest CPM they accept, on each zone.