Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
METRIC
PERFORMANCE ADVERTISING
A digital advertising metric measuring gross revenue generated for each currency unit invested in ad campaigns.
METRIC
PERFORMANCE ADVERTISING
Cost per Mille (CPM)
The advertising cost for one thousand recorded ad impressions.
BUSINESS RELEVANCE
CPM helps media teams compare the price of audience exposure, plan reach-oriented budgets and monitor auction or inventory costs independently of clicks and conversions.
IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLE
A campaign spends £4,800 and records 1,200,000 impressions. Its CPM is (£4,800 ÷ 1,200,000) × 1,000 = £4.
LIMITATIONS
CPM measures delivery cost, not attention, unique reach, viewability, engagement or business outcomes. Invalid traffic, repeated exposure and inconsistent impression standards can distort comparisons.
TECHNICAL EXPLANATION
CPM is calculated as advertising cost divided by measured impressions, multiplied by 1,000. It is both a buying model and a normalised delivery metric; the underlying impression definition and counting method must be consistent when comparing publishers, formats or campaigns.
Secondary Topics
Revenue Operations
Sources
Google Ads Help — Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) — https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6310; IAB New Zealand — Glossary of Terms — https://www.iab.org.nz/glossary
Related terms
Cost per Click (CPC)
METRIC
PERFORMANCE ADVERTISING
A paid media pricing metric reflecting the precise or average expenditure incurred for each registered user ad interaction.
Page Authority (PA)
METRIC
SEARCH OPTIMIZATION
A proprietary Moz SEO score predicting the ranking strength and link equity potential of an individual web URL.
Domain Authority (DA)
METRIC
SEARCH OPTIMIZATION
A search engine ranking prediction score developed by Moz to evaluate the comparative backlink strength of entire web domains.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
METRIC
REVENUE OPERATIONS
The normalized annualized value of contracted recurring subscription revenue generated by active customer accounts.