A single web page may contain multiple ads. CPI provides a comparable measure to contrast internet advertising with other media.Īn impression is the display of an ad to a user while viewing a web page. Cost per impression is the closest online advertising strategy to those offered in other media such as television, radio or print, which sell advertising based on estimated viewership, listenership, or readership.

With this an ad is counted as 'viewable' when at least 50 per cent of a display ad is shown for one second or longer, or a video ad plays continuously for two seconds or more.Ĭost per impression, along with pay-per-click (PPC) and cost per order, is used to assess the cost-effectiveness and profitability of online advertising.

In recent years, to address the potential issue of advertisers getting charged for low-value ad impressions, a new metric has become an industry standard: viewable CPM. CPM is an initialism for cost per mille, with mille being Latin for thousand. CPI is the cost or expense incurred for each potential customer who views the advertisement(s), while CPM refers to the cost or expense incurred for every thousand potential customers who view the advertisement(s). They refer to the cost of traditional advertising or internet marketing or email advertising campaigns, where advertisers pay each time an ad is displayed. Cost per impression ( CPI) and cost per thousand impressions ( CPM) are terms used in traditional advertising media selection, as well as online advertising and marketing related to web traffic.

Cost per impression formula