The Two Paychecks
Half of monetization confusion is these two getting swapped — one is the advertiser's bill, the other is your paycheck.
CPM is what advertisers pay for a thousand ad plays; RPM is what you actually keep per thousand views — never confuse the two.
What it actually measures
CPM prices your audience to advertisers — paid per thousand monetized ad plays, before the platform's cut, moving with niche, season, and geography. RPM is your side of the ledger: total revenue from all sources divided by every thousand views, after the split. CPM measures demand for your audience; RPM measures your business.
How to read it
- 1
RPM is always lower than CPM — the split comes out, and not every view is monetized.
- 2
CPM swings with ad-budget seasons. An early-year dip is the calendar, not your content.
- 3
Raise RPM by adding revenue per view — formats that monetize better, plus streams beyond ads — not just by chasing high-CPM niches.
- 4
Classic misread: quoting a screenshot CPM as if it were take-home pay.