CPM in Programmatic Advertising: The Great Revenue Robbery

Ah, CPM – Cost Per Thousand Impressions. It’s the holy grail of programmatic advertising, the metric that keeps the wheels of the digital ad world turning. But here’s the thing: if you’re not careful, it can also be the metric that leaves you penniless and wondering where it all went wrong.

At the top of the advertising tree, you’d expect a CPM of $25 to $30. That’s what advertisers are willing to pay for prime ad space. But if you’re being offered ad-breaks on FAST channels or ad-funded streaming for less than $10 CPM in the UK and USA, alarm bells should be ringing. Loudly. This means your precious ad dollars are being siphoned off by multiple Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs), leaving you with the crumbs.

Most FAST channels should be aiming for a CPM of $15 and above. Anything less, and you’re essentially giving away your ad space for peanuts. And who wants peanuts when you could have caviar?

Now, let’s talk about ad-fill. This is the percentage of available ads that are successfully traded at a good rate. In an ideal world, you’d have 100% ad-fill. No excuses. But here’s the catch: achieving this might mean settling for run-of-site or less targeted adverts, which can dilute your CPM. If you’re only filling 30% of your ads – the industry average – you’re missing out on 70% of your potential revenue. It’s like having a Ferrari and only driving it in first gear.

And if you’re getting less than $15 CPM for your advertising, you’re essentially handing over your hard-earned revenue to a bunch of intermediaries. It’s daylight robbery, plain and simple.

Let’s put this into perspective. If you have an $8 CPM and 30% ad-fill on a Connected TV (CTV) platform deal with a 50% inventory share, you’re missing out on tripling your revenues. Yes, tripling. For the same audience. By using Kapang’s CoMo, which respects content revenues fairly, you can kickstart studios and content archives, getting them promoted to audiences and ensuring you get a fair share of the pie.

In the end, it’s all about being smart with your ad strategy. Don’t let the intermediaries take you for a ride. Aim for higher CPMs, strive for 100% ad-fill, and use platforms that respect your content and revenue. Because at the end of the day, content monetization should be about making money, not losing it.

Check out https://viewtvx.com/view-tv-ssp/