CPM Benchmarks by Platform in 2026
Bikash Roy
Online Research Specialist · SEO Strategist · Web Developer
Bikash personally verifies every calculator against official standards (WHO, NIH, government data). Online research specialist, SEO strategist, and web developer with 10+ years building accurate digital tools.
Full bio →CPM varies enormously by platform, ad format, targeting, geography, and time of year — there’s no single “correct” CPM, only typical ranges to sanity-check your own numbers against. The table below summarizes current directional benchmarks pulled from platform reporting and industry ad-spend research, so use them as a planning reference rather than a guarantee.
Quick Comparison
| Platform | Full observed range | Most common range |
|---|---|---|
| Google Display Network | $1 – $25+ | $2 – $5 |
| YouTube (in-stream video) | $4 – $15 | $5 – $10 |
| Facebook / Instagram (Meta) | $2 – $23+ | $6 – $14 |
| TikTok | $3.50 – $14 | $4 – $10 |
| $25 – $100+ | $30 – $100 | |
| Open-exchange programmatic | $1 – $10 | $2 – $6 |
Run your own numbers against these ranges with the CPM calculator — enter your total spend and impressions to see exactly where your campaign lands, or solve the other direction and estimate cost from a target CPM and impressions goal.
Google Display Network and Programmatic
Google Display Network and open-exchange programmatic inventory are typically the cheapest per-impression channels, because the available ad inventory (millions of websites and apps in the Google Display Network alone) vastly outweighs advertiser demand for most targeting combinations. Broad, unfiltered display placements often run under $5 CPM, while brand-safety-verified inventory, premium placements, and tightly targeted private marketplace (PMP) deals can push well past $20. Google Ads supports both standard CPM and viewable CPM (vCPM) bidding — see Google’s guide to bid strategies for how the two differ.
YouTube
YouTube in-stream video CPMs sit meaningfully above standard display, reflecting both the higher production value of video inventory and stronger advertiser demand for video completions and view-through metrics rather than raw impressions. Shorts-format placements tend to run cheaper than standard in-stream video ads.
Facebook and Instagram (Meta)
Meta’s auction-based pricing means CPM shifts constantly with advertiser competition for the same audience. US audiences consistently command the highest CPMs among major English-speaking markets, while CPMs in many other countries run a fraction of that. Meta CPMs also spike seasonally — competition from retail and e-commerce advertisers during Q4 (Black Friday through the December holidays) is a well-documented driver of higher-than-average CPM across the quarter. See Meta’s own explanation of CPM as a metric for how it’s calculated in Ads Manager reporting.
TikTok
TikTok CPM sits close to Meta’s on average but trends slightly lower in most reported benchmarks, reflecting the platform’s younger ad-buying ecosystem and still-growing advertiser base relative to its audience size. Placement matters heavily on TikTok — standard in-feed ads are meaningfully cheaper than premium placements like TopView or Spark Ads, which behave more like a sponsorship buy than a standard auction impression. TikTok Ads Manager supports CPM as one of its core bidding methods alongside cost-per-click and optimized-conversion bidding.
LinkedIn is consistently the most expensive major platform on a CPM basis — often by a wide margin over Meta, TikTok, or Google Display. That premium reflects LinkedIn’s audience: verified professionals with job title, company, and seniority data attached, which is valuable for B2B advertisers who would otherwise struggle to reach decision-makers precisely. For B2B marketers, a $60 CPM on LinkedIn reaching exactly the right VP-level audience can still out-perform a $6 CPM on a broader platform that mostly reaches people outside the buying committee.
What Actually Moves Your CPM
- Geography — Tier 1 markets (US, UK, Australia, Canada) cost significantly more than Tier 2/3 markets for identical targeting, on every platform.
- Audience size and specificity — narrower audiences (small remarketing lists, niche job titles) generally cost more per impression than broad interest-based targeting.
- Ad format — video generally costs more than static image; premium/sponsored placements cost more than standard auction inventory.
- Seasonality — CPMs typically rise during high-advertiser-demand periods like Q4 retail season.
- Viewability and brand safety filters — CPM calculated on viewable-only or brand-safety-verified impressions will read higher than CPM calculated on all served impressions, even for the identical campaign.
Always compare your CPM against a benchmark that matches platform, format, geography, and audience type — not platform alone. For the math behind reading these numbers correctly, see common CPM calculation mistakes and the CPM, CPC & CTR glossary.