Cost Per View (CPV)

Why Cost Per View (CPV) matters

CPV is the price of getting your video watched. It is the main cost metric for video campaigns on YouTube, where you pay when someone watches or interacts with your ad rather than for every impression.

It helps you compare creative, audiences and formats on a common basis, as long as you are comparing the same definition of a view.

How to read it

CPV varies by audience, format, targeting and competition, so compare against your own past campaigns. A very low CPV is not automatically good if the viewers are the wrong audience and never take further action.

Platforms define a view in specific ways. For skippable in-stream ads on YouTube, a view generally counts when someone watches around 30 seconds, or the full ad if it is shorter, or interacts with it, so check how your campaign type counts views.

How to improve it

• Hook viewers in the first seconds so more of them choose to keep watching.
• Test different creatives and compare their CPV and view rates.
• Refine audiences toward people likely to care about the offer.
• Pair view metrics with downstream results such as site visits and conversions.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a campaign only on the lowest CPV.
• Comparing CPV across campaigns that define a view differently.
• Assuming a view means the person watched the whole video.
• Not tracking what viewers do after watching.