Cost Per View

Cost per view is one of the key metrics advertisers rely on today as video becomes an essential part of how companies grow their businesses in the mobile advertising ecosystem. Video ads often create the first opportunity to engage users through an app across multiple environments: social media, in-app placements, and connected TV. And as video usage continues to rise, so does the importance of understanding the metrics that reveal how users interact with these ads.

Cost-per-View is an important metric that allows the advertiser to establish how much they paid for a video viewed by a user. CPV, unlike other metrics focused solely on impressions, assesses whether or not a video was actually viewed instead of simply delivered. Therefore, cost-per-view is particularly relevant for a campaign primarily focused on the creation of brand awareness, brand exposure, and message delivery.

For app marketing, cost-per-view will provide the app marketer with insight into how well their video campaign captures the attention of the user prior to measuring additional performance indicators (such as installs or engagement).

What Is CPV (Cost Per View)?

A Cost Per View conversion metric falls under the prominence of digital video marketing, which refers to a specific “view” based metric that an advertiser spends money for that they would not otherwise spend if there was no video ad watched.

Advertisers are held accountable to spend only when a designated number of criteria are met; of these criteria, the amount of “views” per advertiser’s video ad is a foundational component of chargeable costs associated with video ads per video ad being delivered through a digital video platform. If a video ad does not meet the established number of views, the advertiser will not be held responsible for incurring any costs for that video advertisement.

The purpose of cost-per-view is to allow advertisers to only pay for a video advertisement view after a specific engagement from the user. An example of user engagement is the length of the video viewed by the user upon engaging with the video ad.

The methods in which user engagement is measured with regards to an advertiser’s video are not limited to but can include:

1. The length of time the user viewed the video ad
2. The proportion of the video viewed
3. User interaction with the video ad

It should also be noted that user engagement criteria are determined by the specific digital video platform where an advertiser’s video ad is running.

An additional note for CPVs to be evaluated as a criterion for use in determining conversion metrics is that cost-per-view benchmarks vary from one digital video platform to another.

What Qualifies as a View?

A key aspect of cost-per-view is understanding what qualifies as a “view.”

Although a view can mean different things on different video ad platforms, the view criteria will be based on the degree of exposure the user has to the video advertisement.

Common criteria would typically include:

1. Impressions based on viewing a video for predetermined lengths of time.
2. Impressions based on viewing a video for a specific percentage of its entire length.
3. Impressions based on interaction with the video advertisement.

To illustrate, a video ad may not be counted as a view on one video ad site until a user has viewed it for only a few seconds, while a video ad on another site may not count as a view unless the user has viewed it for a longer period of time or has interacted with the video.

As such, when evaluating cost-per-view, it is always necessary to consider the platform on which the advertisement is shown. This variation in viewing standards also explains the large difference in cost per view benchmarks across different channels and formats.

How Cost Per View Is Calculated

Calculating the cost per view is straightforward and uniform across multiple platforms:

However, while the formula itself is simple, cost-per-view only truly has value when combined with knowledge of how those views were achieved and the resulting actions.

Why Cost Per View Matters

Video advertising can be better held accountable for the ads they have put in front of consumers by making sure that those advertisements are not just seen, but also engaged with.

From an advertising point of view, impressions, while they confirm that an ad was served to a user, cost-per-view confirms that, when a user has engaged with that ad long enough that the user has watched the video long enough for it to be considered fully viewed, that user has given the advertiser their full attention. Therefore, cost-per-view will be a more accurate metric for measuring how much attention users have paid to each advertisement than will be an impression-based measurement.

Cost-per-view will be very helpful for brands that are only conducting awareness/visibility and brand storytelling campaigns. Cost-per-view can determine whether or not consumers are consuming those advertisements when communicating brands’ messages, and provide some basis for brands to measure the number of consumers’ view of a brand’s marketing message.

Cost-per-view can be a factor in determining the effectiveness of the creative aspect of a brand’s advertising campaign. For instance, a high cost-per-view metric indicates that users are skipping many advertisements during the first 5 seconds of that advertisement, while a lower cost-per-view metric indicates that the advertisement’s creative message is resonating with the advertising audience. Therefore, brands commonly use cost-per-view to measure the effectiveness of their creative marketing message.

Cost Per View vs Other Pricing Models

Understanding what CPV is also requires understanding how it differs from other advertising metrics.

CPV vs CPM (Cost Per Mille)

Advertisers pay based on every thousand impressions a digital ad (called ‘impressions’) is shown, called CPM (‘cost per mille’). When someone clicks on an ad, that’s called CPC (cost per click). CPC tracks how many users are actually engaged with the ad by clicking it, while CPM tracks how many times people see the ad but don’t click it.

CPV vs CPC (Cost Per Click)

Cost per view (CPV) is similar to CPM but only counts when someone views a video advertisement. Similarly, CPCV (cost per completed view) only counts if a person views the entire video advertisement.

CPV vs CPCV (Cost Per Completed View)

The primary difference among all three metrics (CPC, CPM, and CPV) is in how the advertiser receives credit after spending money on advertising.

Each metric has its own unique purpose and should be used accordingly when planning an advertising campaign.

When Should App Marketers Use CPV?

Cost Per View is best suited for campaigns where video engagement is a priority.

It is commonly used for:

• Brand awareness campaigns
• App launches and feature announcements
• Video storytelling and explainer campaigns
• Upper-funnel acquisition strategies

It is less suitable as a standalone metric for campaigns focused solely on installs or revenue, unless paired with post-view attribution and performance analysis.

Common Misunderstandings Around CPV

Some frequent misconceptions include:

• Assuming lower cost-per-view always means better performance
• Comparing cost-per-view across platforms without accounting for view definitions
• Treating cost-per-view as a conversion metric
• Ignoring what happens after the view

CPV provides insight into video engagement, not final outcomes. To get more value from CPV, app marketers should:

• Evaluate cost-per-view alongside video completion and engagement metrics
• Compare cost-per-view across creatives and placements
• Track post-view installs and user behaviour
• Use cost-per-view as part of a broader measurement strategy

Apptrove helps marketers connect video engagement metrics with downstream app activity, enabling a clearer understanding of how video views contribute to overall performance.

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