Advertising / 3 min read
What an ad impression actually means
Understand CPM, viewability, campaign delivery, and why recorded advertising impressions are not the same as unique visitors.
CPM is a price per thousand
Cost per mille (CPM) is the price of 1,000 ad impressions. A 10,000-impression campaign at $8 CPM has an indicative media cost of $80. A visitor may see multiple placements, and repeated visits may generate more impressions. This does not mean 10,000 unique people.
Rendered does not always mean seen
On this site, a hosted-ad impression is recorded after at least half of the placement has been visible for one continuous second in a visible browser tab. Requests that fail, are blocked, or never meet that visibility threshold do not contribute to the recorded count.
Plan delivery, not a guaranteed date
Campaigns rotate with other eligible ads in the chosen placement. The time needed to deliver an impression target depends on actual traffic, visibility, and available inventory. Agree on dates, creative, rate, and any underdelivery terms before activating a campaign.
Keep the reporting honest
Our hosted-ad counts are operational measurements, not independently audited billing statistics or proof of unique reach. They do not include Google-served ads. Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions; a click before the viewability threshold can make that percentage exceed 100%.