Glossary · ad-metrics
What is Cost per view (CPV)?
Cost per view, or CPV, is the average amount paid each time someone counts as a view on a YouTube video ad. For skippable ads a view usually means watching thirty seconds, the whole ad if it is shorter, or clicking on it. CPV is the natural cost metric for video campaigns bought on views, but like any cost metric it can mislead on its own. A cheap view from someone who skips at thirty-one seconds and never thinks of you again is worth less than an expensive view from someone who watches to the end and searches your name next week. Read CPV together with view rate, watch percentage and what happens afterwards.
What does Cost per view (CPV) mean for a business in Pakistan?
YouTube views are relatively inexpensive in Pakistan, which tempts businesses to buy large view counts and treat them as success. For a local Islamabad business, a modest number of views from the right sectors and age group, followed by retargeting, beats a huge cheap number from all over the country.
A worked example
A hypothetical Rawalpindi wedding photographer spends PKR 12,000 and gets 6,000 views at PKR 2 each. Narrowing the location to the twin cities and the audience to people researching weddings, the next PKR 12,000 buys only 3,000 views at PKR 4 — but brings nine enquiries instead of one.
Terms that go with this one
These come up in the same conversations and are worth reading together.
- CPMCPMCPM means cost per thousand impressions — what you pay to have your ad appear a thousand times. Impressions are not people: one person scrolling past…
- Skippable in-stream adskip wala adA skippable in-stream ad is the YouTube ad that plays before, during or after a video and shows a 'Skip' button after five seconds. Depending on the…
- Watch timewatch timeWatch time is the total number of minutes or hours people spent watching your videos, added together across everyone. It is a volume number, not a…
- View-through conversionview through conversionA view-through conversion is a conversion credited to an ad that the person saw but did not click. If someone watches part of your YouTube ad, does…
- CPCCPCCPC means cost per click: total money spent divided by the number of clicks it bought. Read the label carefully, because Meta reports two versions.…
Cost per view (CPV) — quick answers
What does Cost per view (CPV) mean?
Cost per view, or CPV, is the average amount paid each time someone counts as a view on a YouTube video ad. For skippable ads a view usually means watching thirty seconds, the whole ad if it is shorter, or clicking on it.
Cost per view (CPV) ko Urdu mein kya kehte hain?
فی ویو لاگت — though in practice almost everyone in Pakistan says "CPV". YouTube views are relatively inexpensive in Pakistan, which tempts businesses to buy large view counts and treat them as success.
Why does Cost per view (CPV) matter for a business in Pakistan?
YouTube views are relatively inexpensive in Pakistan, which tempts businesses to buy large view counts and treat them as success. For a local Islamabad business, a modest number of views from the right sectors and age group, followed by retargeting, beats a huge cheap number from all over the country.
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