What is RPM (revenue per mille) in advertising, and how is it different from CPM?
What RPM means for publishers, how to calculate page RPM, and why RPM and CPM can tell very different stories about the same site.
Written by Samhub with the help of AI·Updated 13 Oct 2026·4 min readRPM (revenue per mille) is how much a publisher earns per 1,000 page views. It sums up the revenue from every ad on the page, so it shows what your content actually earns.
In advertising, RPM always means revenue per mille. It has nothing to do with revolutions per minute, the engine-speed meaning you may see in other search results.
How to calculate page RPM
Page RPM = ad revenue ÷ page views × 1,000
Example: €2,400 ÷ 800,000 × 1,000 = €3.00 page RPM
Illustrative numbers. Use the same period for revenue and page views.
Some ad platforms also report impression RPM, which divides revenue by impressions instead of page views. Impression RPM is close to eCPM. Page RPM is the one to use when you want to know what a page, section or site earns.
RPM vs CPM
| CPM | RPM | |
|---|---|---|
| Measures | Price per 1,000 impressions | Revenue per 1,000 page views |
| Seen from | The buyer and the deal | The publisher and the page |
| Includes | One ad unit, one price | Every ad on the page, and unsold impressions |
| Use it to | Agree and compare prices | Compare sections, layouts and traffic sources |
A page with three ad units can have a €2 CPM and a €4.50 RPM, because each page view creates several impressions. A high CPM with a low RPM often means many ad requests go unfilled.
16 pages for publishers, with a checklist for data, programmatic and direct sales.
How to increase RPM
Fill more ad requests
Unsold impressions earn nothing. Watch fill rate next to price.
Raise the price per impression
Audience data, viewable placements and data deals lift what each impression sells for.
Keep the ad load sensible
More ads per page can raise RPM short term but cost page views and loyalty over time.
Grow logged-in and returning readers
Known readers can be offered to buyers as audiences, which is worth more than anonymous traffic.
CPM uplift at Stampen Media after activating first-party audiences with Samhub.
Frequently asked questions
Revenue per mille: what a publisher earns per 1,000 page views, or per 1,000 impressions when it is reported as impression RPM.
Usually, but not if it comes from so many ads that readers leave. Look at RPM together with page views per visit and returning readers.
Page RPM divides revenue by page views. Impression RPM divides it by impressions, which makes it close to eCPM.
Usually because some ad requests go unfilled, or because each page has fewer than one impression on average. Check fill rate and ad load.
Related terms
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