vCPM, viewable cost per mille, is the price an advertiser pays for one thousand viewable impressions, impressions that actually appeared on the shopper's screen rather than merely loaded below the fold. In Amazon Ads it is the billing option for Sponsored Display campaigns optimised for reach, where you pay per thousand viewable impressions instead of per click.
Divide the spend by the number of viewable impressions and multiply by one thousand. If a Sponsored Display campaign spent ₹6,000 and Amazon counted 40,000 viewable impressions, the vCPM is ₹6,000 / 40,000 x 1,000 = ₹150. Turned round, a ₹150 vCPM means ₹15,000 buys one lakh viewable impressions.
The word viewable is the point. An ad can be served on a page the shopper never scrolls to. Under the industry standard used across display advertising, an impression counts as viewable only when at least half of the ad is on screen for at least one second. Plain CPM charges for every served impression; vCPM charges only for the ones that met that test, so the same budget usually buys fewer, better impressions.
Amazon offers vCPM as the cost type when a Sponsored Display campaign is set to optimise for reach, which is meant for awareness rather than direct orders. Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands remain per click.
| Model | You pay for | Best for | Judge by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPC | Each click | Search ads, direct orders | Cost per order, ACoS |
| CPM | Every 1,000 served impressions | Banners with guaranteed slots | Effective CPC, reach |
| vCPM | Every 1,000 viewable impressions | Awareness campaigns where viewability varies | Viewable reach, new-to-brand sales |
To compare a vCPM campaign with a CPC one, work through to cost per order. If the ₹15,000 of viewable impressions above produce 600 clicks and 30 orders, the effective CPC is ₹25 and the cost per order is ₹500, which can sit next to any keyword's cost per order in the same account.
The served-impression model vCPM improves on.
Learn more →Turn a banner budget into impressions, or a quoted CPM into cost per order.
Learn more →What counts as an impression and why low impressions happen.
Learn more →Filter every keyword by ACoS, CVR and spend, then change bids in bulk on Amazon India.
Learn more →vCPM stands for viewable cost per mille, the cost of one thousand viewable impressions. Amazon uses it as the billing model for Sponsored Display campaigns optimised for reach.
vCPM = ad spend / viewable impressions x 1,000. A campaign that spent ₹6,000 for 40,000 viewable impressions has a vCPM of ₹150.
CPM charges for every impression served, including ones below the fold that nobody saw. vCPM charges only for impressions that met the viewability test, at least half the ad on screen for one second, so it is the fairer price for display.
Neither is better in general. CPC suits search campaigns judged on orders; vCPM suits reach campaigns judged on awareness and new-to-brand sales. Compare them by working both through to cost per order.
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