CPM (cost per mille) is what you pay for a thousand ad impressions: ad spend divided by impressions, times 1,000. It is how display, video and many quick-commerce ads are priced. Enter spend and impressions to get CPM, and add clicks to see the effective CPC, so a CPM campaign can be compared with a cost-per-click one.
Enter spend and impressions for the same campaign and dates. Clicks are optional; they turn CPM into a cost per click you can compare with Sponsored Products or Flipkart PLA.
Worked example: a display campaign spent ₹6,000 for 50,000 impressions. CPM is 6,000 ÷ 50,000 × 1,000 = ₹120. It got 150 clicks, so the effective CPC is ₹40 and CTR 0.3%.
The same arithmetic runs the other way: effective CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10). At ₹120 CPM, doubling CTR to 0.6% halves the effective CPC to ₹20. On a CPM buy, creative and targeting that earn clicks are what bring the cost per click down.
Neither, by default. A CPM campaign is cheaper per click when its CTR is high enough that effective CPC falls below what you would pay in a CPC auction for similar shoppers. It is dearer when impressions are wasted on people who scroll past.
For product ads on Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho, where you bid per click, CPM is a diagnostic rather than a price. For display, video and brand ads priced per thousand, it is the price, and effective CPC is the check.
| CPM | CTR | Effective CPC |
|---|---|---|
| ₹80 | 0.2% | ₹40 |
| ₹80 | 0.5% | ₹16 |
| ₹150 | 0.5% | ₹30 |
| ₹150 | 1% | ₹15 |
Amazon Sponsored Display can be bought on vCPM, which counts only viewable impressions, so its CPM is calculated on a smaller, better impression count than a plain CPM. Compare vCPM campaigns with each other, and with CPC campaigns through effective CPC and ACoS.
Quick-commerce apps such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart sell some brand and display placements on impressions. BlooprintAI's ads management for those apps is coming soon; today it manages Amazon and Flipkart + Shopsy.
BlooprintAI reports impressions, clicks, spend, CTR and CPC for every Amazon campaign type, including Sponsored Display, in one dashboard, with Excel export for anyone who wants to run this calculation across a quarter.
CPM defined, with the vCPM variant and where marketplaces use it.
Learn more →Ad spend and clicks in, cost per click out, with the ₹ ranges Indian sellers report.
Learn more →Impressions and clicks in, click-through rate out, and what a low CTR usually means.
Learn more →Bulk campaign creation, bulk bid and budget changes, and keyword analysis for Amazon India and UAE. ₹14,999 per month, 7-day free trial.
Learn more →CPM = ad spend ÷ impressions × 1,000. ₹6,000 for 50,000 impressions is a CPM of ₹120.
Effective CPC = spend ÷ clicks, or CPM ÷ (CTR × 10) with CTR in percent. ₹120 CPM at 0.3% CTR is a ₹40 effective CPC.
Viewable CPM: cost per thousand impressions that were actually viewable. Amazon Sponsored Display and DSP can be bought on vCPM.
For product ads, you bid per click on Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho. For display and brand ads bought per thousand impressions, compare them with CPC ads through effective CPC and ACoS.
Join 500+ brands powered by our team with